I fell through the ceiling

[vietnamvet]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

on may 1st 2009, i hired a heating and air company to service my 2 furnace units, and they did, said everything was ok, i paid them and they left. on may 24th,2009 we returned home to find a flood of water coming through the second floor ceiling from the attic. i pulled down the jacobs ladder and made my way to the attic to find out what happened. (a difficult task as i am disabled) i was able to get a few feet into the actic and stepped through the drywall, landing on an attic beam with my back as my leg dangled through the ceiling. i slowly got myself up and got down from the attic and called the company. they sent out a tech who supposedly fixed the leaking furnace, but as we returned home the next night, we saw the same thing happen again....still water leaking through the ceiling. i called them again, they sent another tech out and fixed it again. now the company said that they will only pay for the water damage in the drywall, not the 12 inch hole in the drywall where my leg fell through. i banged up my knee and hurt my back in this fall, but all i want fixed is the damaged drywall**************my question is do i have a legal case against this company?
thank you,
vietnamvet

[xylene]

Was the drywall you fell through water damaged?

If yes, they still pay to replace it.

If no, then what is your reasoning for their responsibility for you stepping thru the drywall?

[vietnamvet]

no, i don't believe so. i live here 3 years and as i stated i am disabled. i've never been up in the attic because it's so difficult for me to climb steps, but i had to do something to determine if my roof was leaking or the water was coming fron something else.
thank you,
vietnamvet

[ecmst12]

If you don't know how to do something properly, then don't try to do it yourself. You are not supposed to try to walk on the drywall in the attic, it's not nearly strong enough to support a grown person's weight. You are supposed to step ONLY on the beams. You never should have tried to go up there yourself if you don't know even that much basic information, you should have just called the HVAC company back. The hole in the drywall is "user error" and not their fault.

[vietnamvet]

my reason for going up to the attic was to determine where the leak was coming from, i didn't know if i had a roof leak or what. if it was a roof leak, why would i call the hvac company? i need to find out who to call. i would have had no other reason for going up there. i also know not to walk on drywall, but i slipped off the beam.
thank you,
vietnamvet

[ecmst12]

It is still not their fault that you slipped or that you went up into the attic when you should have known that it was beyond your physical capabilities.