[Bray1am]

I have a house that is about 150 years old. It is a brick house and has a flat front porch that is stone. It also has a add on which is my dining room. It has a flat roof.
Main house is shingles and the two flat roofs were some kind of flat roof stuff.

I got a quote for the flats. It was like 12,000. Then I decided to do the whole house. Bid went to 22,000. House is about 1700 sg ft. 2 story. Lots of pitch and angles. Very complicated roof for sure.

I thought decking was included. Turns out no. They want an additional 2800. I showed them contract and on page one it says decking included. on page 2 says its not. So they are like sorry for the confusion, we will take half. Is this fair?

They were to use EPDM on the back. They used flintlastic. From my research, flintlastic is less expensive so should not I get a credit?

Now they have waited to long and its cold out. MI here. So they cant do my front porch. It was supposed to be EPDM. They said they can do it with TPO or something cuz it doesnt matter the temp cuz they melt it or something.
Should I have them do TPO or should I wait and do the EPDM in the spring?

They want payment for what is done. I understand, but we cant agree on what that amount is. Original bid is 12,000. Front porch is not done and thats the bigger of the two. So if i did an even split that means i get a credit of 6000. But they are saying that I should only get like 5,000. When I explain to them the original contract, they say it doesn't matter cuz thats not the signed contract. They say the original contract is for the flats and they were charging a higer rate. But now that we did the whole house, they gave a discount on the flats and bla bla bla. Is this fair?

They are also supposed to do gutters. My facias are rotted and gutters are hanging off the roof. ITS BAD!! They can see this. Now they are like, we did not know all the fascia was bad. We thought only a 5 ft section. So if you want all of it done, its going to be more. Fair? IDK

They are also now stating that they think some of the soffit is rotted and maybe rafters. So that would be an additional cost. Is this fair?

I want to be fair but I also thought 22,000 was going to be the final amount. Not 25 or 30.

Please help.

They have a great REP but I just feel like they under quoted to get the job and now they are worried.

 

[Gymschu]

I don't think you will get a lot of responses to this. There's just no way for us to gauge the pricing in your part of the country (MI) for what has been done and what additions have been made to the original work. Sit down with your contractor and go over each and every item in it to make sure you're both on the same page. If changes were made or you want changes/add ons, etc., a change order should be written up and signed by you and your contractor.

If all of that rot is going on and wasn't discovered earlier, well, there's not much anyone can do. Again, have the add ons written into a change order or contract and go from there. It's never fair when problems are found that were never anticipated. Just the nature of the trades.

 

[SPS-1]

I am sure its common on roofing jobs that the extent of rotted pieces is difficult to determine until they start ripping things off. Extra charges on those types of issues, I would say are fair up-charges.

However, if your place is in bad shape, the salesman really should have made that clear. But just the same that type of extra charge is fair.

 

[Calson]

Cheaper to reach a settlement as in most areas the laws favor the contractor who can attach a mechanics's lien on the property. Attorneys are expensive and you are tossing the dice with them as they get paid win or lose.

If a particular underlayment was specified in the contract then you can force the issue.

Damaged decking or rot at the eaves, while not unusual is going to be on a time and materials basis and the hourly rate should have been specified in the contract.

You waited until the very last minute to do the work and you will pay the price for your delay one way or another. What is "fair" is irrelevant in such a situation.

 

[3onthetree]

They were to use EPDM on the back. They used flintlastic. From my research, flintlastic is less expensive so should not I get a credit?

Now they have waited to long and its cold out. MI here. So they cant do my front porch. It was supposed to be EPDM. They said they can do it with TPO or something cuz it doesnt matter the temp cuz they melt it or something.
Should I have them do TPO or should I wait and do the EPDM in the spring?

There is a whole lot of stuff going on with this job, different pages, signing/not signing, bait/switch, the whole package. In general I wouldn't want anything other than what the contract specifies, and I would be fine with paying extra for what it doesn't.

Just focusing on Flintlastic vs EPDM: Did you authorize the substitution, and is it actually CertainTeed Flintlastic? Flintlastic can be installed by the gruntwork ashpalt shinglers, but usually you want a little more knowledge with EPDM and TPO. EPDM is much better if you have corners, parapets, pipe intrusions, or collecting snow. You can fit a 1piece EPDM over a small roof, where you will have seams with the Flintlastic. So it needs a slope to avoid puddling. Usually a self-adhering granular coated roll roofing like Flintlastic will be used on just a small low-slope roof where you might see if from below, so you would like it matching the shingles.

The front changing to TPO, I don't know. I hear too many bad stories from residential asphalt shinglers installing flat roofs in general. Do they have the right equipment to do the seams? Is this roof going to be accessed by foot? Visible from below? Why didn't they just suggest the Flintlastic there like the back? I've read the sticky can be heated up to install in cold weather.