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I am seeking the professional opinion as to whether or not a builder can be held liable in any way for faulty construction of roofing.

We built our home in North Austin approximately 2 1/2 years ago. We have had multiple problems with the contractors work. The current issue is a leaking roof. When it rains, it leaks through the 2-3 vents extending from the roof for ventaliation. On numerous occassions we had the builder come out and take a look, sometimes even declaring there was no leak despite obviuos roof damage; finally after a third call, they made an offer to have a contractor seal it. This happened the 1st year in the house, and most recently was discovered again in May of 2006. Just this morning as it began raining i climbed into the attic to check on this issue and there were again 2 leaks.

Builder claims that it is the responsibility of the homeowner to reseal the roof often due to normal deterioration from weathering. Everyone I have talked to that has lived in a home has never heard of this being the case.   Is this normal? I dont think so especially since the first leak was less than a year in the house.

 Luckily, at this point the damage has been fairly minimal, but for obvious reasons I am seeking a permanent fix to the problem.

My main question at this point is can the builder be held liable through litigation?  My two purposes are to get the roof fixed and be compensated for their neglect and problems caused to my family.  Their arrogance and repeated problems with the construction have finally pushed me to the point of seeking legal advice. 

I just had to shake my head on this one. I have a local builder in Houston. When I addressed a roof leak I was told exactly what you were told. "Homeowner's Maintance". I just wonder how much some of these people will continue to insult the intelliegence of consumers. It is so absurd and dispicable. No one should buy into these excuses. It has to do with the competence of the person who built  one's home or lack thereof-plain and simple IMHO.

That is BS that you have to reseal your vents or your roof.  Very likely your vents were installed with either NO flashing, or the flashing is installed WRONG.  Your roof may also have missing or improperly installed underlayment and/or shingles.  A REAL builder does not seal everything with caulk, but relies on water shedding principles.

http://www.jlconline.com
http://www.buildingscience.com
http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Columns/Helter_Shelter/2005/11/10/Caulk_Is_Cheap/index.shtml#

IMO it's worth $300 or so to pay a GOOD home inspector with knowledge of roof construction to do a written report on this.  I bet he or she will find one or more of the above defects, and possibly more beyond that.  Be sure you have it professionally investigated and documented before all your important deadlines run out.  Builders will caulk or give excuses and deadlines pass, then you're out of luck.  Of course, if you're in TX, you have very little recourse even if you have done all this due to the TRCC.

Newbuilder, listen to Jane Doe. She is correct. My inspector just left and of course they left out flashing in some of the windows, some of the venting was done incorrectly and flashing was missing from some of the roof but of course that is not all. I am just pointing out the excuses you received from the builder, just like I did are lame, old, reprehensible, dispicable, unconscionable, fill in your own word. Point blank they did not build it correctly.
If you do go with an inspector make sure you get an experienced one.  It is well worth every penny.

At the top left corner there is a locator!

http://www.nachi.org/forum/

thanks for your replies.

To add insult to injury , the builder again sent the same contractor out after this posting. My thoughts were, if they fix it fine.  Sure enough as soon as it started raining, the leaks continued. So, I think you guys are onto something about the flashing or inproper installation.  Either way I am very unhappy with their incompetence and am going to resolve this on my own. 

The contract wording is a bit confusing to me, but I would hope they would compensate me for any costs I incur.  I would just as soon do this though litigation, but I have heard you are often forced into arbitration.

Thanks again for your input!

newbuilder, you can indeed be forced to arbitrate if your contract contains an arbitration clause.  If the builder's contract doesn't have the clause, almost certainly any seperate warranty policy will.  If you have a government backed mortgage you do not have to arbitrate with a warranty company though, (Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations is on housing, and section 203.204(g) says you must also have court, etc, as an option with a warranty company.)  Getting out of arbitration with a builder is hard and some people have fought in court over just that aspect of their case, in addition to the lawsuit/arbitration over the construction defects.  Many courts have upheld the arbitration clause but others have found it unenforceable due to extreme bias or being contrary to state laws.  Arbitration is not necessarily cheaper than litigation, and being "faster" isn't always an advantage as it may not allow the homeowner to find good experts, discover all the defects, etc.  Believe me, arbitration is used by the industry because it favors the industry.

If you have no arbitration clause, you do not have to arbitrate from anything I've ever learned.  IMO resist arbitration if you have the choice.

Update:

Well, after my complaints to the builder they finally sent a roofer out and added some parts(flashing), resealed the roof, and guaranteed there would be no leak. About 2 days later, the rain came, and the leaks were still there.  I again complained and they sent the roofer and manager out to take another look. They are again making repairs, insisting that they do not see any leak. Well, i can tell you without a doubt, when it rains, it leaks. I have buckets and towels up on the attic to prevent any more damage to the sheetrock and interior dwelling.

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Statements made to me by the builder and roofer since this began:

You, the homeowner, need to reseal your roof due to weathering.

Homes are meant to be water resistant, not waterproof. If theres a hurricane, for instance, you will have some water in your roof due to strong rain and winds.  (I LIVE IN AUSTIN, TX BTW)

If I, the roofer, cannot fix your home, I shouldnt be in the roofing industry.

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If this next round of repairs does not do the trick i will be forced to hire my own contractor to at least see if they can see anything differently. The only reason I have not is due to costs and that the builder was willing to honor the warranty to attempt a fix on their own.  I will pursue an attorney, whom I have already been in contact with,  or arbitration, but I know there are other costs involved. At the end of day I just want my home to be repaired.

I am also planning on filing formal complaints with whomever will listen (TRCC, BBB, ETC) if this is not resolved.

Thanks again for the input, for the forum to vent, and for reading!

Hello All!  I am new to this forum and HOBB, but already they have provided me very valuable advice/information.  We purchased our Brand New DR Horton home on 06/25/04, and we still have water intrusion evident in several areas of our home (likely to be roofing/flashing).  We have been very patient (hello, we allowed them 8+ repair attempts over a period of time exceeding 2 years), and yet they have not properly repaired nor even located the issues.  We hired a lawyer to pursue litligation, and he was able to get DR Horton to pay an engineer to inspect...however, DR Horton has taken the positions that WE are being unreasonble and will not take the engineer's advice.  We were just about to file our paperwork and $250. fee to TRCC, but then thankfully I bummped into HOBB.  The TRCC (Texas Residential Construction Commission) was set up as a means to mediate homeowner/builder copmlaints...but it is VERY much in favor of the builder...this is public knowledge.  Most of us are forced into binding arbitration after pursuing TRCC (by the way the builder doesn't have to take the TRCC's advice for repair either...and yet the homeowner is required to go through TRCC before being eligible for any kind of litigation), and sadly I hear most arbitrations end up in favor of the builder...some homeowners have even had to pay the builder!!!!  We are now pursuing a buy back with DR Horton (whom previously was very clear they will not buy the home back), but means of good old fashion squeaky grease/thorn in side.  We have sent many letters our to various political representatives and organizations, as well as a letter to DR Horton stating our Buy Back terms.  We may have a rough road ahead, but we will prevail...signs on our cars, picketting, whatever (legally) we have to do to win this battle.  Don't let the big builders bully you!!!  It's time for them to take responsibility for their work!  For more information on pursuing this route, please email HOBB President Janet Ahmad at: president@hobb.org
The best advise I can give you.  Good Luck!

Do you have any pictures of the area you are talking about?