I just bout a house and part of the agreement was that the seller would escrow money for a new roof. They had obtained a bid and the contractor has 60% of the money to do the roof. The other 40% is being held by the sellers attorney waiting for my OK to release it to the contractor. I admittedly don't know much about roofs but looking at roof some things don't seem right. If there are any roofers or experts here who know better please help me out in what to say to the contractor or if everything is actually ok.

EDIT: An e-mail has been sent with the pictures to my inspector and asking for an on-site inspection if he deems it necessary. All the pictures are "after" pictures. The contractor is attempting to collect their fees for the job.

EDIT 2: I added a picture of the roof being put on


The contract has "Replace step flashing on chimney as needed"


Most of the images I have seen online have flashing down the side and under the dormers.


Most of the images I see online have flashing which go down the crease in the shingles, also is the top shingle supposed to be open at the top of the roof line like that? I have seen flashing and no flashing work like this in the area but I don't know how old the roofs are on those houses.


The sun wasn't in my favor for this picture, but is the flashing supposed to look like that around the vent?


Here is a picture of the roof being put on, you can see near the chimney.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

That looks terrible. Pretty bad, needs a lot of corrective work, that valley alone using shingles is bad enough where I would not pay them a cent.

Ask an inspector to come out and look at it.

I'm no roofer, but this looks like before pictures of a roof that needs to be replaced.



When will the after pictures be available?

That is some fine, grade A, horseshit roofing right there.  They probably got the driveway seal-coated at the same time.

If that was on "my" house... blade at 45 would be appropriate.

That looks like hammered ass.  That's the after pic?

Unless there is a ridge vent on top the upper shingles look bad.  That being said I had my roof replaced in March and had several areas where the shingles were raised up.  They settled down after a few weeks.

looks like they left the old flashing up in the first pic....that's wtf rt Thur

also shingles look uneven in first pic....could be old flashing or worse....where the wood underneath has been damaged by water leaks...

??

Those are pictures of the old roof, right?

Man, all I know about roofing is having bought one, but I'd be pissing razor blades if that was the result.  Looks like it was shot at and missed, shit at and hit.

I'm not a roofer but picture #3 looks very wrong. I don;t think picture #1 looks right either- both where the roof meets the chimney and the crest of the roof line.

I would pay a reputable roofing company to come out and evaluate the roof and give a written appraisal of the roof.

In hindsight, the escrow should have been for a roofer of YOUR choosing, not the seller. Looks like they went with Ed's Cousin's Roof Repair and Lawn Mowing, whatever they could do cheap and shitty.

And that is cheap and shitty.

Yes, that is all kinds of wrong.

Step shingles or step flashing must go under the shingles next to them.  Functionally, look at a roof with water running down it.  The water must never have a ledge or gap to run under.  It always cascades downward over the shingles that get lower and lower in terms of layers.  

That roof is leaking when it rains.  It has to the way it is layed out around the chimney.

This.

Looks like a shitty lay over done by a blind retarded monkey on lsd... no way should you accept that.

Absolutely unacceptable work

Yea the flashing sucks. Like the vent pipe flashing and stuff need to be under the shingles. The way it is the water will run right under it.

They need to replace flashing.

I'm confused, OP, are you saying the contractor HAS or HAS NOT done the work yet?  As far as I'm concerned the roof looks like shit and is not in any kind of good condition right now.  But is that a before pic or not?

Butchered by rank amateurs.  Get the inspector back

Looks good to go.

That looks like shit. Walk away.

If that's the finished work, then pay for a certified  inspector to come out and examine the work before you sign ANYTHING RELEASING THE FUNDS ETC.

You got screwed. That roofing job is one of the worst I've seen. I'm hoping you posted before pics...

I'd get a good inspector out there and be prepared to sue that jackass for the entire cost of the yet-again new roof.

That shit looks like a bag of mashed assholes.  The flashing on the chimney alone is enough to have him horse whipped.

All that shit where the siding meets the roof line is going to leak like hell unless I'm missing a shit-ton of flashing under there.

WTF is that shit? looks like and old improperly installed roof

Well they had extra and their boss gets mad at them if they bring it back to the shop....



 

OP, bail, find a new house to buy.

Just guessing but was roofer the seller's brother-in-law?

He already bought it

That roof needs some fixing. I did a few roofs when I was in college and know I would have had my ass kicked by the boss if my work looked like that. Good job catching that there are problems though.

I am not a roofer but I have done my own.  Here's what I've noticed.

Pic #1:  Flashing around chimney should have been replaced. It appears the plywood was rotten at the chimney and has caused the shingles to buckle and should have been replaced.  I've never seen anyone transistion from a ridge vent to the hip the way they did.

Pic #2: It's really hard to tell much from the pic.  The shingles raised up down the left side of the dormer could be from flashing underneath.  It may or may not be done right, no one can tell without actually looking at it.  The bottom of the dormer is the same could be OK but based on everything else I've seen I doubt it.

Pic #3: Valleys can be done with shingles and be fine if they're done right.  Your's doesn't look like it was.  What is the line running down the right side of the valley about 2-3" off the center?  If that is a seam it's going to cause you problems.

Pic #4:  The vent flange should have at least one more shingle over it.  It's going to leak, especially with wind driven rain.

There is no way I would sign off on that.  In fact I wouldn't let those guys back on the property they slapped that down for a paycheck and didn't give a shit about doing it right.  My unproffesional advice is to get it inspected and talk the realtor.

looks like shit half assed work

Looks like your roofer and my gutter contractor should go into business.







http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1378282_Contractors____Do_these_gutters_look_acceptable_.html

Roofing contractor here.  Looks like shitty work overall.  Did they tear off the old shingles or overlay?  Problem with getting the sellers to put on a new roof, is that they are going to get the cheapest person possible, and most likely cut corners to save on cost.  What state are you in?  Are there licensing requirements there, or can anybody put on a roof.  

As for the chimney, they might have replaced the step flashing, but they obviously didn't counter flash it.  It wouldn't have taken them that long to do, and would look a lot better.  

I don't use exposed valley metal, and nobody I know uses it anymore.  But I'm talking Maryland, so maybe your state is different. The shingle at the top of the valley where the peak meets the other roof should lay better than that.  

The pipe flashing looks to be installed incorrect.  It should go under another row of shingles.  

ETA:  My suggestion would be to call a decent roofing company to come out and look at it.  A lot of inspectors won't go on a roof with any pitch at all.  Like somebody else said, if they installed the vent pipe flashing like that, they suck at their job, and more things could be wrong.

The top may be ridge vents that you are seeing, but hard to tell from a distance.

Get the codes inspector out there two.

Not a roofer, but I have helped do others roofs, also my own shed. But that is total shit work, and you should not pay/release the funds.

Call up a few other roofers to come out and give bids to fix the problem, and MAYBE get them to write a letter saying it is sub standard work. Then get the thing done right.

The roof looks like shit, plus it's all warped like they didn't remove the old layer.

What the hell happened there? Holy shit...

As a guy who puts on 500+ new construction roofs a year, yes it looks a bit rough, but I'm more than aware that 4 pictures do not determine the quality of the roof.  People go nuts over crap that is far more common than anyone not in the business would understand.  Sadly for the price most people demand, the quality just isn't there anymore.  These aren't our grandparents who took pride in everything they did.  These are guys just trying to make a living, and a house a day is the was to go and sometimes they don't put in the effort all of us would like to see.

Shingles can take weeks or months to lay flat. Depending on weather conditions.  Winter roofs do not seal up until late spring, and often not to the strength of a summer roof.

#1 Chimney, Needs to have all previous flashing removed and new step flashing installed.  Then new counter flashing should be installed over the brick.  Demand that they cut it in, not just use tar and hope it sticks.  I also see what could be a bow in the plywood, it happens.  Is the piece beneath it bad?  Or is it just sagging between trusses?  Code around here allows something like 1.5" here and no often is the sag that much.  

#2 There should be step flashing up the gabled wall and roll flashing on the front wall.  I can't tell if it is there or not, but shame on them if they didn't put it there.  I do see some shingles that up the pitch are a bit to tight and would need cut to relax.

#3 Valley is is out there a ways, but IMO is aesthetic in nature and should be ok.  Again I'd have ice and water installed up the valley so I can't be 100% sure.  Top of the valley, yeah that shingle is up a bit and with a little work could be layed down. They probably need to remove a few of the cap pieces and rework them.  You might have seen open valleys, which have a pre-bent piece of metal down the center of the valley that you shingle up to.  Typically done on the more custom jobs.  

#4 Looks wrong.  Should have shingles to about the bottom edge of the curved portion that goes around the pipe then the bottom is open, but nailed to the roof.  Looks to me like it has no shingles on the upper portion and water would run underneath it.

Overall it could use some work from what I see, but nothing that screams tear it off to me.  Then again I look at too many houses every year and the stuff I see there is pretty standard IMO.  Not that it is right either, but most of it looks like it can be fixed.  I'd have an inspector walk over the things and point out the obvious problems.  Like any job, its not often that round one comes out 100%.

I got a judgment against that jackass last week and will begin the butt-raping soon.  

OP you already know what to do.. do not pay them... they should know what to do but they are a fly by night roofing company.. even a bunch of non-roofer's did a better job on my roof than that.. this is amateur hour.. someone heard they could get paid thousands to put roofs on and never really learned how to do it...

Not sure I would trust them to fix their mistakes..but by law you are probably required to give them the opportunity.. you might ask them if they know how to fix their mistakes. and see if they are willing to let you hire a PROFESSIONAL and deduct that cost from their payment.. or perhaps suggest that they hire a pro and then you pay the entire amount that you previously agreed to on the original bid and they pay the pro out of their own pocket..

screams amateur hour

That's total BS and the biggest reason I choose to do everything I can myself.  Do it right the first time and be done with it.  

Was the roof stripped or did they go over the old one? NVM, I see a new pic of the stripped roof.


As a contractor I'd say it looks a little rough. I'd get the name of the company just so I could tell people to stay away from them.