Flat Roof Flashing Replacement
We hired Tony from Metro Roofing Inc to replace the flashing around our flat roof 2-storey building. When it came time to decide on the colour flashing, Tony suggested we visit the manufacturer to view the colours available and to pick the exact colour we wanted them to purchase. My Partner did and brought home a sample and gave the sample to one of his workers as instructed by Tony.
Upon arriving the next day to do the job I noticed that they had purchased the wrong colour not according to the sample we provided them. Arguments erupted. In the end we were forced to accept the colour they purchased or according to Tony “they would just walk away from the job.”
A week later they arrived and finished the work in one day.
The next day it rained. At about 10:15 am we noticed water dripping from the top of the windowpane on the first floor and ground floor. (The ground floor window being located directly under, in line with the first floor window.) We placed two buckets on the ground floor window to catch the dripping water. As the water flow increased to a stream on the ground floor I ran to the top floor to check and noticed that the water was seeping though and damaging the baseboards and windowsill. I ran downstairs and now the water was pouring in. My Partner and I immediately called Tony at Metro Roofing trying desperately to get a hold of him or any one at their office to help us. There was no answer.
An employee who works with me in the building ran outside and noticed that there was a waterfall of water coming out from underneath the roof flashing in one section, down the side of the building. At this point we were panicked. We called Tony and their offices, again no one answered. We realized we were on our own.
My Partner got out the ladder and in the middle of the thunderstorm climbed to the roof to try and see what was happening. He discovered that there was a huge section of the tiling they installed directly above the windows that was not adhered to the roof. He was able to lift up the tile on all sides. Water was now pouring into our place on both floors.
Luckily we actually had a tube of roofing sealant in our utility room. My partner and I went back to the roof and squeezed the sealant underneath and around the faulty tile work. I went down and checked and the water that was once pouring from underneath the flashing had slowed, almost stopped. After a run to the hardware store to purchase more sealant my Partner then spent the next few hours trying to figure where else they had not properly sealed the roof and applied sealant himself.
Tony finally left a message on my Partners cell phone at 1:40 pm that he was on his way. He arrived at approximately 4pm. My Partner took him to the roof to show him the faulty work. We also showed him the damage on the first and ground floor and explained the series of events of the day. He had few words to say, and sorry was not one of them. He said that “there was nothing he could do right now but he would have his workers here in the next few days to fix their work”. I told him that I would be a fool to let Metro Roofing back on my roof under any circumstances and that I was actively seeking another company to fix their mess. He then said, “ I will not be filing an insurance claim for you”. I told him from all that he had done to this point “why would I expect you to do the right thing?”
I said I would proceed as I see fit and that he should do the same. He then stormed out slamming the door and drove off.
The very job we hired them for, to upkeep our roof and try to keep weather damage from happening, they caused. There is certainly cosmetic damage and now we are working with our insurance company to discover what other damage Metro Roofing has caused us.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $4,746.00
- Company Response
It is very unfortunate this job went the way it did. We work hard to ensure customer satisfaction and in the rare circumstance when the job runs into problems we will continue until the customer is happy. In this case we were told not to return to the site and we were not paid for services rendered, so we were left with little options but to walk away. We were called to repair the metal work on this roof that was in terrible condition causing leaks. The client did not want a full replacement of the faulty work, but just the flashing done for the sake of aesthetics. They were told at that time and in writing that we could not guarantee this would fix the leak. Regardless we were very willing to help this customer when it was apparent that there were still leaking problems, but we were told this would be taken up with the insurance company and we were not to perform any work. We have not heard anything from the insurance company and can only assume that the cause of the leak does not have to do with the flashing we replaced as we suspected. We regret we were not given the opportunity to make amends with this client and we wish them all the best.