We signed a contract with Lonnie White, a contractor, for our roof to be reshingled and gave a $2500 deposit. White showed up with two helpers, a 16 yr. Old boy and a girl in her 30's, said that his crew was on another job. We have a two and a half story colonial. My 78 yr. Old Mom lives in the upstairs apartment.
Five days into the job, a complete section of shingles had been torn off; this was on Saturday. They covered it with a tarp and stated that they would be back on Monday. The next day, Father's Day, there was a bad rain storm and the tarp blew off. Rain poured in upstairs in my Mom's apt., first in the bathroom, then in the bedroom, and then in the hallway. She was very upset, it was such a mess.
My husband called Mr. White to tell him what was happening. White said, "There's nothing I can do, it's raining." After three phone calls, White finally agreed to come over. He admitted that the tarp was not fastened properly and blamed it on his 16 yr. Old helper. This is just the beginning of our problems.
The following week I informed White that we had a lot of water damage including our blown-in insulation in the attic, which was wet. I asked him to file a report with his insurance to have the damage covered since he's a licenced contractor and is supposed to have insurance. He flat out told me that he was not responsible, that it was an act of God, and told me to put it through my homeowner's insurance.
Next, he said that I had to sign an additional contract for more money, and demanded a check. He said, "I done gone through your deposit, I need more money." I told him, as per my husband, I couldn't sign anymore contracts or write any checks. Being that my husband was in Canada (truck driver), he'd have to wait until that evening to speak with him. His reply was, "Fine, we're outa here." Since he had an entire side of our house roof down to bare wood, I was afraid that it might rain again and we'd have more water damage, so I signed it and gave him a check. I was brow-beaten into doing it. I should have called his bluff.
Well, he finally finished the job on June 24th (started on June 13th). My husband wasn't going to pay him the remainder of the money, but finally did, just to be done with him. I wish now that we hadn't, because he would have taken us to court and I feel that the Judge would have ruled in our favor.
This whole ordeal put so much stress on our family. I wish we had a heads-up on White's Home Maintenance before we made the mistake of hiring him.
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