What would you do?

[irmanator]

My roof is leaking again.

The history of it:
December '08 had some home improvements done includeing vents installed on roof. Roof was newish and had no leaks before this.
January '09 winter thaw came and melting snow and rain leaked thru to the point of needing a bucket to catch it in the kitchen.
Called the contractor/owner, he tried to tell me that his people had nothing to do with my roof leaking. I offered to send him text pictures of the hole in my roof that was new with sawdust still around it because his ppl cut a hole for the vent and decided that was a bad location but forgot to patch the hole. So he sent a guy out that night with a caulk type gun of roof tar.

March '09 thawed snow is leaking again. Called them and got runaround. Between March and May played phone tag and occaisionally someone would come but wasn't prepared to do the work nessary because they were not informed of what they were really coming for.

May '09 finally someone came to fix it. supposedly.

Well it is leaking again in same place.

My husband says sue the hell out of them. I am not sure, I am getting an estimate from a different contractor. Depending on the cost I want to just fix it and be done with it. If it costs more than I have I may have to contact a lawyer. I am just not sure if the cost of the lawyer will be worth it. Also with winter coming I am not sure I want to wait for this to be settled in court.

What would you do?

[disneysteve]

What would I do? I would give him one more chance. Call and explain that it is still leaking and you want it fixed properly within the next 2 weeks. Let him know that if it isn't fixed, you will take legal action. At that point, I'd have a friend or relative who happens to be an attorney do me a favor and write a letter on his letterhead to the contractor informing him that if the problem isn't fixed to my satisfaction within 30 days, he will proceed with legal action against him. I probably wouldn't actually sue unless the cost of the job really warranted wasting my time to do so, but I've found that a letter from an attorney often gets results.

[irmanator]

I would but it takes them too many visits to get it done because they never tell the guy they are sending what needs to be done so they are unprepared. I don't have time to sit around waiting for uprepared contractors to show up and tell me they don't have the right stuff and they will be back next week. Then they never show and i have to call the office and complain again to a new person so i have to go thru the whole story again.

My roof is leaking now and if it is not fixed right and soon it could lead to other problems.

[disneysteve]

I would but it takes them too many visits to get it done because they never tell the guy they are sending what needs to be done so they are unprepared. I don't have time to sit around waiting for uprepared contractors to show up and tell me they don't have the right stuff and they will be back next week. Then they never show and i have to call the office and complain again to a new person so i have to go thru the whole story again.

My roof is leaking now and if it is not fixed right and soon it could lead to other problems.

In that case, I'd just let it go with the first company and get somebody in to do the job right. Then I'd send a copy of the new bill to the old company, maybe with that letter from the attorney, and try and get them to pay it. They won't, but it can't hurt to try.

File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, too, and online at that site that rates contractors. I think it is Angie's List.

[snshijuptr]

Don't bother suing the contractor. My Dad was on the other side of a contractor legal battle (the guy defaulted on his expensive remodel) and the only people who made money were the lawyers.

[irmanator]

well I got the new contractor here today and he said it shouldn't be too much and he is gonna send a formal estimate in a day.

[maat55]

I would not rule out small claims court.

[irmanator]

well it may be a blessing in diguise as the small leak caused me to get a contractor up there and we discovered that i need to do some preventive maintanence around the chiminy that could have been a bigger problem if not corrected. So while I am not going to ever use the first contractor again. eh stuff happens

[feh]

Our roof had a leak after the shingles were replaced. I called the person that put on the new roof, who attempted to fix it. The leak reoccurred. I then called somebody else to repair it, and sent the bill to the original roofer. They paid the bill.

[Ima saver]

I agree with just getting it fixed. We have found that hiring a lawyer costs more than the repair. Same thing with small claims court if you use a lawyer.

[universalremodeling]

I just call a new contractor and let them fix it because if you sue them then its another waste of money.

[ThriftoRama]

Please do leave records of your experience with the bad contractor with angie's list and the BBB. You don't want him to do this to someone else.

[tulog]

How much was the other contractor's estimate?

If that amount is less than the limit in your state for small claims, then sue in small claims without a lawyer. The other party cannot have a lawyer in small claims court either, so you will be on equal ground. Also, there are no appeals.

If the amount exists the small claim jurisdiction, you can still sue in small claims but you will be able to sue for only the small claims limit. In my state, the limit you can claim is $7,500. You can also sue in Superior court, with or without a lawyer.

Personally, I would sue in small claims if the amount was $7,500 or less. I would sue in Superior by myself if the amount was greater, since you will not be recovering much with lawyer's fees, and this appears to be a simple case.