ComplaintsforSoCo Roofing & Restoration

• Initial Complaint

  01/21/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  SoCo was hired to replace the roof on our house in Springfield, La. They came on Thursday, January 6, 2022. They began ripping off the old roof. I mentioned that the sky was getting dark and it looked like rain. I told the onsite supervisor and I texted ********* and let him know it was going to rain. No one did anything and it started to drizzle. I again asked the onsite supervisor to cover the roof. Nothing was done, There was no cover on parts of my roof and parts of it had old decking exposed with many nail holes. It began to rain and the rain poured into our house. We had just begun to get insulation and drywall put in the day before. All of the house had water pouring through electrical outlets and the insulation and drywall were soaked. We had water everywhere. Still no one covered the roof. I had called the company 3 times with no response during this time. Finally, I talked to ********* and he had them put tarps on in the middle of the downpour. However, the tarps all had big tears and nail holes so they leaked. I insisted that ********* come out to assess the issue. He finally came an hour after the last call. It was still drizzling and the crew immediately put the new roof on, even though the wood decking was soaked. A new heat/cooling unit was just put in too.********* took pictures and assured us that they would "make it right". They asked our contractor to give them a price to replace the drywall and insulation, which he did. They asked if they could have someone they knew come out and give an estimate because they thought it was too high. We agreed and they scheduled it for Thursday, January 13, 2022. He came and wrote them an estimate. We never heard from them again. We have contacted Kace, the owner, and ********* multiple times and were assured by the office that we would receive a call each day. On Thursday, January 20, 2022 we called again and were assured we would have a call by end of day. No response again and our calls are going to voicemail.

  

  Business response

  02/25/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/01/24) */ The morning of January 6th our crew arrived and began to tear the roof off of the homeowners house. We completed tearing off the roof at 8:00 am. At this time the homeowner personally instructed the crew to "stop working and to get off of the roof" because he claimed the decking was "old & flimsy" and he "did not want them to fall through and damage his newly installed sheetrock". Our project manager arrived onsite at 8:30am to inspect the decking and found that it was 3/8 thick which does not meet or exceed code requirements. At 9:19am we emailed the customer an estimate for replacing all of the decking on the roof. The customer became irate and refused to pay for any decking to be replaced. At this time we contacted the customer's insurance company to get approval for replacing the decking. The homeowners insurance company informed us at 9:58am that the customer did not have "Code Upgrades" in his policy and would be responsible to pay for this expense out of pocket. We informed the homeowner and he again refused to pay to bring the decking up to code or to pay for any rotten decking to be replaced. Our contract with the homeowner states it is the homeowners responsibility to pay for any requested upgrades that are not approved by the insurance provider. Furthermore our contract states the homeowner is responsible to pay for any rotten or deteriorated decking. At 11:11am the customer had a phone conversation with our company representative who agreed to replace the rotted decking only and install the roof over the existing 3/8 decking at the homeowners instruction to do so. Homeowner agreed and our crew began to work. Although there was no rain forecast for the day, a small shower began to rain on the jobsite for a total of 30 minutes between 12:39-1:09. On January 13 we visited the jobsite and offered to replace any drywall or insulation that was damaged or wet and had not dried out upon testing with a moisture meter. The customer became angry and said that the only thing they would accept is that we replace their entire roof and all of the sheetrock and insulation in the entire home. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/01/25) */ The company's response is NOT satisfactory. At this point, the dispute is about Soco installing a new roof over soaking wet decking, which can lead to buckling plywood and mold growth. In addition, leaving the roof exposed during the rain led to the entire house inside getting water damage, leading to warping and sagging sheetrock as well as mold growth. There is a new a/c and heating unit that was installed in the attic the week before. The a/c installer has been sick and unable to assess this unit for potential damage. In addition, the electrical panel had water standing in it. We did not ask the roofer to address the a/c and electrical panel. We just want them to address the roofing, sheetrock, and insulation issues. Their response does not address any of our concerns. The onsite supervisor stopped working due to the discussion about the decking. At this point, the roofing crew had already torn off several sheets of decking and damaged approximately 14 sheets of decking in total. They had also cut the entire roof decking from one end of the house to the other in preparation for the new ridge-cap, leaving it completely open. According to *********, the Soco rep, they were not supposed to start tearing off anything until the insurance company told him whether or not they would cover the decking. However, they started before this was clarified. The foreman onsite and ********* were notified verbally and via text message at 11:33am that it was looking like rain. The onsite supervisor was notified multiple times verbally after that about the rain and needing to tarp since the decking was bare and some decking had been removed completely. He did not do anything, even when it started raining. At 12:49pm ********* was texted that it was raining inside our house. The onsite supervisor still did nothing. Rain was coming in lighting outlets, roof holes, a/c vents, etc. No one from the roofing company responded. ********* was called again at 12:34pm, 12:47pm, 12:51pm with no answer. The office was called and finally we spoke to ********* at 1:03pm. By then water was coming in every room and could be seen on every floor. We asked ********* to come see what was happening. He kept saying "it'll all be over by the time I can get there". We asked again that the roof get tarped and he finally said he would have the onsite supervisor tarp the roof. The tarps they used had large tears and nail holes everywhere so they didn't help. After multiple requests during the phone conversation ********* finally agreed to come out. He said "GPS says it will take me 62 minutes to get there". When he did get to the house he took pictures hugged my wife, and assured us "we'll make it right". The crew was there to work on the interior of the house and witnessed the rain coming in as well as others onsite at the time. While it was still raining they installed approximately 11 sheets of new plywood, which got soaked as well.The roofing crew was there and were in their vehicles waiting out the rain so they saw it coming in the house as well. ********* arrived after the rain had slowed to a drizzle an hour later and the roof was put on over the wet decking. According to the shingle manufacturer manual attached "If a wood deck becomes soaked for any reason, allow it to sufficiently dry out before applying underlayment and shingles" (CertainTeed SAM 14th Edition, Wet Weather Conditions, pg. 6). In addition, all roofing industry articles we found online say not to install underlayment and shingles over wet decking. When the business owner and ********* arrived on Thursday, January 13, 2022 with their guy to do the second estimate, which they requested and we agreed to, no offer was made by the owner. He did say he could test the walls with a moisture meter. We declined since it had been a full week since the rain and also because a moisture meter is not going to pick up mold growing in the insulation and behind the drywall. Since every room was wet and the entire roof leaked, we asked him to replace the new insulation and drywall. Also, since the decking was completely soaked when they applied the new roofing, we asked that the roof and decking be replaced. He said they would look at the second estimate and contact us. We never had another call or text from the owner. After multiple calls were placed to ********* and the office with no response, we texted ********* on Tuesday, January 18, 2022 at 10:07am and asked "Trying to find out what ya'll decided. Let me know something please." At 4:29pm we again texted ********* and asked "Anything yet?". At 4:49pm ********* texted back "No sir. Waiting to hear back from my boss. As soon as I hear something y'all will be the first to know I promise". Other than the lady in the office repeatedly telling us that the owner would call us back daily no contact has been received. Multiple phone calls to the office, owner, and ********* have not been returned. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/01/27) */ At this time we are willing to refund what has been payed to us so far and not charge the homeowner for the roof replacement or the rotten decking that was replaced. The total price of the roof should be more than enough to fix anything that was damaged. As this damage was caused as a direct result of the customer directing the crew to stop working and then refusing to honor the terms of their contract, we do not feel that we share the sole responsibility of this unfortunate event. Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/01/31) */ The response from Soco on Friday, 1-28-2022, is NOT satisfactory. The roofing crew should not have been on the roof to begin with. According to *********, the Soco rep, the crew was supposed to wait until there was confirmation that the insurance company was going to pay for replacement decking before any work started. We arrived after the roofing crew got to the site and started tearing off the roof. When we saw them tearing the decking off we asked the onsite supervisor, who was sitting in his car, if the insurance company agreed to pay for it. He said he didn't know and we pointed out that his crew was already tearing off sheets and had damaged some. He did not realize this and quickly got out of his car and ran to tell them to stop and called *********. The situation was not as Soco says "caused as a direct result of the customer directing the crew to stop working and then refusing to honor the terms of their contract". The crew should have waited as they were supposed to. And, as already stated in previous responses, when the onsite supervisor and ********* were notified of coming rain the roof should have been tarped to ensure no damage to the interior. They did not respond until after multiple conversations with us. The fact is that by the time the onsite supervisor took action the rain had already penetrated the interior of the house, ash shown in previous attachments. Then he put on tarps with gaping tears and nail holes, as shown in previous picture attachments, and still did not get the entire roof covered. The issue remains that Soco did nothing to protect our roof decking or interior. We would accept Soco's offer as stated in their response to "refund what has been payed to us so far and not charge the homeowner for the roof replacement or the rotten decking that was replaced" to settle the roofing issue. However, we still have to address the damaged insulation and sheetrock. Our contractor estimate that was submitted to Soco was for $13,414.00. This is not close to "more than enough to fix anything that was damaged" as Soco stated in their response. Soco had their own guy come in but we have no idea what his estimate was since they never communicated with us again after that day, even though the owner said he would call us. We are still going to have to use the roofing money to replace the roof. We would accept $12,000.00 for the replacement insulation and sheetrock in addition to the roof refund payment to settle both issues. We will have to pay out of pocket to fix any damage found with our new a/c and heating unit and we will have to do mold remediation to ensure no mold growth behind the sheetrock and insulation. We are willing to pay those costs and settle for the previous stated amounts so we can finally get our house completed and move in. We paid $3,000.00 down before any work was done.

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