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Home > Need Good Thoughts for My Leaky Roof

Need Good Thoughts for My Leaky Roof

March 8th, 2013 at 08:57 pm

It is a long story but several years ago my husband and I made a very bad choice in choosing a roofer for a major job. He was a crook, and the problems he has caused keep slowly appearing. We hired a lawyer for a consult at one point who came back to advise us that the guy is now in jail on unrelated drug charges and it is unlikely we would ever be able to get any money out of him for his shoddy work. I can really pick them.

So a couple of years ago we bought a REALLY tall ladder and a DIY Roofing book and we have tried to mitigate this disaster ourselves but my husband is apparently throwing in the towel. We are not handy people.

I won't be here tomorrow when the BIG roofing name in town (the guy we didn't hire because his quote was 50% higher than the crook. I know, I know) is coming out to give a repair estimate.

DH must have known how stressful this will be for me because he scheduled it for a time I'm headed to my Mom's and just now told me. By email. LOL

Anything under $6k and we're fine and I can fix it without touching the Emergency Funds. A little over that I can handle because I'm getting a Dividend payment next month and May is a 3 paycheck month. A lot over that and I'm going to be FREAKED OUT.

10 Responses to “Need Good Thoughts for My Leaky Roof”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1362777709

    Eh, that's funny your husband is telling you by email. I hope it's within the zone where you don't have to freak out!

  2. CB in the City Says:
    1362778291

    I had a good friend patch our roof and he ended punching holes in it that leaked. I've learned, too. It's best to go with the expert.

  3. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1362784273

    We had some bad roofers, too. I know how sick it makes you feel. It is so fundamental a protection of your life and possessions, and so expensive!

  4. patientsaver.com Says:
    1362793329

    Why accept what the lawyer said about not being able to recover damages? If it were me, I'd find out how long he's in jail and then sue his ass in small claims court. Check your statute of limitations in your state, though. It could be about 5 years, so if the incident happened earlier than that, you won't be able to go after him in small claims.

    I was fully prepared to do this myself a few years ago when i got a lousy paint job and it was peeling after the 2nd summer, but when i served the papers, they came back as undeliverable and thru my own investigating i learned the guy returned to his native Brazil

  5. patientsaver.com Says:
    1362793817

    Once he gets out of jail, well, the guy's gotta work, right? If you win a judgement (and you will be default if he's a no-show), you can have his paychecks garnished.

  6. sarah Says:
    1362801051

    Its strange but I had a very similar experience.I am now going to have to replace an entire flat rubber roof at a total cost of 16000 dollars. I almost fainted when I heard the estimate.

  7. snafu Says:
    1362802072

    We've always had 3 tradesmen to give estimates and checked each through Better Business Bureau. Have any of your neighbours or work colleagues had roof work done? Try Yelp or any local compliant forum for principles. Problem is crummy guys just use different business names. Roofers don't have credentials or licence requirements leaving consumers super vulnerable. Ask 'big name' roofer rep...who actually does the work?

  8. Thrifty Ray Says:
    1362845286

    I hope plan b is much more successful..and within your financial comfort zone. Home repair crooks are everywhere and itching to find their next payload...hopefully your post will help others avoid sharing your unfortunate circumstance!!!

  9. Looking Forward Says:
    1362849567

    *Fingers Crossed* for good news.

    Our roof needs replacing too.. Sigh..

  10. Jerry Says:
    1362953570

    We had a similar situation with a roofer that ended up in jail on something unrelated, and we never got the last bit of work out of him... and no insurance that his company would get it done, either! It definitely leads to a lot of stress and headaches. I wish we had been able to investigate a little better and get some suggestions from friends, but it was during a huge storm and we had no alternative. Good luck in getting this resolved!
    Jerry

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