bill's quest
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- Joined
- Jul 28, 2009
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I have a ranch style house, low pitch, and the last roofer only 14 yrs ago did a very poor job...leaks, ski sloping shingles, poor ventilation etc. I made it clear to a premier company that i was willing to spend what it took to get the job done right. I used a 30 yr gaf shingle with ridge vent. To my dismay, I see "telegraphing" , cupped shingles, and sagging. The roof bellies about an inch over the center of a bedroom area...as estimated by a general contractor. In fact, to a lesser extent the roof sags in multiple places including a hump in the ridge vent and wavering boards along the eaves. And, the ridge vent opening varies from zero to almost 3/4 inch...and this higher figure is what gaf lists as the optimum opening.
The foreman's only explanation, to date, is that I had a lot of distorted planks, 1 by 8's. He replaced 300 linear ft of about a 40 square shingle job. He's willing to come back...hard to grasp..and take out a few more planks where it's most noticeable in the front of the house. And,the foreman said that he will have somebody comeback and loosen up a few nails.To my naivete, I neglected to write in the contract a flat roof. In retrospect, I understand from GAF that IF they had presented the higher level warranty to me..which this company qualifies for...this would have been a no contest issue.
I want to meet with the company president. Is it reasonable to say/insist:
- a better inspection of the roof should have been done beforehand ( the sagging and distorted roof in retrospect was evident);
- options should have been laid out including the best warranty;
- any cupping is not acceptable work and needs to be remedied;
- the ridge vent must be replaced with a rigid form by gaf that prevents mashing...it is not acceptable to loosen nails to fix the current vent;
--all wavering boards along the eaves must be remedied;
- since i accepted a proposal over twenty percent higher than another leading roofer and because some issues can not be resolved (like too many distorted boards that were not removed or an opportunity to pursue better options) I want a price reduction and maintenance for nails that pop for the next two years.
A general contractor said that I'm basically out of luck if not covered by the proposal and a registered roofing inspector...too busy to come out to the house but willing to share some phone time..said that most homeowners are too blind to know when they are getting poor workmanship and that special situations like a low pitch roof truly requires the aid of someone like himself to write the proposal.
Indeed, when a few friends see the roof they say "oh what a nice roof" so my issues are not in your face obvious but I'm sure that if I was to sell the home, an inspector would notice. And, I can see from reading the internet that other homeowners have had similar experiences.
Bottom line: am I being too demanding after the fact? I don't want to be a jerk and alienate the roofing company. They still have to install a new gutter with a gutter guard(leaf terminator brand).
The only reason that they have not done the gutters yet is that on the day of the roofing job when I saw the foreman perplexed he explained that there was a narrow gap between the facial board and the end of the deck. He asked if I could hire a carpenter to rip a board and splice it in. Wow, imagine the home owner turned into general contractor. To make it even more complex, as it turns out they subcontract with a gutter company who also explained that if i need any facial boards replaced that I had better hire a carpenter..he would be glad to take down the gutters first.
That's my beef. Opinions?
The foreman's only explanation, to date, is that I had a lot of distorted planks, 1 by 8's. He replaced 300 linear ft of about a 40 square shingle job. He's willing to come back...hard to grasp..and take out a few more planks where it's most noticeable in the front of the house. And,the foreman said that he will have somebody comeback and loosen up a few nails.To my naivete, I neglected to write in the contract a flat roof. In retrospect, I understand from GAF that IF they had presented the higher level warranty to me..which this company qualifies for...this would have been a no contest issue.
I want to meet with the company president. Is it reasonable to say/insist:
- a better inspection of the roof should have been done beforehand ( the sagging and distorted roof in retrospect was evident);
- options should have been laid out including the best warranty;
- any cupping is not acceptable work and needs to be remedied;
- the ridge vent must be replaced with a rigid form by gaf that prevents mashing...it is not acceptable to loosen nails to fix the current vent;
--all wavering boards along the eaves must be remedied;
- since i accepted a proposal over twenty percent higher than another leading roofer and because some issues can not be resolved (like too many distorted boards that were not removed or an opportunity to pursue better options) I want a price reduction and maintenance for nails that pop for the next two years.
A general contractor said that I'm basically out of luck if not covered by the proposal and a registered roofing inspector...too busy to come out to the house but willing to share some phone time..said that most homeowners are too blind to know when they are getting poor workmanship and that special situations like a low pitch roof truly requires the aid of someone like himself to write the proposal.
Indeed, when a few friends see the roof they say "oh what a nice roof" so my issues are not in your face obvious but I'm sure that if I was to sell the home, an inspector would notice. And, I can see from reading the internet that other homeowners have had similar experiences.
Bottom line: am I being too demanding after the fact? I don't want to be a jerk and alienate the roofing company. They still have to install a new gutter with a gutter guard(leaf terminator brand).
The only reason that they have not done the gutters yet is that on the day of the roofing job when I saw the foreman perplexed he explained that there was a narrow gap between the facial board and the end of the deck. He asked if I could hire a carpenter to rip a board and splice it in. Wow, imagine the home owner turned into general contractor. To make it even more complex, as it turns out they subcontract with a gutter company who also explained that if i need any facial boards replaced that I had better hire a carpenter..he would be glad to take down the gutters first.
That's my beef. Opinions?