new metal roof with new gutters - disaster

[MarkK]

Hi All,

I'm out in the sticks in NW Florida. Had a new metal roof with new seamless gutters installed on a two story.

The roof looked decent enough but the gutter was just wrong looking. I brought it up to the "project manager" and he said it would be "fine". Problem is -- the metal roof overhangs the gutter about 75% or more of the width of the gutter. Water comes off the roof and 90+ percent of it goes right over the edge of the gutter and lands on the walkway and stairs below. I'm no longer in Kansas -- I'm in crazy town.

I call genius project manager the day after I paid him and got his answering machine. I left a polite detailed message about the problem. On the machine, I told him it appears that the gutter needs a 2.5" or 3" spacer off the fascia to be in a workable position. No answer 2 days later.

I call him again. This time I reach him on the phone and politely explain the problem .... again. He tells me he's "out of town" and won't be back to the end of the week. He says he'll get back with me at the beginning of the next week. He says a spacer is not needed. He says he'll install some gizmo on top of the gutter. WTF? I don't see that working. Perhaps some of you real pros know what this gent is talking about?

I'm so far back in the sticks that getting another pro out here is problematic. Skilled labor can be a crapshoot here. How far do I let this gent go before bringing in another company from the nearest city and taking the original guy to small claims court?

[hubops]

Take some photos of the installation and take some video of the problem during a rain. .. not just to show us - but to get some satisfaction in small claims court. Take photos and talk to other homeowners about their steel roofing + gutters. A friend of mine had a bunch of problems with a home renovation - by a supposedly reputable company - he didn't get any follow-up work done until he spoke to the company owner and said that he was set to tell his story - all over social media - the company owner decided, finally, to treat it as a priority - because his name was on all the trucks and advertising .. John T.

[Ed Pawlowski]

In a heavy rain I can see it going far and missing the gutter. He may be able to add a drip edge to help.

As mentioned, take a video for evidence. Sounds like the guy is jerking you around.

[slate_leeper]

I had the same problem with the new roof and gutters the contractor installed. I called a gutter company to check it out. They found the roof too long, and just trimmed it back.

Note, they also found things such as missing gutter nails and improper gutter slope. The roof may not be the entire problem.

-dan z-

[trader_4]

The obvious real problem here is that you're dealing with an incompetent roofer. It was likely just as easy to do it right. I say likely, because the only reason I can see for doing it wrong would be that he might have figured out that by doing it that way it worked out to an even sheet of material from bottom to top of the roof, so he saved some cutting. But it was clearly done wrong and now your left with trying to get a shyster to do it right and he may be incapable of that. Actually, IDK what really can be done, because what's there is too long. Did you check this shyster out, get references?

I'd say you should give him a chance to fix it, it's not exactly a real emergency. Give him a couple weeks or so. But I also would insist on knowing exactly what he's planning on doing, that you have to approve it. I would not let him do something stupid, that will only make it worse. If he can't do it right, then get another roofer who can, take pics and/or videos of it, especially in a rain, then try to recover your costs from him. You can probably win easily in small claims, collecting it though is another matter.

[micky]

Be careful how you do this. If you say, fix my roof or I'll tell my story all over social media, it might be construed as blackmail, by you.

You need aiui to say you're making a list, or something like that, of social media but not make what you do contingent on his repairing it. If he does repair it, you can always change your mind.

This is, iirc, different from threatening to sue, which is not blackmail.

[hubops]

You are a silly person with silly ideas.

blackmail = fix my roof or I'll publish the photos of you screwing a sheep.

not fix my roof or I'll publish photos of the roofing job your roofing company did.

John T.

[micky]

Right back at you.

The prior poster didn't refer to publishing photos but to telling the story. A) you should learn to acquaint yourself with the facts and portray them accurately. B) Go finish your law degree.

[Rod Speed]

That's not blackmail, just demanding that you get what you paid for.

Neither is saying you will post your story on social media if he doesn't do the job correctly.

[MarkK]

The "contractor" is blowing me off, refusing to answering my calls.

Today, I contacted the county building department. They said this individual did not pull a permit (contrary to the written contract) and he was not a licensed contractor (I f**ked up not checking out this individual after he did a superb job on a neighbor's house). They gave me the number of the state "authorities". I have less than zero respect for this state "government" -- almost as worthless as the county "authorities".

The original contract shows this genius was claiming to work under a certified roofing contractor (or so he claimed) so I will contract them to find if they will provide cover for this scumbag. Stay tuned -- more news at 11.

[Bob F]

I have an old house with small cedar gutters. I hav had problems with cleaning gutters after my previous house was re-roofed because they ovlapped the roofing so war over the gutters.

For this house, I wrote into the contract that the gutters had to be open enough to allow for easy cleaning. After they put down the first row of roofing over the gutters with less than 1" of gap to reach into for cleaning, I brought that to their attention. They told me that's the way they have to do it.

After I pointed out the contract item, they had to have special gutter drip edges made to do the job properly.

So - in the future, get it in the contract.

[invalid unparseable]

Reading this, an additional caution I would like to add is that if a contractor is unlicensed and does not get permits it is also unlikely that he has workmen's compensation insurance. Most homeowners insurance will not apply to workers injured on their property. My son, an insurance company lawyer, told me a story of an uninsured contractor falling off a roof and the homeowner was held responsible.

[devnull]

It's 100% the contractor's fault for not obtaining workman's comp insurance. The homeowner shouldn't be held liable.

This must be another one of those laws crafted by the democrats to protect their lying cheating constituents.

[invalid unparseable]

True that homeowner should not be liable but it's happened.

Our county is controlled by Democrats and they are just as bad as the contractors they try to protect us against.

It is not hard for a good contractor to show proof of license and insurance. Son also told me that a big contractor that works across state lines may have insurance only applicable to only his home state. In our small state of Delaware a lot of contractors come from out of state. They have to be licensed to work here and may have shown proof of insurance and clerk did not realize it was not valid here. Son has also seen this.

[Scott Lurndal]

Then you should be able to provide a citation ("told me a story" is not a citation, even it purportedly was said by a lawyer).

Certainly all the facts are not in evidence (perhaps the homeowner did something stupid which caused the fall).

[trader_4]

Also, Frank said the contractor fell. I'd suspect a WORKER who fell would have a much better chance of prevailing against the homeowner than the contractor himself. And if it's a worker, looks like it works like you say, that to be liable you have to do something to make yourself liable, other than just hiring a contractor. Still, the larger problem is someone like an injured worker can hire an attorney and sue EVERYONE. And then what? You'd be on the hook to defend yourself. I guess they can still sue you anyway, even if the contractor has insurance, but for sure it's way better if the contractor has the insurance.

[trader_4]

Forgot to add this link:

[Clare Snyder]

He hired an uninsured contractor

[invalid unparseable]

Here's a cite for the guy in my k-f: