Roof woes - and the path forward

My roof sprung a leak, right in my kitchen. In a panic, I gathered some recommendations for roofers and called a few. Two came out and gave estimates. I did not tell either roofing company about the other.

One came out and took samples of my shingles, found they had failed, and tried to start the warranty process with the manufacturer. This included pulling off some of my shingles to send to the manufacturer. (The roofer replaced those shingles with temporary ones of an obviously different make.) The manufacturer needed proof of purchase to continue the warranty, and I did not have it since the roof was put on shortly before I bought the house, and the sellers had left the country and I had no way to track them down. So that roofer sorta stalled and said "Well, that sucks. So do you want us to put on a new roof for you anyway?"

The other roofer seemed enthusiastic about the possibility of claiming wind or hail damage, but found the replacement shingles from the first company and seemed to think this would somehow make it more difficult because now the roof had technically been partially repaired (or something?). I'm actually not really clear on what this roofer is saying, but he started out making it sound like he could easily get my insurance to cover a new roof but now he is making it sound like he can't, because now he's talking about trying to get me to finance the whole thing.

I make this sound like it happened fast, but it didn't. It's been slow, as I've had to prod the roofing companies for communication amid my already very busy schedule. Most days I don't even want to deal with it. I'm embarrassed to say this has stretched on not just for weeks but going on months. I do little things to keep things moving but it's getting closer to time to fish or cut bait.

The way I see it, I have three options. The first two have two variations, one with each roofing company:

A) try to get the roofing company to fight for my insurance claim
B) don't try to fight with my insurance, just pay the roofing company to put on a new roof
C) try to repair the leak myself

This last option has pros and cons. I'll list the pros that I know of first:

1) I have crawled up in the attic during a rainstorm to observe things, and I was successful at seeing exactly where water is coming in through my decking, so I am reasonably sure I could at least find the problem area.
2) I am pretty handy, and though I've never done roof work I bet I could Youtube it and borrow any appropriate tools I don't currently have; fixing it myself would be immensely satisfying
3) It would save me thousands of dollars in the short term (I would have to take time off from work, so I would be out more than just the cost of materials, but this would still be cheaper than paying a roofer)

And now the cons that I know of:

1) I have no experience working on roofs, so I could fail to fix the leak or even make the problem worse
2) I can't warranty or guarantee the work
3) It'd be a pain
4) There's a possibility I open something up to discover a larger problem, and I'm pretty sure it would be much harder to get a roofer to take over a project I started than to just have the whole thing be their project

Could another con be that it would cause me some sort of issue down the road--like with my insurance or something? Or if I sell my house?

So, I probably won't take option C. But I want to make sure I considered it fully. Let me know if you think I haven't.

What would you do? Have you ever been in this situation already?

Personally, I would add another diy con - and it's a biggie. The possibility of injury is always there, and has the potential to be very serious. Someone else doing it keeps you employed, alive, and in one piece. If someone else is injured, their workers comp will take care of them. Obviously, the hope is for no one to be injured. But, the risks roofers take is the bigger reason they get paid so well.

I DIY lots of things, and intend to keep doing so.


That's what I was doing, building a shed, when the ladder tipped out from under me.. now I have a crippled foot that prevents me working a full day, or walking any substantial distance without pain. I have also incurred costs running well into 6 digits due to the unfortunate timing of shattering a bone at the beginning of a large project with deadlines involved. Between the injury and the ripple effects, it's been pretty life-changing.

It hasn't stopped me DIYing at heights, but now when I work on a roof or a tall ladder I get the shakes and have aching muscles for days due to how tense it leaves me. Can't really recommend the experience.

If I was a more reasonable person, it certainly would have stopped me DIYing at heights.



As to your specific situation, what's your roof like? A modest sized simple gable roof at around 4/12 pitch, I'd do myself, and no doubt will again. I don't like steeper roofs and I wouldn't want to fuck about with a more complicated roof with lots of valleys, dormers, hips, skylights, etc.

Whatever your choice is, seems like it's time to get things moving.. winter is coming and around here roofers get damned busy in in fall!

You sound less than confident.  I am pretty sure you posted elsewhere you may gave a few grey hairs on your head … if so, your body probably doesn’t bend the way it used to. That means getting off of and onto ladders can be a challenge.  I suspect tossing a pack of shingles over your shoulder and climbing a ladder might be classified as “doing a dumb thing”.   I would hire a pro.  In fact, 10 years ago, I did hire a pro.

D Nikolls wrote:
As to your specific situation, what's your roof like?

Split level house. Gable design, moderate slope (4 in 12 maybe?), 6 facets total though two of them are quite small, being over a small rectangular addition. The "ground level" section of the house has eaves that are about 10 feet off the ground, the "second floor" maybe 16 feet. Only a ranch or a bermed house would be easier to do a roof on!

John Dean wrote:
I am pretty sure you posted elsewhere you may gave a few grey hairs on your head … if so, your body probably doesn’t bend the way it used to. That means getting off of and onto ladders can be a challenge.

You might be confusing me with someone else. I do have some gray hairs, but I am in my early 40s, do stretches every night, and in pretty good shape. I climb ladders all the time as part of my job as an electrician and my part-time job as a home inspector, often wearing a 20lb toolbelt though I could do it with a heavier load if I had to.

I think I would be up for the physical task of replacing a roof, my concern is more related to my inexperience with roofing, and whether this could result in 1) biting off more than I can chew in terms of project scope, and 2) issues with insurance or selling my home down the road.

But it's kind of a moot point; I'm 99% sure I'm going with a pro anyway.

Does your roof have hail damage?  That roofer ought to know for sure.

The claims adjuster might just think wind blew those shingles off and a roofer did the repair to keep the missing shingles from damaging the house.

Anne Miller wrote:Does your roof have hail damage?  That roofer ought to know for sure.

The claims adjuster might just think wind blew those shingles off and a roofer did the repair to keep the missing shingles from damaging the house.

Neither roofer I contacted ultimately felt confident that I could claim hail damage. Hail events are apparently recorded and there hasn't been a qualifying one in my area in the last 12 months (so the roofer told me).

Right up front: I am not willing to make up stories to the insurance people, as A) that violates my ethics, and B) I feel that lying is unlikely to get me what I want.

Update: I have contacted my local jurisdiction's building department. I'm hoping I can find the permit that was pulled to replace my roof, and from there I'm hoping I can find the name of the contractor, and from there I'm hoping they've still got a paid invoice or something that counts as a proof of purchase I can provide to my roof's shingle manufacturer so I can get my warranty.

I'm sorry you have so many hoops to jump through, and with no guarantees - but, at least there's hope!

Over the phone, someone from my local jurisdiction told me they don't do permits for roofs, so there's no way to track down a proof of purchase that way.

Still trying to think of other ways I could track it down.