First Person: New roof? No thanks

2012-03-29 00:25:36

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By Steve Hallock

Along with the annual tulips, daffodils, forsythias and lilacs, our neighborhood this spring is experiencing a robust sprouting of contractors thanks to this winter's heavy snows.

Indeed, what has been a bane for the homeowner -- from collapsed roofs to fallen gutters -- has been a boon for those in the roofing and construction business. One insurance representative I talked to said she had never experienced anything like the volume of storm-related claims filed for this winter's storm damage, especially in February.

It was so bad this winter that administrators in my town of Mt. Lebanon mailed notices to property owners informing them that the municipality would waive the required permitting process for contractors to do repair work.

All of which makes it that much easier for contractors who prey on frustrated and eager property owners. If ever the phrase caveat emptor -- let the buyer beware -- applied, it is this spring as folks seek out handymen and contractors to fix their roofs.

I telephoned a contractor, recommended by a friend, to look at my fallen gutters and cracked ceiling. He performed a visual inspection in a walk around the house and then, entering the living room and eyeing the crack, declared: "You'll need a whole new roof along with the gutters."

Observing my dropped jaw, he added: "Of course, if you wish to wait, I can give you separate estimates for the gutters, which you will need to replace all around the house, and for the roof." A few days later he telephoned with the estimate: $5,600 for the roof; $6,800 for the roof and gutters.

Because the contractor had been recommended, my wife and I were pretty much resigned to dipping into our savings. The deductible for catastrophic damages on our insurance coverage is $1,000, and the insurance would not cover the cracked roof repair, as that could not be demonstrated to be storm-related.

We decided to get competing estimates nonetheless. Someone else recommended a different contractor, who opined -- again, without benefit of actually going up onto the roof -- that we did not need a new roof or new gutters in the back. We did need to replace some flashing. He never sent an estimate.

Steve Hallock is an assistant professor in Point Park University's School of Communication and author of "Reporters Who Made History: Great American Journalists on the Issues and Crises of the late 20th Century"( shallock@pointpark.edu ).
First Published May 1, 2010 12:00 am
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