In a 2017 review, a homeowner with a small roof repair expected to be brushed off — most companies want the bigger jobs. Bill Shea, the owner, came out, left to get materials, came back and did the repair himself, then explained why the damage had happened in the first place. That is the shape of nearly everything customers have written about Shea Roofing Co.
The company works out of Salem and says it has roofed the North Shore since 1954, founded by Bill Shea, Sr. after he came home from the Navy and run by his son Bill Shea Jr. since 2000. BBB lists it as a sole proprietorship with five employees and puts the start date at 1953. Building permits give the longevity some weight: 24 permitted jobs between 2008 and 2023, nearly all strip-and-re-roof work on houses in Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Middleton.
Ten reviews across Google, Angi and HomeAdvisor run from 2017 to 2023, and not one is a complaint. Google shows 5 stars from 8 ratings; Angi and HomeAdvisor each show 4.8 from 9 — the same nine reviews, since those two pages mirror each other. The owner's own presence is the detail that keeps recurring. In a 2023 review, a homeowner described Bill Shea surveying a full house-and-garage replacement that included removing two chimneys, leaving a range of shingle samples, then a three-man crew that cleaned the area and stowed its equipment at the end of each day; torrential rain the following week settled the question of whether the old leaks were fixed. Another 2023 customer called about a leak after a storm and was told the roof probably did not need replacing at all — the gutters were clogged.
It is not all shingles. A 2022 customer described an EPDM flat-roof replacement with the flashing done properly and the site cleaned at completion, and the company lists slate, copper, metal, rubber and wood work alongside gutters and skylights.
Two things to sort out before booking. Angi's profile states the company offers no free estimates and no warranties, so ask what an assessment costs and what stands behind the work. And the licensing picture here comes only from directories: BuildZoom lists one Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration as active and an earlier one as inactive and at one point cancelled, while Angi and HomeAdvisor self-report construction supervisor licence CS-103580. None of that is a state confirmation — check the registration yourself with the Office of Consumer Affairs before signing.
The other thing worth knowing is the calendar. The written praise is consistent and specific, but it stops in 2023; there is nothing recent to read. For a straightforward re-roof, gutter or flat-roof job on the North Shore — the work the permits and the reviews both describe — this is a long-established, owner-run shop. Ask for a few recent local references to fill the gap.