Roofing Contractor Issue; Question what to do

[G Henslee]

Yes. It's not a major thing to do so.

[G Henslee]

TomCat,

I don't mean any offense but I just have to ask; if you looked out your window at the driveway and found your car stolen, would you have to ask someone if you should call the police?

[Roger Taylor]

They would likely not peel back the shingles. More likely the may cut a clean hole thru the decking and shingles, install the vent, then hot tar or hotseal patch new roofing material over and around the vent flanges. Whatever they do, check inside attic right after first big rainstorm. Your roof warrantee, and I hope you have one, should not be affected by such a vent retro-fit.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Sometimes.

If the guy is reputable and the crew forgot, they will be back to rectify it.

If you have a written contract and the guy is a sleaze, he may already be operating under a new name, cannot be found, and you have a useless piece of paper. So much for the king thing.

[TomCAt]

I just had a new roof put on my home. The old roof was removed. New sheathing was put on over the old boards as the boards had big gaps. The new roof is a 30 year architectural asphault shingle.

The contractor was supposed to cut and install a ridge vent.

He did not do it.

I just happened to look up from the street today and noticed it. The contractor has been paid.

What should I do. Tell him to cut the ridge vent opening, and install the vent?

Or, ask him for money back on the job because he failed to install the vent.

[Curly Sue]

I think he was asking because he didn't know if it was a good idea to put in the ridge vent after the roof is installed. I.e., is this something that *must* be done during roof installation or is it acceptable to put it in afterwards. If someone said that it would be ill-advised to modify the roof once it's in then he might want to just get his money back because chances are the contractor wouldn't re-do the whole thing.

Your previous post (that it's not a big deal to retrofit) was probably what he needed to know to have a discussion with the contractor.

Sue(tm) Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

[PaulJ]

It is a pretty major issue and I'm wondering if it was part of the deal???

Got your signed contract with the ridge vent requirement on it? Or was it a verbal contract? ie. your word against his.

Just another situation where a written contract is king....

[tbasc]

It would be worth checking from the attic to see if a vent has been installed. Some vents are not so easy to spot from the street.

Having done that, it is certainly appropriate to ask to be shown the vent installed. TB

[TomCAt]

I have a signed contract.

My guess, the men doing the job didn't know about the ridge vent requirement.

I just don't want to screw up what is already done. If cutting in the ridge vent and installing the vent is going to mess up the roof job ..... well, that is what I am pondering.

Is it hard to peal back what is there and cut in the vent, and install the ridge vent.

oh oh ........

someone stole my car ... should I call someone ///

[Doug Boulter]

"Joseph Meehan" wrote on 27 Mar 2005:

I respectfully suggest that two hours of a local attorney's time will cost a lot more than paying someone to install a ridge vent.

[The Real Tom]

Are you positive?

Do you have the original proposal/invoice stating he would/did?

I learned that a ridge vent can be retro'd on a roof without harming the roof's remaining shingles. So give the contractor a call if you are sure he/she missed adding a paid service.

Call explain what you found, and have it installed.

imho,

tom

[TomCAt]

I did that this afternoon. That was one of the things I thought, maybe I was not seeing the vent from way down on the ground. I went to the attic, no vent. No vent cut in the sheathing.

I am going to talk to the contractor tomorrow. See what he says.

If he tries to blow me off, then small claims court I guess.

I hate hiring any contractor for anything. They always try to screw me, why me.

Anyway, I will post what happens.

[Joseph Meehan]

I would start by calling and asking him to fulfill the contract. If he offers an alternative, consider it. If he refuses or you don't like his suggestions, then see a local attorney. laws change from area to area.

[Art]

He forgot. Remind him.

[Art]

By the way make sure you have lots of extra shingles..... buy more..... because the company who makes them will probably discontinue them soon. They always do.

[trader4]

I tend to agree with the poster that said the crew may have simply forgotten it. A ridge vent doesn't cost very much and is relatively easy to install. There are a lot of better and less obvious ways to screw you if it was intentional. And as others have pointed out, it can be easily added.

This points out once again the importance of conducting a thorough inspection with contract check list in hand before issuing final payment.

[Clear Cut]

When I had the same problem, I simply called called the roofer, he removed the ridge shingles, cut the vent, and installed the ridge vent as stated in the contract. The vent did not leak for the next 6 years that I owned that house.

His excuse - he simply did not install many ridge vents on reroofing jobs and he had forgotten. It had been about 3 weeks from when the contract was signed until he began work.

[PaulJ]

Ridge vents are important and help reduce your cooling bills.

A lot of houses in my subdivision have hip roofs and there is not enough horizontal roof to do the correct amount of ridge vents. So I put my ridge vents at the top and partly down the slopes. I'm the only one that has done that out of hundreds of similar homes.

You are doing what you gotta do with the contractor. It is part of life. But next time, withhold the last payment until you inspect the job.

[The Real Tom]

Sounds like an honest mistake and taken care of right away.

Good job.

later,

tom

[PaulJ]

Probably true, especially since the attorney's fee may NOT result in any payback.