Advice: What To Do, If Anything.....

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RustyRatRod

RustyRatRod

I was born on a Monday. Not last Monday.
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'Bout a month and a half before Irma blew through our homeowner's insurance company approved to have a new roof put on the house, due to some hail damage. So, I decided to contract with the same company that did my sister's roof, since they were real happy with the work.

The guy came out and gave an estimate of $5,650.00 for a new metal roof, which is what Kitty and I decided we wanted. After the initial inspection, he decided that our existing roof was in good enough shape to leave it in place. I have no issues with that, as I have done extensive reading on metal roofs and the extra layer is beneficial, as long as it's not hiding any structural problems and ours was not.

The contract stated "all work will be completed in a timely manner". It ultimately took them two weeks to complete the job. We also have leaks coming in both bathroom vents when it rains. I am talking about it basically rains in the bathrooms. It's pretty bad. We had water standing in both bathroom floors after Irma. No damage (yet), but a ***** to clean up.

I have contacted the owner several times regarding this. He finally got the guys back out about two weeks after my first call. After some recent rain, the vents still leak, although nowhere near as bad. About a week ago, I called yet again to let him know the vents were still leaking. He almost acted like he didn't believe me.

Now, here is the kicker. The insurance only covered all but about $1600.00. The rest, we are paying out of pocket. The roofing company owner was kind enough to finance the 1600 for us himself, interest free. I have good credit, but we are pretty stretched out and I am sure we could not get further financing. I relayed this to him when he came out to give us the estimate. He said "no problem, I'll just finance it for you."

Now, the roof is really badass. We got it pure white, plus it has the 1/4" insulation under it and the pre-existing roof as another layer of insulation. I have already felt a temperature difference in the house and seen a difference in my electric bill.

How should I handle this? I don't want to piss the guy off, but I want my farfegnoogen roof fixed. It wasn't leaking a drop before. And now, I have a new roof that leaks. Sorta defeats the purpose.

I would get up there and seal it myself, but I have a lot of medical limitations in that area. I get about 6 feet off the ground and all my balance problems kick in and everything starts spinning, so I cannot do it......and I am not letting Kitty do it.

My next move is simply to stop paying on what I owe him, but I don't feel good about that at all. Although if it will make him move on fixing the roof, I may do it.

So what do yall think?
 
RustyRatRod said:
'Bout a month and a half before Irma blew through our homeowner's insurance company approved to have a new roof put on the house, due to some hail damage. So, I decided to contract with the same company that did my sister's roof, since they were real happy with the work.

The guy came out and gave an estimate of $5,650.00 for a new metal roof, which is what Kitty and I decided we wanted. After the initial inspection, he decided that our existing roof was in good enough shape to leave it in place. I have no issues with that, as I have done extensive reading on metal roofs and the extra layer is beneficial, as long as it's not hiding any structural problems and ours was not.

The contract stated "all work will be completed in a timely manner". It ultimately took them two weeks to complete the job. We also have leaks coming in both bathroom vents when it rains. I am talking about it basically rains in the bathrooms. It's pretty bad. We had water standing in both bathroom floors after Irma. No damage (yet), but a ***** to clean up.

I have contacted the owner several times regarding this. He finally got the guys back out about two weeks after my first call. After some recent rain, the vents still leak, although nowhere near as bad. About a week ago, I called yet again to let him know the vents were still leaking. He almost acted like he didn't believe me.

Now, here is the kicker. The insurance only covered all but about $1600.00. The rest, we are paying out of pocket. The roofing company owner was kind enough to finance the 1600 for us himself, interest free. I have good credit, but we are pretty stretched out and I am sure we could not get further financing. I relayed this to him when he came out to give us the estimate. He said "no problem, I'll just finance it for you."

Now, the roof is really badass. We got it pure white, plus it has the 1/4" insulation under it and the pre-existing roof as another layer of insulation. I have already felt a temperature difference in the house and seen a difference in my electric bill.

How should I handle this? I don't want to piss the guy off, but I want my farfegnoogen roof fixed. It wasn't leaking a drop before. And now, I have a new roof that leaks. Sorta defeats the purpose.

I would get up there and seal it myself, but I have a lot of medical limitations in that area. I get about 6 feet off the ground and all my balance problems kick in and everything starts spinning, so I cannot do it......and I am not letting Kitty do it.

My next move is simply to stop paying on what I owe him, but I don't feel good about that at all. Although if it will make him move on fixing the roof, I may do it.

So what do yall think?
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You need to contact your insurance company. Why? because the leaking of the roof of the contractor they partially paid for can lead to major issues like mold, rot, etc and those all will affect the value of your home as well as the structural integrity of the flooring, walls ceiling etc. My guess is that somewhere, water is leaking under a panel via an improper gap somewhere or a damaged panel or even a screw not all the way in.
 
Agree with Dukeboy. The leaks no matter how small or large will lead to a lot bigger issues down the road if ignored.
From what I have heard metal roofs, IF they leak can be a ***** to track down.
Sounds like you know where the leak is, but it could be coming between the seams and following gravity down/southbound.
As DB said get in touch with insurance. Maybe have them drop by the same time as the roofer.
Good luck.
 
RustyRatRod said:
About a week ago, I called yet again to let him know the vents were still leaking. He almost acted like he didn't believe me.
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Rob, If you have a smart phone to use or borrow, take a video of the rain coming in the vents to show the roofing contractor. He needs to fix this pronto for you guys.
 
i would never suggest non payment, that only escalates things

what i would suggest is getting the insurance company involved
your 1600 bucks might not be a big deal to the contractor, but they are in for 4000 on this job, and if they blacklist this contractor he may stand to loose much, much more future income

so, make your insurance company work for your, they will protect their investment
 
I agree with dukeboy... the insurance co. paid for the roof to be fixed and if it wasn't, they do not want you to make a claim down the road a few shot month, or even years from now, for more damage that was fixed this time.. I am sure the ins. people will agree
 
around here the ins company wont pay until the person is happy with the job and signs off .
 
I know what I am going to do. And for me, it's gonna be tough, but it's my only choice if I want this fixed anytime soon.

I am going to do it myself. I am ok once ON the roof, it's just gettin there that's the nightmare. I am going to reseal all four vents and also seal every single screw on the roof. It may take a span of several of my days off, but that's what I have decided to do.

Also, I agree about the not paying part. That's not in me to do......I do owe him and he was nice enough to finance. The job should have been right when finished, though.

Does anyone know of an actual GOOD spray seal product similar to Flex Seal that really works well? I have some brush on sealant, but doing every screw would take forever. Something to spray on would be much faster.

Thanks.
 
You sure about this?
Guess who they are going to point at if anything comes up in the future?
 
diymirage said:
You sure about this?
Guess who they are going to point at if anything comes up in the future?
Click to expand...

Who else is gonna fix it? It's either me or wait until the ceiling in both bathrooms falls on the floor. That's more work I know nothing about.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I know what I am going to do. And for me, it's gonna be tough, but it's my only choice if I want this fixed anytime soon.

I am going to do it myself. I am ok once ON the roof, it's just gettin there that's the nightmare. I am going to reseal all four vents and also seal every single screw on the roof. It may take a span of several of my days off, but that's what I have decided to do.

Also, I agree about the not paying part. That's not in me to do......I do owe him and he was nice enough to finance. The job should have been right when finished, though.

Does anyone know of an actual GOOD spray seal product similar to Flex Seal that really works well? I have some brush on sealant, but doing every screw would take forever. Something to spray on would be much faster.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
I'm a firm believer in 'do it yourself'. All roof screws should have a rubber-under-metal washer. Those seal incredibly well. A dab of silicone in the hole wouldn't hurt . I'd check what they have done and see if anything obvious presents itself. If you don't find an obvious water entry point, don't go redoing their work.. I'd bet with a little investigation on the roof you'll find their oversight. If it's simple, fix it and move on. If not, I'd ask him nicely once more.. then sic the insurance company on him.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I know what I am going to do. And for me, it's gonna be tough, but it's my only choice if I want this fixed anytime soon.

I am going to do it myself. I am ok once ON the roof, it's just gettin there that's the nightmare. I am going to reseal all four vents and also seal every single screw on the roof. It may take a span of several of my days off, but that's what I have decided to do.

Also, I agree about the not paying part. That's not in me to do......I do owe him and he was nice enough to finance. The job should have been right when finished, though.

Does anyone know of an actual GOOD spray seal product similar to Flex Seal that really works well? I have some brush on sealant, but doing every screw would take forever. Something to spray on would be much faster.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
As someone who worked in insurance, I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend against that. There are several issues with you doing it. Some from a legal stand point and others from an insurance stand point.

The insurance company paid to have work done, if it was not done properly, I.E. , it still leaks, legally that contractor must fix it. If they don't, the insurance company will pay someone else and recoup their money in the courts.


Now if you go doing it yourself, multiple bad things can result.

Let's say you do get it flex sealed or whatever, but in 2-3 years, you or a guest falls thru the floor that rotted from the puddling of the leaking roof. Now what will happen is your insurance company is gonna send an inspector out, that inspector is gonna go over the floor, and the roof, he'll find your flex seal job, since the roof was repaired and paid for by the insurance company, they're gonna pull the materials list they paid for, they're not gonna find flex seal on it, they'll question you and the contractor. When they find out that the roof was still leaking and you failed to report that to them and tried to fix it yourself, they're gonna deny your claim and you'll be liable for all damages and medical bills if needed. and if it happens to another person, you can be sued for negligence. The insurance company can also drop you for this black flagging you and making your rates higher with another company.

Now you may get lucky and never have this happen, but if you do, you'll be in a world of hurt

Let me put it another way, if you paid to have your car repainted and you pick it up but they forgot to paint half the quarter panel, are you gonna fix it yourself or insist the Painter you paid to do it fix it?
 
Ben Drinkin said:
I'm a firm believer in 'do it yourself'. All roof screws should have a rubber-under-metal washer. Those seal incredibly well. A dab of silicone in the hole wouldn't hurt . I'd check what they have done and see if anything obvious presents itself. If you don't find an obvious water entry point, don't go redoing their work.. I'd bet with a little investigation on the roof you'll find their oversight. If it's simple, fix it and move on. If not, I'd ask him nicely once more.. then sic the insurance company on him.
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They used some really good screws. They have an "umbrella" around the seal and I am sure they are very high quality. That was the entry point on the vent boots. The screws. They were over tightened.

When they came out after my first call, all they did was run a small bead around both vent boots and left. I would have slobbed sealant a half inch on the boot and half inch over on the roof, all the way around, and sealed each screw on the boots. They did not. I did. It's probably fixed now, but I cannot help but wonder about the rest of the screws.

I don't really give a **** about "redoing their work", no offense. I want the sumbitch to not leak one damned drop.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Who else is gonna fix it? It's either me or wait until the ceiling in both bathrooms falls on the floor. That's more work I know nothing about.
Click to expand...
Call your insurance company, bet you have it fixed with 48 hours....
 
dukeboy_318 said:
Call your insurance company, bet you have it fixed with 48 hours....
Click to expand...

Well I will. But I have sealed the vent boots myself because the bastards would rather let it rain in my house than fix it.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Who else is gonna fix it? It's either me or wait until the ceiling in both bathrooms falls on the floor. That's more work I know nothing about.
Click to expand...

i feel your pain, but if it were me, i wouldnt touch it

you mentioned the problem was an over tightening of the screws on the mounting flaps of the vents?
did someone tell you this or did you deduce this yourself?

those vents need to be replaced, and whoever over tightened the screws should pay for the new vents and the installation

if they allready came out and ran a bead of silicone over it then there is your proof AND your goodwill
you allowed them to try to patch it up, now it needs to be fixed

call your insurance rep, explain the whole deal, and explain to him what we just discussed, and im sure they will go to bat for you because it is their investment
 
RustyRatRod said:
Well I will. But I have sealed the vent boots myself because the bastards would rather let it rain in my house than fix it.
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Well make sure you tell them you did a temporary fix to try to stop the rain water from entering but that it'll need permanently fixed
 
I have a really good insurance rep. He was responsible for getting it approved. He actually tried to find a way to cover it, rather than get out of it.
 
I sent my adjuster an email. We'll see what happens.

Thanks yall.
 
This is why even tho' I'm stretched thin & don't have time to do it Myself,.....I do it Myself..............................
 
If you get on that roof be very careful because metal roofs are really slick and dangerous. They use foam pads to help from sliding off. Personally I would do as others has said and let the insurance company handle it after explaining your temporary fix to protect your home from more damage. Good luck
 
Do not attempt to fix the problem yourself, or the repair may void any recourse you have to get it done by the responsible party! Good that you got the insurance company on this, and I would also call the roofing contractor again, and explain that you are a man of your word and will be paying what they financed for you, but the repair needs to be done immedietly! A new roof shouldn't leak, not one drop, and they need to make this right!
 
Insurance company useless as tits on a boarhog. ...and I quote "We don't pursue for quality control issues". He suggested I write the contractor a letter explaining that if they don't fix it right I will report them to the BBB.

I am pretty confident it's fixed, so screw it.
 
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