XP: Roof issue. Discrepancy between inspector and roofer

[emoflamingo]

Can you get a second opinion? Maybe even a third? I mean, it's not like he is also saying "oh yeah, totally trashed, let's replace it for $25k" but it's a big risk to just let it ride for 5-7 years and get into year 3 and have it be damaged so bad it does other damage. That sort of thing is what messes your insurance up and they may not cover damage inside the premises if the damage to the roof was something done over time and not one specific incident.

I know insurance companies are starting to inspect houses now (and they may inspect the roof if they go out and inspect your new house - mine just inspected ours and we started our policy in November) so depending on the rules in your state, they could put an endorsement on your policy that would adjust the value of the roof and pay less. I've seen in quite a few times in my office very recently. So there's no guarantee your insurance will just "pay for it" when there is an eventual hail storm like that roofer said.

[demandypants]

I would trust the roofer over the inspector's opinion in the matter. But I am not sure a 5-7 year life left on the roof is something you can really expect the sellers to negotiate over. something in a house is always nearly at the end of its expected life. If the house is priced fairly considering this in comparison to others on the market I don't think you will have a lot of leverage. Also, I would probably see if another roofer could come out for a second opinion/quote.

[emoflamingo]

I totally get that.

Hopefully the next one is consistent with one of them!

[Deleted]

I do think there can be an honest difference of opinion without someone being wrong. At the end of our roof's life, we got several varying opinions. The initial inspector said 4 more years. Our GC said he thought that was optimistic. We called a trusted roofer out at 3ish years and he said it was fine and fixed some flashing issues. We ended up just waiting until there was a leak at year 6. I think it's just not an exact science towards the end of a life.

[Deleted]

I think getting another opinion is great, but I don't think a fix in 5-7 years is a negotiating point. We are also under contract for a house here in ATL and the inspector was very clear on what should be replaced immediately vs x years out. Usually, items that must be replaced within a year are ones to use to renegotiate purchase price. Right now, everything in our house inspected really well. We have a structural engineer coming tomorrow to check out a retaining wall. If the engineer says we need to replace it soon, we will go back to the drawing board.

GL SBP!

[auntie]

Eh. It's hard to say.

In a situation like this, I'd want to trust the roofer, but he's the one who stands to gain financially if you believe him and do a re-roof.

There can be degrees in what is properly done vs ideal or even customary. In our old house, we had a sound but older roof and laid a second roof over it. It looked and worked find for the 10 years we lived there. In our current house, township code mandates removal of the old roof and an inspection of the decking to verify that it is a fire treated material because the developer was sketchy around the condos and townhouses he built in our development. My house is a single built by a different contractor but I was still held to the code.

I like the idea of a second opinion.

[Deleted]

I like that they are making the repairs recommended in the report despite the fact that you didn't ask for them. Can you get a home warranty to help cover costs of possible roof repair just in case anything major happens within the first year? Our agent highly recommends getting one in addition to homeowner's insurance just in case the inspections done prior to closing didn't catch something.

www.homewarrantyreviews.com/difference-between-home-warranty-and-homeowners-insurance

[TBM]

The fact that your sellers are relieved makes me think that they suspected something worse. I would really be cautious and have another roofer look carefully.


Our inspector said that the roof was near the end of its life, and needed a couple of repairs. The seller said that he would do the repairs. We decided to take a portion of the estimate instead, because we were afraid of a repair that might be done cheaply.

It turned out to be a wise decision on our part, because the seller would have done minimal repairs, but the roofers that our GC brought in found some stuff that was bad, but would have been much worse and more costly if it had been ignored. Now we know that we have a sound roof with good insulation, and are finding all of the other things that the former owners (original and more recent) ignored or glossed over. We expected some of this kind of stuff in a home this age, and expected to update, but some of this is still puzzling.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using proboards

[Deleted]

May 16, 2013 12:51:07 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

May 16, 2013 12:44:09 GMT -5 @choco said:

I like that they are making the repairs recommended in the report despite the fact that you didn't ask for them. Can you get a home warranty to help cover costs of possible roof repair just in case anything major happens within the first year? Our agent highly recommends getting one in addition to homeowner's insurance just in case the inspections done prior to closing didn't catch something.

www.homewarrantyreviews.com/difference-between-home-warranty-and-homeowners-insurance

The warranty is an interesting idea.  I've heard mixed thoughts on warranties.  I thought of offering one as a seller on our condo that we are trying to sell right now.  But I've heard that they are "worthless" and the buyers really don't care about them.  You think they can be a good idea?  

I've also heard mixed reviews re home warranties.  Our seller never offered one.  Honestly, I think warranties are as good as the coverage you pay for.  So, for those that paid for the minimum coverage will be pissy if they needed to file a claim and it's outside of their coverage. 

My gut says to trust the two roofers' opinions vs the inspector since those two specialize in it.  You are getting a second (thirdish) opinion, which to me is smart and at least you can have a better understanding of what needs to be done vs not done.  I would wait until you get results from today's roofer to see where to go from here.  I think it is a little disconcerting that the sellers are relieved re the roof, but the guys standing the roof itself will be able to give you a more educated opinion. 

Keep us posted!

[emjacobs]

My 2 cents.

The buyers jumping at doing the other repairs would raise a red flag, maybe they are awesome and just want to get rid of the house at whatever cost, maybe they are trying to sweeten you up so that you don't dig deeper. What are the reviews like for your inspector, maybe you could get a second inspection done and emphasize that you have concerns about the condition of the roof. I would much rather pay OOP for another inspection then find out that 5-7 years was really 5-7 months, and $25k is more like $75k because you also have internal issues that weren't seen before.

Home inspections, they can be shitty and annoying and useless, or they can be amazing. Our house came with a one year builders warranty and we are considering buying a home warranty now that that is up. Our builders warranty covered a ton of stuff and was great. Our home warranty would have covered the $850 we had to pay for a new septic pump had we gotten the warranty. I have friends that paid $100/deductible on three visits and got: a new water heater, a new heat pump, and a new dishwasher. So that was $300 + a few days of missed wages to be there for the workers. To me that is totally worth it.

I agree with TBM, I would ask that the builders just give you the money for the repairs and you can hire someone you trust, if they won't do that then ask if you can hire the contractor to do the work so that you know that it was someone with a good reputation that you can contact later.