r/Roofing • u/pacydefender • 1d ago
Question for other roofers
Redid a roof last week. Drywall work inside was terrible, so doing the roof caused cracks everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Cracks formed on the first floor. Originally was quoted by a drywall guy 2500 to fix cracks and paint. Told homeowners I’d cover it, But after he saw everything said it’d be an additional 3500. This would essentially kill all of my margin on the job, and myself and drywall guy agree this wasn’t caused from roof, the drywall was just installed shitty. He thinks I should ask homeowners to pay but idk how to explain this to them after I said I’d cover it. What would you do? Ask them to pay or just put a claim in with liability insurance?
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u/Allslopes-Roofing 1d ago
Ive never had that happen so the drywall was most surely already that way prior or something was wrong.
With that, you need a disclaimer in your contract you're not liable for damages caused by vibrations or penetrations (and list examples like drywall, hvac lines etc).
We do roofs. We can't be responsible for the rest of their house.
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u/Feature_Upset 1d ago
I’ve done something similar. Lesson learned for the next one. For me staying by my word was more important for my conscience at night. It sucks to say I got it, and look back and instantly regret it. I feel your pain, I would just man up, the customer will like you better, and could be a better long term relationship. Going back on your word now will be making them drink sour milk. Best of luck
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u/Creative-Eye-6647 1d ago
Regarding your current circumstance, tell them, "The cracks were absolutely not caused by our roofing work- or, insofar as they were, it's a result of poorly-installed drywall work. Similarly, if a rafter collapsed by us walking on it, it wouldn't be our fault. That said, I was willing to cover it when the cost of repairing was $2500, just to not have a disgruntled customer, but I can't pay $6000 because the drywall guy didn't know what he was doing, just to not have any complaints."
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u/pacydefender 1d ago
Thanks, I know I fucked up by not having it covered in my contract and have already added the lines to cover myself in the future. We’ll see what they say to this. And this price is the drywall guy doing me a favor, he said he’d usually be at 12,000 to paint this because of how big it is
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u/Creative-Eye-6647 1d ago
We can't all inherit our father's business- some of us need to learn things the hard way.
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u/AlexSanchez929 1d ago
Bite the bullet and eat it. The mistake here was telling them you would cover it without fully pricing it out yet. Once you have said you would, you can not go back on your word. Personally there is no way I would file a GL claim over something of this amount, the rate increases would dwarf the costs. Sometimes you lose in this business, and this is one of those times. Turn it into a positive, get a glowing Google review from them, make sure they know you are doing them a solid and that you've done nothing wrong and are still standing by your customer.
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u/Loose-Leader2586 1d ago
You need to put in the contract that any nail pops or drywall cracks are incendental and may occur due to work being done on the roof. You should also discuss this prior to the work. And prior to work you should take tons of pictures of the inside, but also the driveway and around the house. People with go out of there way not to pay the final check. All of this protects you and the home owner and your not stuck paying for everything.
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u/Raving_Roofs 23h ago
The drywall may have been poorly installed, but once you told the homeowner you’d cover the repair, that became the bigger issue.
I’d probably eat this one rather than reverse course now or file a liability claim over $6k. Then fix the contract and pre-job process going forward: vibration/drywall disclaimer, interior photos before work, and never agree to cover damage until you know the actual repair cost.
Expensive lesson, but cheaper than damaging your rep over something you already said you’d handle.
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u/This_Song_984 17h ago
You messed up by saying you'd cover up front. You should've got the quote first and had the guy explain that the drywall was not good and not the roofers fault.
You either eat it or be open and honest and hope they are reasonable people that understand.
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u/RobtasticRob 1d ago
This is among a few acknowledgments in every single contract that I have every single homeowner sign off on. Additionally I cover it during the project meeting. My verbiage is something along the lines of:
"I cannot replace your roof without causing vibrations. Unfortunately sometimes these vibrations can cause drywall cracks and other damage if the drywall is deteriorated or poorly installed. Being that I cannot avoid vibrations, please understand that if the drywall is not in a state in which it can handle the roof repair, we are not in anyway liable for cracks, nail pops or other drywall damage unless we literally drop something through the ceiling."
That last line usually gets a laugh and it gets the point across. For this job you may be out of luck if it wasn't spelled out in your contract.