[sherik]

I’m in such a mess I don’t know what to do. Sorry this is lengthy. And I’m having problems with pictures loading. A lot going on. First, my home is a 1400 sq ft rambler. 2 bd- 2 bath. So...here comes the judge! I called in when Jeff had a talk show for the people of Texas. I’m going through a nightmare! I asked what happens when your roof sheathing gets really wet? Well I’ll tell you. I have a home renovation loan through the City. I had a contractor who has a “partner” who was to do the roof. He started by removing the shingles and was replacing my “rotted” roof sheathing with “interior birch”! I caught it right away! Then he was caught in lies. This is in January in Washington a state in down pours. He had put some kind of underlayment down which was flapping in the rain and wind. Second contractors came in, ripped off the underlayment and out new down to dry out the roof. Wrong! It too was flapping in the breeze in wind and rain! They gave me a dehumidifier and roofed a couple days later with my roof soaking wet. My attic was wet my insulation was wet, my walls and ceilings are wet, my light switches shorted out. The inside of my garage had water coming down the entire wall over light switches and dripping on my new table saw rusting it out! I bought a moisture meter and had to rip sheetrock off my walls especially above windows before mold appeared, which it smelled musty. All insulation had to come out but before it was thoroughly dried and all the drywall was replaced they replaced it! Because it’s a City loan I had nothing to say! I documented everything. Now no one answers me. I call and nothing back. So I have a lawyer. I called about permits. They said to talk to the contractor. They also put in a furnace, $9700!!! And had another company come fix it to code. Now it’s leaking. No permit for insulation. My ceiling looks like waves! The more they don’t answer the more I’m finding out.
Before you hire a contractor go to your State Labor and Industry and check everyone out thoroughly! I know permits are a pain but so important. Check your codes! They changed this year! I had the electrical and hot water inspected which passed but my vent on the roof is duct taped together. The roofers broke it and won’t do anything about it. I want to just go buy I property and live in a camper!

My fathers advice - if you want something done do it yourself! I had my good friend - which I couldn’t use because the “City only has certain contractors you can use”, came to my home. I was looking for an estimate. He said no way! Two contractors already going horrible job. Roof, insulation, ceiling, sheetrock would have to come down and start from scratch! Yes, I have a headache! Part of me doesn’t want anyone else to touch my home. Just go away! I’ll do it myself! But this is a big project! I guess I’ll have to see what happens legally.

 

[Nealtw]

I would be looking at what the city requires to get on their contractor list. They have the list to protect their investment, they failed so they should be the ones to loose.

 

[Bud9051]

Did they provide you with the name of their insurance company or does the city have it? Have your lawyer contact that insurance company and notify them you have a claim coming and want them to take a look and take control of fixing this right.

Bud

 

[chandler48]

More background here: Removing kitchen soffit -to do or not to do. and here: Does this mean I have to pull more Drywall? in case it helps.

 

[dj3]

Who told you it was OK to replace a roof in Washington state in January?
If your old roof was leaking and you decided to replace it, couldn't you wait for a week with no rain?

 

[chandler48]

wait for a week with no rain?

IN Washington State....Good luck.

 

[Domo]

I won't ask about written contracts, insurance certification, licenses or permits.

I'm so sorry you never found a real contractor that knows his job. I would hope you do know a lawyer.

 

[dj3]

IN Washington State....Good luck.

I know, but experienced roofers know how to handle rain and water.
These roofers were negligible for not protecting an unfinished roof in the rain.

 

[sherik]

Who told you it was OK to replace a roof in Washington state in January?
If your old roof was leaking and you decided to replace it, couldn't you wait for a week with no rain?

Sorry I didn’t respond sooner. The whole situation makes me sick. I told them it was tarped and dry and could wait. They were in the hurry. This is just a big mess up! It’s September. I’m still fighting. I have had multiple reports and inspections to back me up. No lawyer wants to take it unless I pay $$$. The City sent their lawyer on me saying they are not responsible - yet they chose the contractors. I told him to go back and read his own contract. I can’t even get bids to fix the damage. No one wants to touch it. I have one last hit and it’s a biggy! Then, thanks to this channel I will do the inside work myself. That way I know it will be done right. Then sell and get the heck out of this City.

 

[Drachenfire]

The likely reason a lawyer won't take the case on contingency is because you are fighting the city who has near limitless taxpayer dollars to drag the case out until you give up, so it is a no-win for the lawyer.

I am not sure why other contractors will not bid on the repairs if you are willing to pay for it. I can only guess you told them about the home renovation loan through the city and that the damages was caused by city supplied contractors. Now, they are afraid to get in the middle of the dispute between you and the city.

I am not sure of the nuances of a city supplied renovation loan.

Did the you sign a contract with the contractors or did the city do so?

If you signed the contract and the contractors failed to meet the terms of it, then it seems you could bring suit against the contractor.

 

[sherik]

I signed a contract with the City and the contractors. It states the work is to be inspected 30, 60, 90, and 100% and satisfied by me, the owner, 100% along the way for payment. It also states that the City backs the loan for the first year. And that’s why I went back to them. They were calling almost daily and coming over often and with Zoom calls. But when damage hit the fan they went away. Their lawyer sent me a letter stating the City is only the lender. I told the lawyer to go back and read his own contract, highlighting those parts of the contract. My good friend is a contractor. He looked at it and said no way. Not worth it. He said roof has to come off, insulation out, most of the ceiling removed and all sheetrock repaired. All rooms need repainted. And then put back together. Who wants to clean up other contractors mess? I’m sending all correspondences back to the City and their lawyer, L & I complaint, complaint to the Federal program, who is supposed to be auditing the States about this and see what happens. Meanwhile I am packing and probably fix myself and sell as is and move.

 

[Drachenfire]

I am sorry you are having these issues. I hope you get it resolved soon

 

[sherik]

Did they provide you with the name of their insurance company or does the city have it? Have your lawyer contact that insurance company and notify them you have a claim coming and want them to take a look and take control of fixing this right.

Bud

Thank you. Sorry I didn’t post earlier. I’m trying to figure out the format of the chat and somehow missed this. That’s a great idea. I did get the info from L & I.

 

[Fix'n it]

Thank you. Sorry I didn’t post earlier. I’m trying to figure out the format of the chat and somehow missed this.

on a PC = upper right corner, your pic, click that, then click "following". on a phone, i have no idea.

 

[tmittelstaedt]

Your only chance I think is to get a lawyer to get you off the hook for owing anything on the loan. That is you maybe can sign a deal where they admit no wrongdoing and you owe nothing. You will likely have to involve your state representative, your city council representative, your county representatives, basically any elected official you can find. Your only leverage will be the threat of going to the news and having an expose done.

But as for the approach of "I got wronged so they are going to fix everything for free" forget that. And when you personally responded to their lawyer you told them you weren't going to put money into fighting it which means it's OK to ignore you, or try gaslighting you, or just BSing you.

I learned with disputes long long ago that things change when you pay an attorney. I had a neighbor once who started trying to fire up a property border dispute on a boundary line and a driveway. I did all the legal research from the county, paid $500 for a survey, sent her a carefully worded explanatory letter essentially saying she was FOS. All ignored. Finally in disgust I hauled all my paperwork into a lawyers office, laid it out, he looked at it and said "yep, you are in the right and she is in the wrong" whereupon a week later he had some paralegal in his office draft the worst grammar and misspelled letter I had ever seen in my life and sent it to her, charging me another $500. That ended it. (maybe she was just as bad a speller as the paralegal)

The moment they realize you will spend money on a real lawyer is when they start asking "how much will it cost for me to make you go away" and wanting to settle. Until then you are just another crank of which they have an endless supply of that they can ignore.

Yes you will need to pay to fix all of this. But, it was all wrecked before anyone even started with it - that's why you had the original roof torn off. So you will end up where you would have been if you had done nothing. Just now you will know you have to do it like everyone else does and get a home equity loan from a regular bank or refinance your house and use a real contractor not someone who has bribed their way onto some city list. A real contractor with a good rep doesn't need to bother with an approved list like the city list, or angies list or someplace like that. Word of Mouth will give them more business than they can handle. Those lists are for young contractors just starting out with no experience to build their resume, and for scammers.

I would ask where was your father when you were buying this house or making all these decisions? Where were your contractor friends? I'm a father myself with an adult daughter. I would be very sad if my daughter embarked on a project like this without discussing it with me since I've been on this earth a lot longer than she has been, and made a mistake like this with a contractor with similar results (although only once, never again). I certainly hope we have a good enough relationship that when it comes time for her to buy a home she would ask my advice and take it which would be to hire her own home inspector before buying. We aren't born knowing all this stuff we either learn it ourselves from the school of hard knocks or we learn it by listening to someone else who has. My bet is you are an independent sort of cuss who was sure I got this and didn't want to ask for help in the beginning when it would have done the most good. Then things went sideways and you suddenly had a come-to-jesus moment and now are trying to bail yourself out. Well OK, you are young, you will survive this. Even if worst came to worst and you just walked away from it all and let the bank foreclose, in another decade you will be older, wiser, with a new nest egg built up and ready to buy again. And you will know to reach out in advance to your friends and family, you don't have to learn this in the school of hard knocks. I've been there, done that, and wouldn't want any of my friends to do it.

Good luck and I'll cross my fingers for ya.

 

[laostrich]

I’m so sorry to hear what’s happened to you. I too am new-ish buyer who had not so glowing experience with contractors so far. Hope you can resolve this in a timely manner and have this nightmare behind you.

 

[sherik]

Me too!