We’ve laid out the general scenario, and of course, you can guess what happens.
Joe and his crew show up, the old roof is torn off, and a new roof installed. Looks beautiful. You ink a check to Joe for the agreed upon price and breathe a sigh of relief that the issue is behind you.
Well of course it isn’t. What would be the point of this article if all ended well?
The rains return and within a couple of days the water is dripping again. It’s worse now. The floor. Your desk. The bedroom.
A call to Joe brings a promise of quick action, which of course is anything but quick. Joe is after all busy on a new project and coming back to look at your roof does not generate any income.
Eventually he shows up, pokes around up in the attic, climbs up on the roof where he start lifting shingles, pounding nails, etc.
“Sorry about that – just a few loose shingles that we fixed” is the verdict. You are not able to determine whether the problem is fixed or not, because for the next few days the sun s shining.
Fast forward, long story short, its raining again and the water is dripping again. Another call to Joe. Less enthusiasm this time, but he reluctantly appears. This time he gives you the bad news. The shingles are defective, and no, he won’t fix it because that is something you need to take up with the manufacturer of the shingles.
Not particularly happy with Joe’s response, you go ahead and call another roofer for a second opinion.
The news is not good.
Joe’s people have used nails that are too long, penetrating the base under the roof and providing a wonderful path for the water to follow from outside your house to the inside.
But it gets better… the shingles are not high quality and the Chinese lettering on the underside, when they’re pulled up is a strong hint that they are not domestic.
The roof I basically junk and will need to be replaced. Cost – estimated to be right at $25k
One more call to Joe produces no better results than before. Joe is clearly not very interested in the roof.
So here you are. You’ve already spent a lot of money on a worthless roof and are looking at spending another $25 k. Joe is refusing to address the problem.
You go and talk to a lawyer and it’s another gut punch. Sure – you have a great case but he charges $300 per hour and will need a $10,000 retainer fee to get started making it clear that eventually the fee will be much higher.
You don’t have that kind of money. The lawyer won’t take it on a contingent basis and you still need a new roof.
You are left with two options. You can just accept that Joe is a crook and move on, or, you can represent yourself and go after Joe.
You decide that good ol’ Joe shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this, and since there is no money to hire a lawyer, you’re going to venture forth on a major adventure – you’re going to represent yourself in court!