Burnt on Roof

What is the name of your state? Oregon
Hello, I hope you can give me an answer other that what I think you are going to say.... My problem is. We had our house built in 1997. It cost us over $ 130,000.00 to the contractor. Nine years have gone by and we just found out that we have to replace our entire roof. Our least expensive quote to replace it was $ 8,675.00 and that is providing that none of the plywood has been damaged. The problem was caused by many sheets of plywood not being nailed down so they have now started slipping under each other and the shingles were not stapled in the correct places. Also, there was no metal flashing put around the edge of the roof. We were told that we have been lucky that as far as they can tell there has not yet been any damage to the inside drywall. I have checked with our Contractor's Board and naturally the contractor is no longer licensed is there anything that we can do to this guy. Believe it or not we did check with some of his previous homeowners and saw his work. He did come highly recommended. I am pretty sure he is still in the area but like I said he is no longer licensed as a contractor. Any chance that we could maybe take him to court??? Our roof should have lasted a minimum of no less than 15 years and I believe the shingles actually are a 25 year shingle, however it's not the shingle manufacture fault but the negligence of the contractor. Your help is deeply appreciated**************.Thank You

Some states have a long statute of limitations that goes beyond any warranty, AND there may be a statute of repose that deals with when you found out about the defect. The statute of limitations may or may not have started running when you found out, as opposed to when the house was built.

Find a good construction defect attorney for some advice on your state's law. Ask him/her what your state's law is regarding builder's right to cure law. AKA right to repair, notice of opportunity to repair, right to remedy, and so on. If the lawyer doesn't know what that is you may be talking to the wrong lawyer, especially if they claim to specialize in construction, because it's a widespread law now, promoted by the builders. Kind of hampers the homeowner but you would have no choice but to follow it if it exists in your state.

Find out if your state's small claims court has a high enough limit you could take your case there. Some states are quite high, other states almost worthlessly low. Depending again on local laws, you may be able to go after the builder but usually the reason people don't, when they're out of business, is there's no assets to get, no money. If he had insurance that is still in effect that may be another story. Sometimes you can go after a builder personally, sometimes you cannot. Run it all by a lawyer and see where you stand.

I'm also amazed your roof held up as long as it did!

Good luck.

burnt on roof

Thank You so much for your advice. I was given a referral for an attorney from the CCB and I am going to scheduling an appointment. We are scheduled to have the roof replaced in two weeks. Hopefully before the rains come. Would it be better to see the attorney before the roof is replaced or would it be better to have photos of the damage as the roof is being repaired? Also, the CCB is sending me a complaint form to file against the contractor. His license expired in 2002 so I am not holding on much luck of anything happening to him or us to be reimbursed but have you ever dealth with any such cases similar to ours? Thank You again......Your advice is deeply appreciated.....