Roofer started removing shingles from the wrong house

A roofing company came to my house and began to remove shingles for a roof replacement but they were at the wrong house! Neither I nor my wife were home at the time but the neighbor a couple doors down, whose house they were supposed to go to, saw what has happening and stopped them before too much damage was done. No more than 20% of the shingles were removed. (In retrospect, I wish they would have removed all the shingles…)

After inspection, the roofing company stated the majority of the roof has hail damage and should be replaced. They convinced me to file a claim with my insurance company for an entire roof replacement due to hail. The company sent out an adjuster who basically denied the claim except for a few hundred dollars to replace a slightly dented vent. Now the roofing company wants me to go the appraisal route with insurance, which they feel very strongly will go in our favor. However they have also offered to replace just the front slopes where the shingles were removed.

Our roof is about 11-12 years old with 20 year grade, asphalt shingles. If we replace only a portion of the roof, aside from a hopefully slight cosmetic difference, are there any issues relating to resale or value? We live in Texas, if that matters. And with the spring storm season just about upon us, the sooner this gets resolved the better.

I’m open to any and all advice. Thanks in advance.

I would ask them to replace the entire roof to code. If they don’t agree, you have two options. The first is the civil route, in other words, sue them. The second is a criminal action. You should probably file that to make sure there is a paper trail.

Worst advice ever…

Your only entitled to have the section or sections they removed done with new shingles of the same yr and brand. They should be doing that immediately, it’s one thing to tear of by mistake, it’s another to drag out the replacement process. Get in, get out, be done with it and move on.

Make sure you get a permit if ones required…they are here at least even on a small repair.

Is the neighbors roof getting replaced due to hail damage? It is human nature for the insurance adjuster to smell a skunk when he shows up and a quarter of the roof is already ripped off. He would probably be a little less inclined to find in your favor. He apparently did find there was some hail damage.
It is also human nature for the roofer to see all kinds of hail damage after such a massive screw up on their part.
I know insurance companies hold it against you when you make claims. I don’t know how much more they hold it against you if you fight after they make their decision.
What evidence did the roofer show you that indicates hail damage?
Do you already know how much it costs you to take it to the next level?

home-owner-needs-advice-re-gaf-shingle-manufacturing-defects-t11912.html?hilit=hail%20damage

I’ve been roofing for 30 years. I sub-contracted my jobs out for 10 of the 30. I had the exact same thing happen 1 time in all those years and it was when I sent a sub to do a roof for me. When my sub called saying he feared they might have started on the wrong job, I dropped what I was doing and went straight there. Turned out the supply house delivered to the wrong address and there was no address marked. When the crew saw the materials in the drive, they assumed that was it.

The homeowner was vacationing on the beach about 250 miles away. A neighbor called the police and he got her on his cell phone and handed it to me. I just told her exactly what happened, that we want to roof her whole house for free because of it and asked “Do you like weathered grey”? She said “that will work just fine”. The men never stopped working. Turned out her chimney needed new flashing and we did that too. It was finished in one day and the next day we did the right house. :lol:

The supply house provided the materials at no charge due to their mistake and I paid the sub-contractor’s normal price. It turned out that the house belonged to my yellow page rep. My advertising renewal came just 2 months later and she was the one that met with me. She gave me a huge discount on my ad! Strange world isn’t it? :o

There shouldn’t be any issues with reselling or value. If you could get a letter from the roofing company declaring their screw up is the reason for a portion of the roof being new, that will help you later.

If you have them just replace the portion they tore off, your roof will not match due to discoloration. 20% is a lot. Remember, roofing companies have liability insurance for a reason. Request a full replacement and Make a claim against their insurance if they don’t agree.

Contractors make considerable profit and they should be on site at least at the beginning to avoid these type of mistakes.

OP here…

First, thanks everyone for the advice. I talked again with the roofing company. I told them we were NOT going to be going the appraisal route with the insurance company (why should we use our resources for their mistake???) and a full roof replacement is the only way to make it right. And good news, they agreed. Based on the weather, it should be done in the next day or two. Of course this is what should’ve happened on day one.

Regarding discoloration if only a partial replacement were to have been done, I’m in Texas and from what I understand, cosmetic issues with a roof or shingles do not apply, legally at least, so it wouldn’t have mattered to them if it didn’t match. But since they are doing the whole roof I don’t have to worry about that.

I have no animosity toward the company but I’m going to reserve final judgment until the work is done and we’re satisfied with the quality. If all is good I don’t think I would have any problems recommending them to others (if asked). Hopefully because of this they can implement procedures to prevent this type of mistake in the future so others can be spared the “fun”.

Thanks again.

I understand that it may be pain in your butt having to deal with this issue, but if this company is going to give you a full roof replacement when they only damaged a small portion, then you should be giving them high praises whenever you can. That is called “Customer Service”, service of the kind we don’t see anymore.

Other companies would have told you to lump it or like, making your ordeal, much more of an ordeal.

Well, that’s one way to pick up an extra job. :biggrin:

Not very profitable though. :shock:

[quote=“TwinBing”]OP here…

First, thanks everyone for the advice. I talked again with the roofing company. I told them we were NOT going to be going the appraisal route with the insurance company (why should we use our resources for their mistake???) and a full roof replacement is the only way to make it right. And good news, they agreed. Based on the weather, it should be done in the next day or two. Of course this is what should’ve happened on day one.

Regarding discoloration if only a partial replacement were to have been done, I’m in Texas and from what I understand, cosmetic issues with a roof or shingles do not apply, legally at least, so it wouldn’t have mattered to them if it didn’t match. But since they are doing the whole roof I don’t have to worry about that.

I have no animosity toward the company but I’m going to reserve final judgment until the work is done and we’re satisfied with the quality. If all is good I don’t think I would have any problems recommending them to others (if asked). Hopefully because of this they can implement procedures to prevent this type of mistake in the future so others can be spared the “fun”.

Thanks again.[/quote]

Not for nothing but you sound pretty ungrateful for someone that just won the free roof lottery. Granted they made a mistake but you’ve just capitalized heavily at their expense.

Thank you for sharing Twinbing!
And don’t let any responses
Get your goat.
Please, I wanna hear the end of this story!!
Or at least another update in two weeks!!
Please! And thank you!!

You should feel very lucky you had a reputable contractor tear part of your roof off. Surely this will be talked about among neighbors and result in more work for this company…at a profit though:) This is how you turn a negative into a positive.

I wonder if the contractor would have offered this solution had it been CT TL…I think not.

[quote=“bcdemon”]I understand that it may be pain in your butt having to deal with this issue, but if this company is going to give you a full roof replacement when they only damaged a small portion, then you should be giving them high praises whenever you can. That is called “Customer Service”, service of the kind we don’t see anymore.

Other companies would have told you to lump it or like, making your ordeal, much more of an ordeal.[/quote]

I would agree with this if they had handled it the way Chucky did. But These guys pushed him to go through the insurance company and then were pushing to take it to the next level. That is definitely stressful.
The homeowner told them that it would take a whole new roof to make it right. At least 50% of homeowners would
not be so firm and they probably would have ended up with the 20% re-shingled. This was re-active oil the squeaky wheel “Customer Service”. Chucky gave pro-active recommend him to everyone you know “Customer Service”. In fact I may have to introduce him to my sister.

My new roof is going on as I type. I do feel lucky this company wanted to make things right, and yes I will recommend them to others so new business is likely. The project manager I’ve been working with has been extremely nice and helpful, and continues to apologize for the mistake. No doubt there are others that would have done the bare minimum. The insurance issue was the only negative to this (after the damage had been done) but in a way I see why they wanted to try that first.

From the talks I had with them, neighbors and other people this just does not happen very often so there really isn’t a standard protocol to follow, for either the contractor or homeowner.

It’s been a week!
Update please!!
Give us the hard truth!!
Would you be pleased with the work if you had payed for your roof?
What happened?

Free roof!

I can’t understand the people that think this HO wasn’t owed a free roof. I also can’t believe any of you think the outcome in a court of law would be anything other than favoring the HO. Mistakes happen, no question. However, when they do, that isn’t justification for the injured party to simply accept an apology and move on. Replacing the removed shingles with new would have resulted in a cosmetic disaster and clearly lowered the value of the home. The HO made no mistakes or errors that caused this.

Good job by Lucky Chucky for acting as he did when something like this occurred. That’s how it should be done. The HO owes the company that finally stepped forward and reluctantly did the right thing … nothing.