The roof

[rayinpenn]

There coming tomorrow for the 4th time.. This time a new guy will cut holes in my ceiling to "find the leak..." They have tried everything... I am at my limit.

I wrote this some time ago.
Roof day
I am pretty handy but I am by no means a construction person. Roofs I knew had to be done right or it can be disastrous - water is the enemy of homes. Which is probably why I was pretty anxious the day my hail damaged roof was to be replaced. I came home yesterday to find a dumpster and pile of roofing materials at the top of my driveway. They had apparently been 'Unable to contact me' but I called them and "yes tomorrow they will be there". So I decided to work from home - which proved to be a good thing.

The roofers arrived in a banged up stretch van that was well past its prime. As soon as they parked it they opened the hood to give the old girl a drink. The rest of their tools were no better. Their air compressor's hose popped off time and time again and dangerously whipped about once free. Their ladder device to carry the shingles up to the roof failed and then failed again? It was a comedy of errors except this was my home they were working on. They promised a professional crew and quality work its but they promise a lot.

I sat outside and watched the roofers while some of my code was running ( i am a developer be trade) I noticed they brought along 4 sheets of osb (today's cheap plywood). I didn't expect any wood to need to be replaced as the old roof was a mere 8 years old. Before I knew it they had a circular saw out and cut one of my sheets ...

I asked why the replacement and they indicated the while wood wasn't rotten it was a little buckled. So who cleared this? No answer. Communication is difficult because the crew speaks limited English - or so they like me to believe. Fearing a sham I called my salesman and verbally blasted him. He came over to my house and we continued to have words. You aren't very friendly he said. I said I am pissed That I have to watch your guys.. He left in a huff.

I came outside not ten minutes later and I noticed they were putting the rubber ice shield on top of the rhino paper (today's tar paper). That would essentially make the ice shield useless. Another call and "we are sending our QC guy". Juan arrives looks up and says yeah "its wrong" after much yelling they reluctantly tore the old stuff off and redid it. Juan didn't finish high school but he knows roofing. I make them redo the old step flashing that they were inclined to leave (just not good work)

Juan tells me he was told stay and make sure its right. Still Juan slips away and then much returns after awhile? I latter am told Juan was working multiple companies and was shown the door.

The next day saw more sloppy work -the wrong color caulking, tar stained on on my white garage door .....

One of them asks me do you get snow here? (I think OMG)

Update 8 months later- we came home from Florida to discover the ceiling in the first floor kitchen has water stains. Heavy rains when we were away.. It looks like a large bit of paint is gone as well. I suspect the joint where the garage meets the main house is leaking ... Did they replace that step flashing? This roof cost 20 something thousand! (Insurance and me). I called and they are coming today - I'll have to hold my temper, getting angry accomplishes nothing.

After several attempts to fix the leak and repaints of my kitchen ceiling the salesman said "yeah I guess quality slipped.'' Ya think?


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[Moemg]

My deepest sympathy . I just finished the fencing replacement from hell . We got estimates in march and then it took till may for the salesman to get back to me despite numerous call , texts and emails . We signed the contract in the beginning of may and they started installation July 25th with the slowest installer ever . First day he worked two hours disappeared for two hours and then worked two more hours . The next day he worked one hour and left for the day . After I complained he did finish the job on day three . This was a major fence company .

 

[Dreamer]

I hear you. We are in the process of having our roof replaced right now. Three people showed up last Tuesday. One man was in an old van that had a confederate flag license plate on the front and a skull decal in the middle of his front window. He worked part of the day and left finally. DH said he came off of the roof in 90 something degree weather and was not sweating. He paced up and down our driveway and kept mumbling. He went to his van and was rocking back and forth and groaning. DH went to check on him and he left. His brother, still working on our roof, said he is a diabetic, but won't go to the doctor. We are not happy that someone is his medical shape is up on our roof. DH told his brother this and the other guy has not shown back up. So last week, we had the original guy and his son or as my DH calls him, the worthless son. We have had heavy rains also. Water started leaking in the recessed light in our bedroom. We called the owner and he said that he will call Eric, who lives around 45 minutes away from us, to come. In the meantime, I am holding the ladder, while my DH is climbing up on the roof, and then I am throwing tarps up to him, all the while it is pouring rain. Eric shows up and takes over. Eric works Friday and Friday night it pours again and is leaking in our bedroom again. Call the owner of the company who just got to his house from working another job and the owner comes to our house. He also lives about 45 minutes away. He stops the leak. He tells us that he will be at our house today, with a crew. There were 5 or 6 guys here today and a lot of work was done. My DH said they should finish up tomorrow. Our bedroom and bath were added on, before we bought the place. We added an oversize 2 car garage. We have a lot of roof. They had to replace quite a bit of wood on our roof and said it was going to cost more than the estimate they gave us. He had told us, they would have to wait until the shingles were off, to see what shape the roof was in. I am dreading to see how much extra it is going to cost.

 

[NW-Bound]

Reading all this makes one want to sell his home and move into a tiny home. With a tiny home, one can do everything himself. Heck, people with no previous experience even build their own tiny home.

 

[mamadogmamacat]

Sorry for your troubles......when i got my roof replaced 10 yrs ago I spent a lot of time on getting bids and researching companies, including getting referrals from friends and neighbors (even before calling for bids)......ended up picking an estimate that was roughly in the middle $ wise...have had no problems either with install (I was present for most of it) or since then......two tree branch incidents with relatively minor damage were repaired promptly by same company, one paid by insurance, the other minor enough that I paid myself rather than having a claim..........research is so important, also there is value in just a gut feel about integrity when speaking to the co rep's.which was also why i chose the bid I did, rather than the lowest one..........I know even with all that Murphy's law can still apply....but i was fortunate in my case, and even if something had gone wrong at least I knew I did all I could to avoid it......did your insurance co require you to use this contractor?

 

[Sunset]

This is why I hate to hire companies to do some job.
I spend lots of time researching the job, then the possible companies using Google and BBB on their names, or phone numbers, or address to eliminate the worst of the worst.

Still it's a risk, and I'll do my own repairs that I can do, but I have given up doing roofs and don't have the skills to do everything.
I feel the pain.

 

[Koolau]

We saw adds for a local roofing company who claimed they did excellent work, fast, professional and with complete clean-up. We found someone who had just used them and they seemed to confirm the truth of the advertising so we hired them. After the first day (primarily tear off and bad-plywood replacement) I found one single 2 square inch piece of old tar paper in the yard - no nails, no scrap, nada. Next day, job was done, looked good, was exactly as estimated. No leaks for the time we lived there. There ARE good companies out there. You just have to find them and then pass along their names to your friends. Good luck to all as YMMV.

 

[Amethyst]

When we had our roof replaced, we not only interviewed several contractors, but went around to homes they had worked on (as verified by the owners) to see how the roofs looked. The roofs done by our chosen contractor really looked nice.

 

[frank]

I hired a friend of my son's to do my roof and paid too much for it. but having known the guy for many years and he is the godfather to oone of my grandchildren, I was pretty confident that I would get a good job and I did. but I went for someone to replace some windows, different story, I called a half a dozen guys, two showed up, looked at the windows and said they would be in touch, no one even called to give me a price or decline the work. finally I am doing the windows myself. contractors are in such high demand around here that it seems they can pick and choose their work. I feel the pain for anyone who is hiring contractors, because you don't know what kind of work you will get, the ones that do the quality work are so booked up they are unavailable, and they all charge way too much for the work being done.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Ray, do you have a skylight anywhere near the leak?

Also, it could be leaking around the roof piping.

 

[eytonxav]

The problem with leaks is they can travel and the leak may not be coming from where you would think. I've gone through 4 roof replacements since arriving in DFW back in 1993, and I've let only one quality roofing company touch my roofs and never had a problem.

 

[Big_Hitter]

The problem with leaks is they can travel and the leak may not be coming from where you would think. I've gone through 4 roof replacements since arriving in DFW back in 1993, and I've let only one quality roofing company touch my roofs and never had a problem.

that's why I asked about the skylight. mine leaked to a spot 20 ft away

 

[Badger]

We had our roof replaced with shingles 3 times in the past 30 years. We always used one of the 2 major brands rated 30+ years but they just don't hold up in the harsh Fl sun. The last shingles were just bad and the company warranty was not worth anything. I don't think any of the warranties cover anything but prorated on the shingles only which is less than half the price of the job. We constantly fought leaks around the chimney for years with each new roof. After the first roof I toyed with the idea of a standing seam metal roof screwed down but I thought the cost was too high. I should have done it anyway. It would have cost less than the next 2 shingle roofs. I finally had the metal roof installed 4 years ago and have not had any problems since. In addition it helped keep the house temperature more constant, our electric bill has been lower since the installation, and we won't have to have another roof installed ever again.

Cheers!

 

[eytonxav]

that's why I asked about the skylight. mine leaked to a spot 20 ft away

Right, I'd look at all of the roof penetrations: chimney, vent stacks, ridge vent (if you have one), valley flashing, sky lights, etc or maybe raised shingles.

 

[Music Lover]

With a tiny home, one can do everything himself. Heck, people with no previous experience even build their own tiny home.

I respectfully disagree. Small homes may be easier due to the size, but unless you know what you're doing, you can't just "build" a house. It doesn't work that way...knowledge of basic construction techniques is required whether it is a 200 sq. ft. house or a 2000 sq. ft. house.

 

[Music Lover]

I've gone through 4 roof replacements since arriving in DFW back in 1993, and I've let only one quality roofing company touch my roofs and never had a problem.

Why have you needed 4 new roofs in 23 years? Are these all on the same house, or is it multiple homes??

 

[Bestwifeever]

We had a (non-emergency) roof reshingle and other work done (new windows, new deck) during the great recession--it was so easy to get really good companies' attention back then and they were all so grateful for the work. Today there is so much construction going on that they're all busy and would not have time for us.

 

[MichaelB]

There coming tomorrow for the 4th time.. This time a new guy will cut holes in my ceiling to "find the leak..." They have tried everything... I am at my limit.

After the experiences suffered when the roof was replaced and the multiple efforts to repair, it looks like it's time to change roofer.

 

[Music Lover]

There coming tomorrow for the 4th time.. This time a new guy will cut holes in my ceiling to "find the leak..." They have tried everything... I am at my limit.

If there is access to the attic, then why do they have to cut through the ceiling to find the leak?

 

[Big_Hitter]

Right, I'd look at all of the roof penetrations: chimney, vent stacks, ridge vent (if you have one), valley flashing, sky lights, etc or maybe raised shingles.

squirrels ate through the flashing on my vent stacks once - that caused a leak

 

[samclem]

We had our roof replaced with shingles 3 times in the past 30 years. We always used one of the 2 major brands rated 30+ years but they just don't hold up in the harsh Fl sun. . . . .After the first roof I toyed with the idea of a standing seam metal roof screwed down but I thought the cost was too high. I should have done it anyway. It would have cost less than the next 2 shingle roofs. I finally had the metal roof installed 4 years ago and have not had any problems since. In addition it helped keep the house temperature more constant, our electric bill has been lower since the installation, and we won't have to have another roof installed ever again.

I'm pretty sure we'll be going with a steel roof when our present shingles (10 YO) give out. I used "snap down" concealed faster metal roofing on a patio cover I built and it was not a hard job and it will likely last 50 years (really 50 years, not "shingle warranty years"). Now, a house has a lot more penetrations and details than a simple shed-style roof, but I think I could do it with assistance from someone who has done it before, and a helper or two. The difference in material cost to do my roof (1800 sq ft) in steel vs shingles would be about $1000, so it would be well worth it.
The only glitch: I'm in a typical suburban neighborhood with homes built in the late 50's/early 60s (mostly single-level ranch over basement). Nobody has a metal roof in my neighborhood, and I don't know if the house will look out of place, an/ord if the neighbors will be grabbing pitchforks if I do this. Heck--what do I care as long as the water stays outside for the next 50 years?

 

[imoldernu]

OMG... This is all we needed.

Awaiting roofers for approved insured replacement (hail damage).

Gotta go take a Prozac.

 

[Ronstar]

Ray - I hope they fix your roof for good this time. It's really tough to get a quality contractor and redo these days. I'm going to need a new roof in the next 5 years. I've been watching local re-roofs hoping to find what looks like a quality contractor.

 

[W2R]

I haven't had to get a roof replaced in over 30 years because the houses I have lived in mostly had pretty new roofs.

My present roof is ten years old and is just the regular shingles, nothing fancy. If it ever started to leak, I wouldn't mind paying for a new roof. These things happen and I have been too lucky for too long.

Samclem, I think metal roofs look pretty good and I wouldn't worry about that aspect. Personallly I will never pay for a 50-year metal roof, because my life expectancy is about 20 years and honestly I don't care what my heirs get for my house after I croak. Also, I have heard that the metal roofs can be dangerous during hurricanes if torn off, and can damage the rest of the house like anything else heavy and blown around by hurricane winds. Don't know if that is true or not, but that is what I heard. Also, I have been told that metal roofs are over twice as expensive as shingle roofs, here. Between the hurricane dangers, my life expectancy, and my natural cheap-a$$ nature, I'd just buy a normal shingle roof if I needed a new roof.

 

[lemming]

I respectfully disagree. Small homes may be easier due to the size, but unless you know what you're doing, you can't just "build" a house. It doesn't work that way...knowledge of basic construction techniques is required whether it is a 200 sq. ft. house or a 2000 sq. ft. house.

Music lover I think you missed the big heaping pile of sarcasm there.