Your Questions About Shingles

You Might Be a Floridian If….?

…You exhibit a slight twitch when introduced to anyone with the first names of Charley, Frances, Ivan, or Jeanne.

…Your freezer never has more than $20 worth of food in it any given time.

..You’re looking at paint swatches for the plywood on your windows to accent the house color.

…You think of your hall closet/saferoom as “cozy”.

…Your pool is more accurately described as “framed in” than “screened in”.

…Your freezer in the garage now only has homemade ice in it.

…You no longer worry about relatives visiting during the summer months.

…You too haven’t heard back from the insurance adjuster.

…You now understand what that little “2% hurricane deductible” phrase really means in your homeowner’s policy.

…You’re putting a collage together on your driveway of roof shingles from your neighborhood.

…You were once proud of your 16″ electric chain saw.

…Your street has more than 3 “NO WAKE” signs posted.

…You now own more than 5 large ice chests.

…Your parrot can now say “hammered, pounded and hunker down”.

…You recognize people in line at the free ice, gas and plywood locations.

…You stop what you’re doing and clap and wave when you see a convoy of power company trucks come down your street.

…You have the personal cell phone numbers of the managers for: plywood, roofing supplies and generators at Home Depot on your speed dialer.

…You’ve spent more than $20 on “tall white kitchen bags” to make your own sand bags.

…You’re considering upgrading your chainsaw from 16″ to 20″.

…You know what “bar chain oil” is.

…You’re thinking of getting your wife the hardhat with the ear protector and face shield for Christmas.

…You now think the $6000 whole house generator seems like a reasonable investment.

…You look forward to discussions about the merits of “cubed, block and dry ice”.

…Your therapist refers to your condition as “generator envy”.

…You fight the urge to put on your winter coat and wool cap and parade around in front of your picture window, when you finally get power and your neighbor across the street with the noisy generator doesn’t….

Construction & contract help!!!! Can he do this?

i am a contractor, just started working for myself and i just had a job building a gable roof over a concrete slab, making ans open pavilion like ares.

the old man who i did the job for also has a son-in-law who does construction, but didn’t wanna do the job, so that where i came in.

well the home owner signed a contract (on i picked up at staples). this contract outlined the basic of what i was building, and what kind (sizes of lumber), type of shingles, ans siding and soffit color.
I was to do all of the framing, roofing soffit, siding, and finish metal. the whole thing for $10,000 material and labor.

well the home owner was happy as could be during the first 5 days, then we had the weekend off, all the framing was done and the roof was on, all that was left was the finish work (siding soffit, and metal work). so we come back to work Monday and now the son-in-law has told the home owner all the little things he would have done another way and or things to add on, and the home owner is going over these with me, some of the things were no big deal; and i agreed to do his way (because i hadn’t do it yet and would not take any more time or material), but once he started wanting to make the box beam bigger around the structure, and mkeing other add-ons that not only call for more material and labor, i told him that it would cost more money, like $300-$500 more for the changes. now it this time all i am owed in payment for the original contract is $2000 for the homeowner. but since he didnt want to sign a modification to the contract, i had my crew continue continue with the original details of the contract. so we finish up Monday and come back Tuesday, and the home owner tells me that he doesn’t want me to do the finishing part of the job because his son-in-law told him that he would complete the job for less than what he owes me and do it with his new changes he made.

now on the job site i had extra roof shingles (that i over orders just to have if i needed them), I never noted how many sq. of shingles i would use on the project, and he is thinking that the extra 5 sq i ordered were his to keep, i told him no that they were my shingles, i told him i would leave 1 bundle for him not 15 bundles, and then he wanted me to bring him the rest of the material i ordered for the job like the siding and soffit. i told him no that he didnt buy the siding or soffit from me he signed a contract for a finished product, and if he wanted the material he would ether have to buy it off of me or allow me to complete the job. and i reminded him that his deposit and labor installment payments were non-refundible, as stated in the contract.

Can he back out of a contract like that????
Can i still get the $2000 he still owes me??
to make it short he didnt allow me to finish the job and i didnt
i never stated how much material i would use. what the contract stated is what kind of material i was going to use, and the apportionment size of the structure, and type of limber (ex 2×4, 2×6, and 2×8) where they would go and things like that. I might have over ordered on shingles but under ordered on siding (to side the face of the gabled). so i could return one material and get the other, also i didnt give him a detailed breakdown of the money, just that and approximet amount was for material, and approximate amount for labor, then 10% mark up on material cost for odds and ends (material i end up needing that i didnt think of at first, and that another 10% mark up on the total cost of the project for Company profit.

Should I change professions?

I need some help. I just moved to a new state and I am so stressed about whether to go back to teaching. I had a really bad first full time teaching position that was so stressful I ended up with shingles 5 years ago. Since then I have taken part time jobs and I have subbed. Not really liking it but I need the money. I really don’t know what else to do with a BS degree in Elem Ed. But when I think of being back in the classroom I really get anxiety and the past experience I had. I signed up to start subbing next week and I am stressed about that. Any ideas because my family is totally on me about getting a job…

What can I do to protcet myself from shoody roofer now wanting to go into attic?

We got a “new roof”… well, that was what we paid for, but the roofer did a lousy job. Tried to get him to fix it, but no such luck; just excuses and avoidance. Now he thinks it will be cheaper for him to “fix” it from in the attic.That means coming INTO the house with his group of “followers”. The attic is super low(head clearance) and is full of 50 year old pink blown-in insulation. Can I make him provide proof of insurance? proof of citizenship for his workers? Can I make him sign some form holding me “harmless or blameless” if he gets hurt up there while trying to gerry-rig the roof problems caused by his workers in the first place? Here’s the problem. We paid for the replacement of any deteriorated wood before the felt, tar and shingles were installed. Easy enough ‘eh? NO. Feeling excessive “sponginess” in the roof, I went into the attic. Beyond stress fractures all over the place from his foreman beating on the planks, there are areas that simply have no wood at all! You can see felt, big size 13EE foot sized areas with NO WOOD! The last 2 months have been me tracking him down and him saying that’s normal/!?! or that it happens because my house is old, and MANY other ludicrous excuses. Finally I filed w/ the ROC. That REALLY made the roofer mad and on the day of the ROC inspection, the roofer showed up with 4, yes FOUR people to back him up. So every time the inspector would say something wasn’t right, one of his “dudes” would pie in with some excuse. So, there’s me, a mere housewife, the inspector, and 4 dudes who kept yapping, rolling their eyes at me, and making light of anything I saw as an issue. “Oh that’s from walking up here when it’s hot”.. Actually nobody has been on the roof to walk (hot or not)… eyes roll. on and on. Finally, the inspector said he would close the complaint if the roofer and I could have a meeting of the minds as to how to fix the problems. I said NO, because the roofer has told me 5 times he’d fix it and has done nothing at all but ignore me. Finally the inspector said he’d give the roofer 2 weeks to fix it, and thet he’d let us come to an “understanding”, but then to call him if it wasn’t worked out in 2 weeks. The inspector left and I endured another half hour of how it’s normal for an old house to have broken boards. (that weren’t broken before the new roof). Finally, the roofer said he would fix the broken planks from the inside of the attic to make it where he didn’t have to remove the shingles. I was unable to explain to his tiny mind, that replacing wood that is not connected to anything is… impossible. So, now he wants to crawl around in the attic with the 50 year old pink blown-in insulation and attempt to replace the boards in the tiny crawl space (with no light or ventilation)… to save him money. Everytime I’ve been up there, I’ve choked on insulation and there’s not even a catwalk up there. If he or one of his pathetic helpers gets hurt, I don’t want him fileing against MY homeowners insurance!!!! What can I do? While it’s easy to say he’s lisenced & has a bond, he has sniveled and moaned that me wanting my roof fixed is going to make him lose his business, and how mean I am for that. So PLEASE, guide me! Can I require proof of citizenship on his helpers? Can i have them sign a “hold blameless” or some sort of form? If so, what is it really called and where do I get it? I looking for a hero. i hope someone knows the answer. Thank you for reading my dilema and offering suggestions.
ok, more details. the roof is not sheathed (like in 15/32 osb.) Nope. It’s slats, it sounded like “ship slat”, but I’m sure that’s not what it’s called. anyway, it’s slats, which is then covered with felt, and then the 30 year GAF/elk shingles. No, he has not been paidoff on the contract. because he hasn’t fulfilled the contract. He: 1) didn’t run a strip of sheet roofing along the transition to the flat roof,2)he didn’t elastomeric coat the flat roof, 3) he didn’t give us ANY written warranty on those lovely 30 year shingles, oh do I need to go on. So the day the roof was going on, we were also getting a new ac unit installed, and if the day wasn’t bad enough, we had a leak inside the kitchen wall which meant doing demolition under the sink and getting the water pipes re-routed from another part of the house. I had my hands full! So, the roofing foreman (no longer with the company) was 6’8″ and 340lbs. got on the roof with a rigging axe and walked along smacking each slat to determine
which ones needed to be replaced. He whacked and whacked and whacked. Then left the jobsite to be tended to by his 4 man crew of non-english speakers. It was sooo hot out, 110. So igave them shade, and gatorade, and horchata, and icewater, and even gave them a menu from qdoba and went and bought them full lunches of their choosing. I went on the roof and used my best high school spanish/charades, to tell them, the satelitte dish stays, it is not basura; the tv antennae goes, it IS basura, the clay adobe trim tile are for ME, they are NOT basura, When they were done, I looked outside and the 100 decorative tiles… gone. I fussed and got them back in a week. Then I went to check out my new lovely roof. There were shingles that were separating (really separating! you could see every layer involved. It’s freaky). Then it got more complicated. The roofer said it’s a materials issue, the gaf/elk guy said it workmanship. Then they talk amongst themselves and decided it was my imagination.
So while I was checking out the status of the deterioration of the 30 yr, (3 month) shingles, I noticed the roof was warped, spongey, made nail squeeking noise and looked like garbage from the street. Still just excuses from the roofer. I filed with the ROC. Then I went in the attic to see if I could tell anything from the inside. YEP! that’s where I see wood slat busted up BADLY from gigantor and his rigging axe, some wood not ever replaced, some wood just hanging there and a blob of tar to “make it ok?” The stove vent was removed, gone, nowhere, and again, just aopen hole and felt paper. When the ROC asked the roofer about it, he said.. Brace yourself: “didn’t you have a cabinet guy or something at your house that day? He probably did that.” The inspector sort of took on a tone of like: all these dudes were there agreeing with the roofer, and me the lady. It seemed like his ego got involved and he didn’t want to agree too much with the girl. Anyone want pictures?I’ll send ’em. THX
Dear Thor, They actually WERE responsible for having the ac scheduled at the same time. We needed a new ac, AND we need a roof. The roofer ezplained that the new ac would have a new “footprint” therby ruining the new roof if it was installed after the new roof. He insisted the two jobs be done simulteneously.
as far as a contract, we had it all.. before the job began. we checked his record, did everything right, even interviewed the guy. we have a contract, it’s just now he want to bale out and not complete the contract. I understand that whose jump on the bandwagon to say I’m being unreasonable, BUT do know this, I have had another roofer over to inspect the roof and after a 4 hour inspection, they said the outfit should be shut down at once, and the the shingles should be pulled up and the roof boards repairded correctly, there is no 1×2 between the drip edge and facia, the stove vent stack has been removed, not replaces, and simoly felted over, and the list goes one. the overhang out side is not connected to the house, you can take a broom handle and move the roof OFF the roof by 3 inches, HMMM.

Need legal advice of house not built to code?

I bought a house in the state of Alabama in May 2008. A building inspector did not find any problems, so he reported. During the first year the driveway started cracking. A certified letter, a copy given to my attorney, was sent to the builder who came out and did minor repairs to other needs but ignored the driveway. Two cement contractors recently inspected the enlarged cracks and informed me the driveway was poured on fill dirt with no expansion joints, the retaining wall was not properly built (built with wood to hold the slope on the side of the driveway) and the steps were not built to building codes (each step a different height:2″, 8″, and 10″ are the heights). The roof is leaking due to shingles not properly overlaid causing water to run underneath the shingles and not over them causing the nails to rust and pop up. The builder said he would repair the driveway only if I furnished the materials.

Should I handle this in small claims court or have an attorney handle this? I feel like my inspector should have caught these things, especially the steps and no expansion joints present! Oh, and the steps were added after we signed on the house….they are just concrete poured over a mold next to the house. They are not a part of the house, do not match the brick. They just sit on the driveway and have fallen 3 inches due to the driveway falling.

I had a 1 year builder’s warranty on the house and have been told after 2 years I cannot sue the builder for things not done right. I have also been told if I sell the buyer can come back and sue me because I did not fix these known problems. I do not think I should be responsible for the material costs or the labor costs of fixing mistakes that was not done properly in the beginning.

Only serious answers please. All others will be flagged and deleted.