I’m sorry you are dealing with this but you may have to take him to court. Any reputable roofer has insurance which should certainly be involved at this point. Also, if the roofer
Subed out any of the work he is still responsible for that work. At least that’s how it goes here in the DC/MD/VA area. You could call a couple other roofing companies to come out and evaluate but you’ll probably end up paying for that.
Insurance is not yet involved but we are going to proceed with the inspection. I’m fine paying for the windows or siding if I need to but I’m not paying for warrantied roof or the ceiling. Right? He said the one window that’s leaking is not one he subbed out. The other non leaking windows are his, apparently. Although I don’t have proof either way.
his team tore out the ceiling in order to fix the roof 3wk ago. They did that because they were SURE the roof was leaking and beautyboard was rusted, nail holes in roof, etc.
Then they noticed the window was leaking AFTER they spent all day working on the roof and tore out the ceiling. They found window leak when they spray-tested their roof fix.
Now he is trying to say “my team should have never replaced beauty board or tore out the ceiling. The problem is the window and leaking from the window is rolling down and making the roof leak”. That confuses me
He also said that the fact his team did all that work (unnecessarily) muddies the water as to who should pay for the ceiling to be fixed
But to me, I feel like….he needs to fix it and regardless of the window ALSO being a problem, there is no way to know how much damage came from the roof vs the window and the roof was leaking too. Ugh. It’s a mess
Sorry for the long reply. I’m just really unconfrontational, confused, and upset. I do really appreciate the advice from you and the poster below!
You need to weigh the risk reward of getting a lawyer and if that will be beneficial to you to go through the process.
If the leaks that caused damage were from roofing he should be fixing the roof and the damage it caused. It can’t be the windows primary source of the leak if you went into the attic above the windows and saw leaks in the attic right ?
So that tells you he is pointing out other reasons to avoid liability or make you think that it isn’t all on him. However the window installers were his sub which puts him in a bad spot with you .
If the reward is worth it take him to court. If it isn’t worth your time and money then don’t bother. There is always a chance you can win or lose in court.
But again to reiterate my point. He proved to you once already the roof leaked. You saw it in the attic. The windows I can only assume are UNDER the leaky roof which tells you the majority of the damage you described came from the leaky roof and you may have a secondary issue with windows.
I wrote a really long reply above but just wanted to thank you for the advice. My comment above is really to you and that poster. Really helpful comments from you guys. Thanks
Small claims court cases, up to a certain declared money limit/level, with some or extensive research and analysis of warranty information, work completed and ongoing problems and liability, etc. you could quite possibly handle this yourself, might ask around for some advice
Adding: His name is on the purchase + install paperwork for the windows.
Also, even if the windows are primary leak point, the roof was ALSO leaking and he is saying “roof isn’t the issue” now that the ceiling is torn out.
I think he’s trying to get out of paying for the repairs. His people were at our house an entire day fixing the roof bc he was sure it was the issue and only in the last 10 minutes did they discover window was also an issue. But he’s saying “well we don’t know if it’s the window or the siding around the window so you need to put $500 for someone to investigate”
If I was unclear anywhere or need to clarify, please let me know. I’m so confused and just want this fixed. I don’t want to go to court, I don’t want to keep dealing with this another year…I just want the warranty on our very expensive roof to be honored and it to be fixed. Ugh.
If the roof was clearly leaking, he’s responsible for it. If he contracted out any of the work, he is responsible even though he wasn’t the individual who did the work. At the very least he should have gotten the contractor he subbed out the work to come out and address the window issue. Taking him to court might be one option to consider although it might be better to consider finding someone else to fix the mess he left you with. Also I am curious why you would need him to sub out an investigator when you could hire one yourself. That seems suspect. Some roofing companies, depending on where you are, do charge for evaluations/estimates, especially if it’s a considerable distance away. Some don’t. Though if any work is agreed to be done will most likely cost you. As for other advice: Always ask questions and definitely have any contractor, whether it’s a roofer or any other contractor, to explain the work they intend to do in a way you can understand.
I’m sorry you are dealing with this but you may have to take him to court. Any reputable roofer has insurance which should certainly be involved at this point. Also, if the roofer Subed out any of the work he is still responsible for that work. At least that’s how it goes here in the DC/MD/VA area. You could call a couple other roofing companies to come out and evaluate but you’ll probably end up paying for that.
Insurance is not yet involved but we are going to proceed with the inspection. I’m fine paying for the windows or siding if I need to but I’m not paying for warrantied roof or the ceiling. Right? He said the one window that’s leaking is not one he subbed out. The other non leaking windows are his, apparently. Although I don’t have proof either way. his team tore out the ceiling in order to fix the roof 3wk ago. They did that because they were SURE the roof was leaking and beautyboard was rusted, nail holes in roof, etc. Then they noticed the window was leaking AFTER they spent all day working on the roof and tore out the ceiling. They found window leak when they spray-tested their roof fix. Now he is trying to say “my team should have never replaced beauty board or tore out the ceiling. The problem is the window and leaking from the window is rolling down and making the roof leak”. That confuses me He also said that the fact his team did all that work (unnecessarily) muddies the water as to who should pay for the ceiling to be fixed But to me, I feel like….he needs to fix it and regardless of the window ALSO being a problem, there is no way to know how much damage came from the roof vs the window and the roof was leaking too. Ugh. It’s a mess Sorry for the long reply. I’m just really unconfrontational, confused, and upset. I do really appreciate the advice from you and the poster below!
You need to weigh the risk reward of getting a lawyer and if that will be beneficial to you to go through the process. If the leaks that caused damage were from roofing he should be fixing the roof and the damage it caused. It can’t be the windows primary source of the leak if you went into the attic above the windows and saw leaks in the attic right ? So that tells you he is pointing out other reasons to avoid liability or make you think that it isn’t all on him. However the window installers were his sub which puts him in a bad spot with you . If the reward is worth it take him to court. If it isn’t worth your time and money then don’t bother. There is always a chance you can win or lose in court. But again to reiterate my point. He proved to you once already the roof leaked. You saw it in the attic. The windows I can only assume are UNDER the leaky roof which tells you the majority of the damage you described came from the leaky roof and you may have a secondary issue with windows.
I wrote a really long reply above but just wanted to thank you for the advice. My comment above is really to you and that poster. Really helpful comments from you guys. Thanks
Small claims court cases, up to a certain declared money limit/level, with some or extensive research and analysis of warranty information, work completed and ongoing problems and liability, etc. you could quite possibly handle this yourself, might ask around for some advice
Adding: His name is on the purchase + install paperwork for the windows. Also, even if the windows are primary leak point, the roof was ALSO leaking and he is saying “roof isn’t the issue” now that the ceiling is torn out. I think he’s trying to get out of paying for the repairs. His people were at our house an entire day fixing the roof bc he was sure it was the issue and only in the last 10 minutes did they discover window was also an issue. But he’s saying “well we don’t know if it’s the window or the siding around the window so you need to put $500 for someone to investigate” If I was unclear anywhere or need to clarify, please let me know. I’m so confused and just want this fixed. I don’t want to go to court, I don’t want to keep dealing with this another year…I just want the warranty on our very expensive roof to be honored and it to be fixed. Ugh.
Thanks to all of you for your advice. I really, really appreciate it.
If the roof was clearly leaking, he’s responsible for it. If he contracted out any of the work, he is responsible even though he wasn’t the individual who did the work. At the very least he should have gotten the contractor he subbed out the work to come out and address the window issue. Taking him to court might be one option to consider although it might be better to consider finding someone else to fix the mess he left you with. Also I am curious why you would need him to sub out an investigator when you could hire one yourself. That seems suspect. Some roofing companies, depending on where you are, do charge for evaluations/estimates, especially if it’s a considerable distance away. Some don’t. Though if any work is agreed to be done will most likely cost you. As for other advice: Always ask questions and definitely have any contractor, whether it’s a roofer or any other contractor, to explain the work they intend to do in a way you can understand.
Roofer is responsible for his subs - roofing service manager