We have gone through at least four hard dates that were supposed to be the day the roofing contractor fixed the cracked rafters over our garage. We were always told that the guys would show around 8 in the morning, and we'd wake, and sit and watch the clock over our coffee, saying, "Do you think they'll be here?" "Of course not." Last time we had a glimmer of hope, enough to move the car and the truck out of the driveway, just in case that was our lucky day. And then, a few hours later, we moved the cars back. The contractor never seemed to want to talk to us directly. He used the seller's real estate agent as a middleman. In some ways, it's a shame, because that guy really should have been able to be done with the deal, once we closed on this house. But because thousands of dollars has been held in escrow to pay for this crazy roof, and it's held by the title company that is part of this agent's brokerage, he just couldn't get free. He's maintained a good attitude about it all, at least. For us, it would have been nice if the roofers would have talked to us directly about when they would or would not show up.
We had another "around 8" appointment for today. Once again, the cars were moved down the street, and we watched the clock while we drank coffee. The forecast for today was chilly and cloudy, with rain in the afternoon, and we thought that would be enough to call it off. But lo and behold, at 8:25, there were trucks in our driveway. At first, it seemed like the framing guy was just going to evaluate the job, and the rest of the team was going to go to a different job. Up until the point he went into the attic, he was still trying to say it could be done from the inside. Uh, nope. Not even going to let you try. Then he saw it. I didn't hear the entire exchange, because I was starting the second coat of paint in the kitchen. Next thing I knew the whole crew was at work, and they were starting to tear shingles off the roof and pull up the decking. The whole house rattled all day. I feared for my vintage kitchen china cabinet, hanging from the ceiling, full of glassware.
We had told the lead framing guy that we assumed the guy who made the bid was doing a favor for a friend of a friend of the seller, and that's why the bid was so low. The next bid we had was twice as much. In the framing guy's opinion, the other contractor who said double had also "way underbid." This job was so much larger than anyone had led on, with the significant exception of the man who did our home inspection. I did not climb on the roof, but I received lots of pictures and updates. The cracked rafters we were aware of were revealed. There was a little bit of new decking near those spots, where I assumed the old air conditioner unit was dropped. They pulled out the broken beams that had the glued-on plywood "repairs." Then they found other fun things, like the five foot span in the overhang that didn't have a beam in it at all. We are so lucky no workers fell through that spot like a tiger trap. There was an improper extension/sistering on the main valley beam, that was original construction, and with the other break, it was roller coaster straight. Several of the ridge-to-valley rafters had pulled free of the ridge beam because of the mess at the bottom. This took an experienced crew of about five or six men from 8:30 this morning until 4 this afternoon to complete. They were done before any rain arrived (which was blessedly light), and for that I am grateful. I have no idea how much they will end up billing the title company to come out of escrow. We need to read our contract, but I'm fairly certain if it goes over $6000, then we are going to have to pony up the difference.
The good news is, the framing guy was super nice and conscientious, and he swore that it would be well built (compared to the rest of the structure, over built), and it would survive the snowy winter we have been promised, plus many winters to come. I hope he was telling the truth. Mr S-P certainly discussed the entire problem front to back with demonstrated expertise, and he was up on the roof several times to view progress and provide photos. I hope the repair is solid this time. I shudder to think how long we'd have to wait for them to come back if it isn't.
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