Question about how we should deal with contractor did a lot of work but didn't fix the issue we hired him to fix

[Anonymous]

We hired a roofer who was great in many respects--showed up, worked hard and was nice. One project was to fix the slope of the roof over our porch so that water would stop pooling and would drain down the downspout. He provided a few options for how to accomplish this, and we chose the one that was in the middle price-wise. I saw them working, and they were using a level to make sure that the slope would go towards the downspout. He completed the work yesterday, and we noticed that water is still pooling on the porch roof and failing to drain down the downspout today. I just text him and he wrote "we realized that we couldn't completely fix the slope to prevent all pooling without making the repairs visible from the street, so we did the best we could. There will still be some pooling, but it should be less."

He's right that there's slightly less pooling. Or at least, it's less deep in one corner as it now pools all along one side. My guess is that it'll dry slightly faster rain because the puddle isn't as deep, but it'll still eventually erode the roof material and it'll still cause the issues with increased mosquitos that were the drivers of this project.

The contractor is very nice, but he seems to be insisting that they did the best they could and should be paid. I'm not a cheap person, and I usually don't cause problems like this, but this project was a few thousand dollars and didn't accomplish the goal. I'm surprised that he didn't let me know when he determined that the goal wasn't possible without making the repairs visible from the street--I would expect that he'd discuss that with me so that we could make a reasonable decision about what to do.

Should I still pay? He spent the time, bought the materials and worked hard....but the project was a total waste from our standpoint. The roof was in fine shape! We only did this because the slope didn't direct the water into the downspout and the pooling was causing damage to the roofing material and contributing to mosquito proliferation. Both of those problems still exist.

[Anonymous]

I would ask them to come describe the possible repairs that are visible to the street so that you can choose that option or another for fixing the problem.

[Anonymous]

Maybe I'm dense. I know pooling is bad but why is water going down the downspout bad?

[Anonymous]

We want the water to go down the downspout. We do not want the pooling. I hope that helps clarify.

[Anonymous]

He could put a mechanic's lien on your house. I would try my best efforts to work this out.

[Anonymous]

Your big concern is going to be whether he puts a lien on your house.

[Anonymous]

You choose the middle priced solution and it seems he fixed it about 50%.
Call him and negotiate for complete solution or live with it.

[Anonymous]

I agree that the contractor should have been more upfront w/you at the beginning about what they could ➕ could not accomplish regarding the sloping of your roof, etc.

Since the problem was not completely rectified as you had originally requested - - then I would not think you are required to compensate him as you did not receive (in the end) what you had requested.

If the contractor will or cannot deliver on your request, then you will probably have to look elsewhere for someone who can.
In the meantime you may have to reimburse this person something for his labor as well as his materials however I am not sure how much.

You should also post this query in the Home Improvement forum because perhaps the people who go into that forum will have personal knowledge/experience regarding this type of situation and can advise you better.

I am really very sorry that this happened to you.
I wish you all the best in getting better results!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He could put a mechanic's lien on your house. I would try my best efforts to work this out.

Not the OP but didn’t know that contractors could do this…..?!

[Anonymous]

This might sound basic - sorry - but is there a chance there's debris lodged in the down-spout that is impeding the drainage?

[Anonymous]

When he described the three options up front, and they had three different price points, did he clarify the pros and cons of each?

Presumably he did that, because otherwise why would he have told you anything beyond the cheapest pricing option? That is, if option A B and C will all fix the problem, and they cost $100, $200 and $300 respectively and have no risks or downsides, why would he ever offer Option B or C?

Usually, when there are multiple options, it's because they have tradeoffs. What benefit did he say you'd get if you chose the most expensive option? Did he ever indicate that one approach came with more risks or questionmarks than the other approaches?

[Anonymous]

He should have told you he only delivered "less pooling" before claiming to be done. He should have clarified whether visible from street is even a concern of yours.

[Anonymous]

I don't know but I think you can let the mosquito thing go.
Like sure, mosquitos might be breeding in there. But they will find somewhere else.