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Battle w/ roofing company over whether work is considered complete for final payment

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lkmiss

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CO

I consulted with a friend of a friend who was a roof venting expert. I have a historical home (late 1800s) and rather than cut holes in the roof for box vents, thereby affecting the aesthetics of the roof, it was suggested by the venting expert to use edgevents that go right over and along the gutters, in addition to a ridge vent on the peak of the roof. Roofer could not get the small quantity of edgevents required (had to order a pallet full at a minimum), so venting "friend" gave them to me for free because he said they didn't cost him much anyway. I asked roofer about his experience with installing these and he stated that he had worked with them previously and they were not a big deal to install. This was a storm damage claim that my insurance was paying for. Roofer was also going to coordinate getting gutters replaced with their sub that they use. Insurance was only going to pay for gutters damaged on one side of the house.

Roofers finished re-roof and that very evening, we had a typical summer rain storm. The next morning the basement carpet was saturated on one side of the house and water was seeping in through the stone foundation walls. We have been in the house over 16 years and never had a drop off water in the basement, which is unfinished. I called the roofer immediately who indicated that it was a new roof, so it could not be the roof. I called a contractor who came out and he said it looked like a gutter issue. Sure enough after further inspection, we could see that the gutters were tilted at an odd angle, causing the roof to overshoot the gutters making the gutters useless. I called the roofer and told him what the contractor had determined and he had their gutter sub come out to make adjustments to the gutters. Unfortunately, the gutters are still tilted and not collecting the water properly and we still have moisture on the basement floor and wall. Apparently, the new venting on the roof raised the pitch of the roof edge so that they do not work with our current gutters (on the sides that the insurance is not paying to replace). The roofer had never mentioned that this could be an issue and did not raise any concerns to me before the roofing job. I then had a few gutter companies come out to give their opinion and estimates. Each one agreed that the gutter issue was causing our wet basement and the current gutters could not be used given the new roof angle. However, they were concerned with how to attach new gutters since the roofer did not put new gutter strapping underneath the felt and edgevents, which they said the roofer should have known to do. They indicated that some shingle layers, felt and the edge venting, would need to be lifted off to properly install the straps and they would need to coordinate with the roofer to do that. I contacted the roofer to let them know what I was told and asked them to file an "incidental" claim with my insurance company to get approval for new and larger gutters to fix the problem that came about from the re-foor and to repair the basement damage, which they did. It is still pending.

It took 3 months for the roofer to come back to re-install my dismantled balcony railing and complete some other unfinished work pertaining to the roof. Gutters have remained as-is for 3 months during all our summer rain. Roofer demanded final payment on the roof saying that the roofing job was complete, but I refused to pay them because from my perspective, I have a leaking basement caused by a gutter that they re-installed improperly, which caused basement damage amounting to $2,000 (based on two contractor estimates). They said it is not their fault that I selected edge vent and that I even got the venting for free from a friend. That said, I am neither a venting nor roofing expert and I trusted them to know what they were doing and to advise me properly. I went with what was recommended for venting (albeit not by them) and the roofing co. owner himself said they had experience with it. Their crew re-installed the gutters, which visually, even a novice can see are not on properly, and they never indicated there was a problem with the gutters until I discovered the water in the basement. The roofing employee actually stated that unless he brought back the final check from me, he would be fired. He called his boss while I was standing there when I said I wasn't paying until everything was complete and when he hung up, he sarcastically thanked me, said he just lost his job, he would never come back and drove off.

As an aside, the roofing company created other damage from their roofing job amounting to $1,300, which they submitted to my insurance to pay out as an "incidental", which is why I requested they do the same with the gutters and basement issue. They put a half dollar sized hole in my plaster ceiling high above a stairwell which is not easily accessible with a ladder, and damaged a lot of the decorative trim, crown moulding and soffits around the exterior of the house during roof tear off. So, while I got a check from the insurance company to cover that damage, I am stuck having to deal with it, as I try to find a contractor who can do those repairs since they are all booked up and my job is relatively small.

I don't dispute the amount that is owed to the roofer, but I do dispute that the job is not complete and final payment therefore is not due. I didn't have a leaking basement foundation wall and floor before they arrived and now I do along with the other damage they left me with which to deal. Who is right? Do I have any legal standing? What if the insurance company denies the claim on the basement? Would you say the roofer is liable to me for the $2,000 of damage in the basement? And, now I would be worried that if they did step up to work with a gutter company, they would do a half-assed job just to get it done and not care about the quality, leaving me with the potential for future leaks.
 
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