I recently had the wood decking and asphalt shingles on my roof replaced, but during the process, the roofing crew removed my soffit ventilation. My house has a cathedral ceiling and relies on air flow coming in through soffit vents, moving over insulation in the rafters, and out through a slot at the top of the roof. Now, with the soffit vent boards replaced for hanging a gutter, there's no air intake. The roofer also sealed off the outflow at the top of the roof. He admitted it was a mistake and promised to fix it, but now he's dodging my calls. What should I do? Should I leave it as is, risk damage to the roof, hire someone else to install new vents, consider legal action, or is there another option?
2 Answers
It sounds like you've given the original contractor a fair chance to fix the issue, so I’d recommend documenting everything. If they don’t respond, looking into small claims court could be a good move. You can usually file for quite a bit, like $7500 in some areas, without needing a lawyer. Plus, just make sure to keep records of their acknowledgment of the error and your attempts to reach them. You want to show you’ve been reasonable about it all.
Sending a certified letter is a solid approach! Just make it clear that you need this issue resolved, and let him know that if he doesn't respond, you'll consider legal action. This shows you've made a genuine effort to resolve the problem before escalating things. Once you've done that, get a couple of estimates for fixing the ventilation so you're prepared if it goes to court.