Dear Experts,
I have a townhouse in the Boston area with a flat roof. From top, there is the roof, the joists and insulation, and then the drywall. ie. It is not a truss system. There is no air space. Probably 2 x 10 joists. They span 14 feet from one unit to the next.
The past few months, roofers came came to upgrade the roof, and lay down a flat piece of new rubber on it. I'm told that this is the best.
One day, after they partially finished it, the rain came, and a leak started dripping through my light fixture at the top of the stairs. Apparently, one of the seams between the old and new roof was not fixed right.
I put a 3 gallon buckets under, and took out the light fixture so that the water would flow freely. Over the weekend, the buckets filled up (about 3/4 of the way) three times, and I emptied them.
I know that the insulation is acting as a sponge. The water gets in, and it slowly leaks out.
Since there is no air space, it is very difficult for the insulation to dry. It's not summer anymore, so that heat advantage is also gone. (Fiberglass insulation always needs a slight air space to breath, otherwise it sweats.)
The insulation also gets compressed and loses its insulative value.
And, there is the possibility of mold and mildew!!
See the pictures I took when it was first damaged:
Now starts the big debate as to how much to do, and who will pay. There is me, the insurance comany, the roofers, and the townhouse association manager (THAM).
The roofers first idea was that it was just fine. Not much damage, so just paint over it!!!
I said, rip it all down. Let it dry out. Put bleach to kill any mildew or mold. I'm sure that the area that we see actually damaged, is not the entire area to be damaged.
So far, the roofers have said that they would fix it all. They ripped out a small hole, about 2 feet by one joist width and pulled out the insulation. This was not as big as the THAM said to do. The roofer said that they would come back and enlarge it. Apparently, they are using a subcontractor to do the drywall.
I called my insurance agent. They expect me to file a claim and pay the deductible. Then, they would have an adjustor come out and give me an estimate. There is always the talk that if you have too many claims, they won't insure you, or gaily raise your rates for making claims.
I called Service Master and they came out to take a look. They say that they will:
- take down the drywall and insulation
- dry it out.
- put anti-microbial agents on the wood
- but not put the drywall and insulation back in, only do the "destruction" part. I would then have to find a drywaller and insulator to finish it.
Service Master says that they used their probe/sensor and found that the insulation was still wet. And, that the entire area above the stairs needs to be ripped out. Much larger than the area that looks damaged.
When I told this to the THAM, he says that Service Master gets lots of complaints, for doing too much, and charging for all the unneeded work. He says he will bring out another company they used, and we will get yet another opinion.
The THAM and the roofing company don't want the insurance companies involved, suing the roofer's insurance company, and raising their rates.
The THAM says that he will get the roofers to do what the second opinion will say to do.
All this occurs as I have just taken a job out of state, and I'm getting all my information over the phone, and can't see the damage since I left.
So, I'd like to know just how bad this is. Do I need to rip out the whole ceiling? Or, is this overkill? What are people's experience? Has anyone had mildew issues from something like this?
I'm hoping to get some opinions from people with experience either having had these kinds of repairs done. Or from someone who does professionally, who can give me some unbiased advice.
Thanks a lot!!!