By Barry Stone
Dear Barry,
Before I bought my house, the home inspector said the roof was worn and needed about 2-4 bundles of wood shakes. The seller said there used to be some leaking but assured me this had been repaired. After moving in, I noticed a hole in the roofing and called the inspector to reconsider this omission in his report. He agreed to install a metal patch and invited me onto the roof for a look. What I saw was very disturbing. The condition of the shakes was much worse than stated in the home inspection report. After this, I got repair bids from three roofing contractors. Each of them independently agreed that the roof needed replacement. This was a major shock to me, considering the huge expense of re-roofing. It doesn't seem right that I should be stuck with this problem, but what can I do about it now? -Chris
Dear Chris,
Critical evaluation of roofing is a vital consideration in the course of a home inspection. Competent home inspectors make every effort to discover and disclose conditions that would compromise the reliability of a roof. It is surprising, therefore, that the revealed condition of your shakes was not reflected in the inspection report. The consistent recommendations of three separate contractors would indicate professionally negligent on the part of your inspector for not having disclosed the full extent of repairs warranted. Even if the shakes still retained a few years of serviceability, the defects that were noted by the inspector called for "evaluation and repair by a licensed roofing contractor prior to close of transaction." That is the correct recommendation offered by home inspectors whenever there are observable roof defects. Had that recommendation been offered, a roofing contractor would have reviewed the shakes before you purchased the property, and the need for replacement would have been revealed while negotiation with the seller remained a viable option.
In this respect, your home inspector appears to bear some professional liability. As to seller liability, you'll need to obtain legal advice in that regard.
. Questions of a Do It Yourself nature should be submitted our "