Shoddy work and dispute with roofer

Christyt

Sorry to bang on and on about this, but roofer has come back and refused to relay whole roof.

He proposes to patch over the lifting bits with more torched on felt.

I'm guessing this is not an ideal solution as there are so many laps that need patching it will create a complete patchwork.

See pic of all area I was able to stick paper under - http://www.flickr.com/photos/3126768...in/photostream

My question - hopefully final - is am I within my rights to insist he relays and that patching is not acceptable? If it went to court, for eg?

I don't think he's just going to walk away from the job (and money) and is likely to fight his corner.

Thanks!!!

DaftyDuck

You'll get better answers from people in the know, and many will know the law better, but I don't think he'd stand a chance of getting money through the courts for that work. He might try... I think you only have to pay a minimal amount to start the process off.

I firmly believe you are within your rights to refuse patching. The visual effect would not be anything like as smart, and I don't believe it would have the longevity. Anyway, he'd be covering atrocious work with more atrocious work.

I know I'm repeating myself, but I'm trying to give you some peace of mind over Christmas. IF he went to court to claim money, and IF he pursued it all the way through the court, I don't think for a second the court would find in his favour, given the quality of work on show, and the faults you have listed.

Christyt

Thanks DaftyDuck- appreciate the moral support!

slipperyshoe

Christyt wrote: »

Sorry to bang on and on about this, but roofer has come back and refused to relay whole roof.

He proposes to patch over the lifting bits with more torched on felt.

I'm guessing this is not an ideal solution as there are so many laps that need patching it will create a complete patchwork.

See pic of all area I was able to stick paper under - http://www.flickr.com/photos/3126768...in/photostream

My question - hopefully final - is am I within my rights to insist he relays and that patching is not acceptable? If it went to court, for eg?

I don't think he's just going to walk away from the job (and money) and is likely to fight his corner.

Thanks!!!

Hi, I would just refuse to pay. I work for a Premium manufacturer and can say that there is no way we would issue a guarantee unless the entire cap sheet was re-laid. You also have no way of knowing just how bad the underlay (1st layer) is and judging by the cap sheet it will be bad.

Putting patches on can effect the drainage of the roof causing standing water (when laying a roof you start from the low point in order to minimise this). Although this will not effect longevity it will not be as aesthetically pleasing, which on an overlooked domestic property is an important issue.

Refuse to pay for the waterproofing element at least. You can't really refuse him for the re-deck, installation of soffit, extending joists etc as you have no evidence that this is shoddy; as for the waterproofing the pic says it all.

I do not know what the legal position is but I can say that any expert (which just about includes me!) would not put their name to that roof and therefore he would struggle to get money from you through the courts.

Good luck

Christyt

Hi Slippery Shoe - Thousand thanks once again. I said patching wasn't an option and he's come back with torching it down....another builder who popped round to do another bit of work said he thought it could be torched with a small torch.

Christyt

NEWS FLASH - bully roofer barged into our back garden at 8am this morning saying he was going to torch down the laps and it would take 10 minutes. He started to do the job, despite being asked to leave and I had to call the police to get him to stop.

Re what he was doing, was lifting up the edges and torching underneath and rolling down. He didn't attempt to protect the existing felt and then waved the torch over the top of the felt to dry it off.

He said he was going to organise for the local product rep to come down and confirm whether the guarantee would be intact on the work he's done.

I'm going to check the name of the rep (make sure he's genuine employee) and get in writing what Tecnatorch's recommended technique for fixing this problem would be.

Not sure what else I can do. The guy kept saying 'I dunno how that could have happened, it's never happened to me in 20 years....'. Anyway, deeply unpleasant.

KateLiana27

Good for you for sticking up for yourself and calling the police. Did they attend or did he back off before then?

He does not have a clue what he is doing. Tell him not to enter your property again or you will call the police, and alert your neighbours too. Take detailed photos. Then engage a decent roofer (through family/friend recommendations) to give an expert opinion, then re-do the whole job from scratch. It's then up to him to claim the money from you in court - which, as has been said, I don't think he has a cat's chance of doing. From the post above, it sounds like he knows what an embarrassingly shoddy job he's done.

Christyt

Thanks KateLiana27 - I'm rushing around trying to get any evidence and advice I can. For all I know what he's done is fine, but he's a deeply dodgy geezer and thinks he can bully his way around. He did back off before the cops came. I felt bad about calling them but didn't see what else I could do. When I rang to tell them they weren't needed they were very nice about it. Luckily my husband was around to back me up. I'm going to video him next time. I think he's setting up a local rep who he's probably got on the payroll. I need concrete evidence about the quality of the work so will have to pay an inspector to be sure.

Christyt

I'm just posting this in case it helps anyone else in a similar situation:

I've just spoken to trading standards (should have done this earlier- they were very helpful).

The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 says you have a right to reject the builder's work and refuse them the right to put it right, but you need to have a valid reason for that and really should give them reasonable chance to put it right.

In my case, I gave them the chance to put right work on the leading and the flat roof. But I'm going to have to get an independent inspection and report in writing from another Trustmark Roofer to attest to the quality of their work as I'm sure these guys will take me to court if I refuse to pay.

Things I wish I'd done -
1- videoed them when they were refusing to leave my property and shouting the odds forcing me to call the police.
- Get fully detailed spec on the work they would carry out, including any changes.
Taking photos mid-job. (I took before and after, but inbetween bits also matter)

All these things could have helped me considerably now. I'll update once I've had an inspection.

Christyt

Also some pics of small gouge marks to roof after he resealed one of the laps -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31267686@N03/6599796887/in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31267686@N03/6599796017/in/photostream