Note on subject line: When he said I was thorough, I don't think that it was a compliment! More driveling details below:
The roofer came out today. I first showed him the photos where an 8" section of the ridge vent cut is covered only by shingles. He wasn't impressed and asked in a sullen way why that bothers us. He says it won't leak (even though there's an 8" long hole on each side of the ridge that's only covered by the ridge shingles). Not happy with his attitude, I asked him if he considered that good roof workmanship and he never really answered but instead impatiently told us he had a meeting at noon and didn't have much time. This when his "late morning" turned into nearly noon by the time he arrived! Even so, he did deign to go up on the roof (swinging the ladder perilously close to my parked car!)
After his inspection, he agreed to have his crew come out to extend the VentSure on top of the 8 inches (but not extend the ridge cut) and over to the the last 6" of the roof. This will also serve the purpose of making the ridge line look uniform from north to south. As it is now, the last yard or so of the ridge steps down a few inches because the VentSure material ends. I was fine with the unevenness until I went into the attic and made my discoveries.
I also showed him the photos of the woodstove chimney taken from inside the attic which show gaps letting daylight through that are sealed only with clear caulk. He in a smart-alecky tone asked if I wanted them to use dark caulk!
The woodstove chimney flange is so dented and battered that it doesn't fit tightly now. Filling the gaps with caulking is really only a short-term solution, especially in the sunshine we get in NM. He said his crew will put three courses of tar and granules to seal off the woodstove chimney.
He said his crew will call if they're coming out this afternoon which means I get to wait all afternoon for them. If they don't come out today, they may not be here for another week because he's going out of town next week.
The ABC Seamless Gutters estimator was out today and he wondered why the vents and chimneys weren't replaced with the reroof. I mentioned this to the roofer at one point in response to something sullen he said and he asked pointedly if the ABC guy was a roofer. He could have simply given me some good reasons why it didn't need to be replaced.
Even when I asked if he thought that we as homeowner's would be wise to replace them, I didn't really get an answer. He was generally giving us answers that weren't really answers and seemed defensive. I was honestly wondering if they needed replacing and not challenging him in any way but he was on the defensive.
I don't have a lot of confidence in the water-tightness of the woodstove chimney now. It has never leaked before. I hope smoke doesn't pour out of it when we fire up the woodstove this winter. The roofing crew was really rough on the furnace and woodstove chimneys and the hot water heater vent. One time on Tuesday when I looked at the roof, the furnace vent was cockeyed although it looks straight now.
It's funny how his attitude has changed now that we have paid him off in full. Before it was that he's "loving my questions". Now it's that we have taken up so much of his time in comparison to other customers - (a paraphrase but that's the gist of what he told us). Later I told him that there was another way we weren't like the rest of his customers - we paid him right away! His wife had told us they've had trouble collecting from some customers.
When I told him, getting peeved at his sullenness and defensiveness, that I was surprised that he didn't come at the end of the day Tuesday to inspect the roof, he told me he was up on our roof 3 times during the job. I thanked him for that and told him I hadn't known. He says he can tell a lot from the street. I told him, though, that it gave me confidence to have him go up on the roof today and inspect it.
He said he has done 100 roofs with his present crew. But, in my mind, he's the final arbiter and the one who ultimately will pay any water damage claims in the next 7 years.
Although he did mellow somewhat at the end, his attitude toward us today makes me wonder how it will be if we need him for warranty service in the next 7 years. After that, I'd hire someone else. If any one asks me to recommend him, I'll tell them all the good (considerable) but be honest about the other issues including what he did to address them.
Do I really need a house? Maybe I could live in my car and then I'd only have to deal with the service department at auto dealerships! Hmmm...that's scary too!! Maybe I could live in a box - boxes don't need much maintenance - just find a new one when they break...
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