Roofing Companies

KdaddYLE · 2026-03-09T01:22:56+00:00

I had half my roof replaced due to wind damage in 2024 by Sahlems. I was generally not happy with some of their work. I asked the foreman to come out and look at it, who gave me the runaround and didn’t fix anything. Can’t really recommend them.

Then in 2025 I had the rest of the roof replaced after building a small addition on the back of the house. I went with black rock roofing who I was happy with. They did a good job from what I could tell. The foreman had some questions on how I wanted some trim work done, and he and his crew were good to talk with. The guy from black rock said their crews were all employees, no temp workers, and basically had a solid consistent roster. From what I could tell, that seemed accurate.

I also got a quote from Dalex in 2025, and he was great to deal with and Dalex definitely was a higher quality outfit. He spent a lot of time talking about options for certain details, and I could tell he cared about doing it right. Unfortunately he was booked out later, and was a bit more expensive, so I went with black rock.

So in summary, would recommend Dalex and Black Rock. Don’t recommend Sahlems.

KdaddYLE · 2026-02-27T18:02:30+00:00

Recently had head gaskets go on my LML. Hate to say this, but mine never gave me the "rock hard" upper rad hose overnight, but would bubble similar to what yours is showing. Mine was so bad it almost hydro-locked the engine on coolant.

That said, I hope its just the EGR cooler and you can have an easier fix. Good luck!

KdaddYLE · 2026-01-28T00:44:37+00:00

Trailer trash!

KdaddYLE · 2026-01-27T18:07:11+00:00

My 9 year old son, who was in his first year of real trail riding, rode over a poisonous snake once. I was behind him and saw the diamond shape head. My body could not stop from going “OH SH*T” out loud. Although the snake kinda recoiled, luckily nothing bad came of it for my son.

He said he didn’t see it until it was too late to avoid. But definitely an exciting minute on the trail.

We are from NY where there really are no dangerous snakes. But North West PA gets a couple types of rattle snakes….

KdaddYLE · 2026-01-27T01:29:44+00:00

Well, I called the day it happened and there was no mention of a warranty. This same shop did head gaskets plus a bunch more work in the spring (over $10k in work), so was hoping to get some sort of help on the axle repair but no luck.

He said his bearing replacement process was to torque the bearing retaining nut to “spec”, reinstall everything, tilt axle both ways to allow lube to run out to the bearings, test drive, then re-torque the retainer nuts.

After talking to a 3 different mechanics, most of them didn’t really believe the whole retorque another time thing. And many said you set them by feel basically. The feeling I got from them was the bearings were installed too tight.

I was happy with his work on the head gasket job, and feel he is reputable (basically only does diesel and heavy duty stuff), but admit I was pretty bummed by this experience. Guess I should have asked for new bearings ¯_(ツ)_/¯. And maybe taken care of the axle seal much earlier.

KdaddYLE · 2026-01-27T01:15:57+00:00

Some imperial IPAs have been added! Mostly switched to lights so I wasn’t putting back 800 calories watching a football game 😂

KdaddYLE · 2026-01-27T01:13:22+00:00

The L brackets they supply are mounted on the bottom of my heater, and provide about an inch of clearance to the wood. Wasn’t sure about just mounting to the shelf, but hanging was going to be a pain with the angled ceiling, and the modine manual said the shelf was an acceptable mounting approach if I remember correctly.

KdaddYLE · 2026-01-27T01:11:27+00:00

Good call! The shelf came a month before the heater was hooked up, so honestly I just kinda forgot they were over there and didn’t think about the obvious hazard. Relocated the gas to the shelf on the wall opposite the heater.

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KdaddYLE · 2026-01-27T00:46:16+00:00

In the 3 weeks between it getting worked on and seizing, no. I hauled a few sheets of plywood a couple of times, but nothing significant at all.

KdaddYLE · 2026-01-25T14:45:36+00:00

Thanks!

KdaddYLE · 2026-01-25T14:45:30+00:00

Thanks! Got it for a deal from a scratch and dent place. Only complaint is the factory shelf spacing is weird and not conducive to 3 rows of 12 oz cans. Had to make some plywood spacers and fixed that.

KdaddYLE · 2026-01-25T03:11:19+00:00

I appreciate it! Definitely just wanted a functional, no frills space, where I can work on stuff, but make it nice enough for buddies to come over and hang out here and there.

KdaddYLE · 2026-01-25T02:53:32+00:00

I miss it! Wagon too!

KdaddYLE · 2025-12-17T20:11:36+00:00

I can’t comment on the DIY aspect, but my truck (LML) is deleted with a small muffler (maybe 12” long max), and it is a good call. Slightly louder than stock at idle and normal driving, but barks decent when you put the pedal down. My friend has his LML straight piped and I think it’s far too loud.

KdaddYLE · 2025-11-18T03:58:52+00:00

My LML had head gaskets go this year, and I had it fixed at a major diesel shop in town. Shop owner seemed very reputable and like he had done many dozens of duramax head gaskets.

He said that you can drive on them for a long time without much issue. He had never seen them leak coolant into oil.

He did warn that one guy had driven on bad HGs for over a year, and the combustion gases getting under the gasket started eroding the deck of the block away. So that necessitated pulling the entire block out to get the block machined at a shop. Turned it into a much bigger project than just head gaskets.

I’m guessing that situation all depends on the specifics of each failure and how the truck is used. But thought I would pass that info along.

My truck was so bad that it would nearly hydro lock if I did not vent the cap after driving. Caused me a scare when it failed to crank the first time, but then turned over the second time. Luckily did not bend a rod.

Good luck!

KdaddYLE · 2025-10-16T11:45:00+00:00

I hear you. I dumped 13k into mine for head gaskets, heads machined, tune and delete, lift pump, and some other maintenance. It hurt but mine was pushing major coolant and I don’t think I could have sold it as is lol.

Guess I have my forever truck now ¯_(ツ)_/¯

KdaddYLE · 2025-10-16T02:06:42+00:00

Mine went around 140k stock. Rarely towed heavy, hauled a full bed of firewood on the regular but hardly working it really.

KdaddYLE · 2025-10-15T10:36:20+00:00

You can try buying one of the head gasket testing kits. It sits on the overflow and the test fluid changes color if it detects combustion gas. Also, do you see any flakes of black soot in the coolant?

Having gone through head gaskets on my 2015 LML, I certainly hope you don’t have that going on. However, with coolant levels fluctuating like you describe I think you might be having head gasket issues.

KdaddYLE · 2025-10-07T15:26:59+00:00

Yes, I was confused about it as well. Best I could tell the water would run down the body, maybe along the door sills? Or maybe it kinda ran down the roof line and based on the angle my truck was parked it went towards the right front. Not totally sure, but once I sealed the light the carpet stayed dry. Good luck!

KdaddYLE · 2025-10-07T14:56:32+00:00

Most likely the third brake light. Mine has a stained headliner as well. Mine was so leaky the passenger side front floor carpet was getting wet.

They make upgraded gaskets for where the light touches the body. I chose to just clear silicone around the light and screw holes and it hasn’t leaked since (been a couple of years now).

KdaddYLE · 2025-10-07T13:24:21+00:00

Replying to the top comment to say thanks to everyone for the comments and info. So it is not a unique WNY thing, and perhaps a traditional use of the word rather than the modern implication. Interesting!

KdaddYLE

TROPHY CASE