ComplaintsforHIBCO Roof LLC

• Initial Complaint

  06/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On march 17 2023 I signed a contract hiring hibco roofing to replace my roof and siding. Scott agreed to replace all rotted boards at cost with plywood under the siding due to severe water damage caused by improper construction by the former contractor.. I was very clear on numerous occasions with Scott dating back to our first interaction in January 2023 that I did not want any form of compressed particle board put under the siding due to the formaldehyde it contains.. The main damage to the house was where my new granddaughter’s nursery is located and I saw what happened to the particle board that was there just disintegrated.. I did however agree to let him use osb board in the roofing project because it was determined by Scott and my insurance company that there was minimal damage to my roof. I replaced it because it was over 20 years old and the damage was too small to warrant a large piece of plywood per Scott’s recommendation. I hired hibco roofing to do my work not because they had the lower estimate. They didn’t by almost $1000 but because he said he did the work himself. He did not. My initial interaction with Scott after the siding was installed was to show him the east side of my house where my chimney is located. The siding on the right side of my chimney is clearly higher and the eaves are exposed a bit. It is also this way in the back which is where I discovered he replaced my boards with osb board instead of plywood which I contracted and paid for. When I asked him about this he denied replacing the board all together. I had also pointed out a board on the west side of my house that the top left corner was completely gone and I could crumble the board with my hands. Scott agreed to replace it and when I got home from work the following day he greeted me by saying he didn’t have to replace any boards. He thought I should have been happy. But I felt sick to my stomach because if he didn’t replace the board I pointed out to him. How many more are there

  

  Business response

  06/07/2023

  Hello, and thank you for the opportunity to clarify.

  As shown in the attached work order for Ms.*************, all services were performed as described. It was clearly explained as well as written out that if we discovered damaged sheathing, either on the roof or under the siding, we would be required to replace it. Ms. ************* was worried about the cost. We assured her we would only replace what was damaged. We even went so far as to put it in her contract that any sheathing that needed replaced would be done at cost. It is written on her contract that OSB would be used, which is the standard for roof sheathing as well as sheathing under siding. 
  
  I personally was onsite supervising the entire project. One of her complaints is that she is upset thinking that I would be performing the actual labor myself. I did perform some of the labor. However, as the owner my role is to supervise to ensure all work is completed according to the contract. Ms. ************* did have some questions during the installation, although she had no complaints and was happy. Her contract included new shutters on her second story. I told her I would replace all the front shutters including the lower window shutters, even though it was not in her contract and we did not request payment. He shutters came in after the job was complete. When we went to her home to install the gutters everything was fine. Once the shutters were installed it was time for her final payment. At that point she expressed she expected I would be the one doing all the work. She also claimed we did not use starter strips for the siding. Her home was built over 60 years ago. The siding is level but her home has settled and the only way to maintain congruity from one side of her chimney to the other would have been to install the siding out of level. It happens sometimes on older homes. Another excuse she made for not making the final payment was because she believed her home would not pass inspection. Luckily, the City of Reynoldsburg performs inspections during the installation as well once the job has been completed. Ms. ************* had a total of four inspections on her home, which we have attached the certificate of inspection. Her home passed inspection all four city inspections. She made us a commitment that if her home passed inspection she would pay her balance. Once we provided her copies of the certified inspections she simply came up with other excuses.
  
  The day the job was complete, when Ms. ************* was making her complaints, we asked her what she would like us to do. She did not have any response. She simply did not want to complete her payment. 
  
  Unfortunately we have been forced to file a mechanic's lien on Ms. *************'s home. The Recorder's office has just sent us the certified copies, which Ms. ************* should receive very soon. 
  
  I would be happy if there was something we could actually do but the job was completed above and beyond what was actually on her work order. We even had an over delivery of siding materials, enough for her to do a building in her backyard, which was about the size of a two car garage. I let her keep those materials at no cost. They were valued over $1,000.00. Please let me know if there are any other documents that might help.

   

  Customer response

  06/11/2023

  I am rejecting this response because: at no time was price an issue for me. Quality of work was what I was looking for. Scott switched materials I purchased. When I called him out on this he lied.  If he wasn’t going to use the plywood, why did he buy it,cut it,then not install it? He had no answer for me when I asked him. He also couldn’t explain why he didn’t replace the other board I pointed out to him.. he says he has pictures ,and I asked him to show them to me but he just walked away. I know there are rotten boards behind the siding and Scott knows it too. There are signs of water damage in a second bedroom. Scott has been in that bedroom. We discussed replacing the entire back wall. I wanted to replace every board as the house was not wrapped before the last siding installation but he didn’t want to because he thought it would be unnecessary.  If it was about the money I would have taken his offer of an extra 1000 off my bottom line..I told him then and I will say it again it’s not about the money it’s about peace of mind. I have none. And about the shutters you were so excited about they aren’t level either and the plugs are missing or hanging out. Again I didn’t hire you to replace my shutters 
  
  Regards,
  ****** *************

  

  Business response

  06/12/2023

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to these allegations. This homeowner has leveled some serious allegations against our company, our integrity, and our standing as an Owen's Corning Preferred Contractor, and as an Accredited Member of the BBB.
  
  Let's start with what I see as the most serious allegation, the homeowner alleges we "lied" and "switched" materials on them. We did not. Her initial complaint was that we used "compressed particle board" as sheathing on her home. We did not. We have attached a copy of her work order to the initial response. Her work order indicates that we would use "OSB" for any damage to her roof sheathing as well as her siding sheathing. Her roof suffered more sheathing damage than her siding damage. We replaced several boards of OSB on her roof. We replaced only two boards of OSB under her siding. OSB is a standard in the industry used for sheathing under roofing as well as siding. This homeowner had a product called "Celotex" on her home. This product is black and appears like compressed cardboard. The homeowner claimed we used this, which she is calling "compressed particle board" on her home. Celotex has not been produced in decades. We did not use Celotex or compressed particle board on her home for any of the work we completed. We indicated we would need to replace any sheathing that was damaged, which we did. 
  Whomever installed her siding in the past did not use any vapor barrier under the vinyl siding she currently had on her home. This homeowner lives in Reynoldsburg, which requires inspections both during installation, as well as after. What they are looking for is to ensure the proper materials are used. It was apparent to us, because we found no record of any prior permits issued, that the company that previously installed the siding neglected to follow code, or procure proper permits. Because of this, the homeowner suffered some damage to the sheathing under her siding. My company expressed that we would be obligated to replace any damaged sheathing. It is written in this homeowner's work order that we would be using OSB. Her roof required three sheets of sheathing and her siding required two. We have attached pictures showing where we replaced her damaged Celotex sheathing with OSB.
  The homeowner has alleged that she specifically requested plywood to be used instead of OSB, because, she claims, OSB contains Formaldehyde. However, Plywood, OSB, as well as compressed particle board all contain Formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is used in the glue that holds all these materials together. Plywood is mostly used as subflooring under your carpets, tile, hardwood flooring, vinyl flooring. I might point out that at no time did this homeowner request plywood in lieu of OSB due to Formaldehyde. According to the TSCA Title VI or the CARB ATCM Phase II emission standards, neither plywood, OSB or compressed particle board are anymore dangerous than the other. In fact, when used as a sheathing to a home they are more safe than plywood used as subflooring due to the barrier of the inside walls to "offgassing". The point is, this homeowner is alleging we "switched" materials on her, which we did not. 
  This homeowner is also claiming she wanted ALL her old sheathing to be replaced, she did not. She was extremely concerned about the cost, so much that if she needed to replace more sheathing she tried to get us to agree to doing the job and include, free of charge, any sheathing that may need replaced. Since we are unable to know how much sheathing might be needed, until we remove the roofing shingles, and the siding, we are NEVER in a position to guarantee anyone that needed sheathing that it would be included for free, because it can sometimes cost almost as much as the original job. We did however promise this homeowner, who was very concerned about additional costs, that we would promise to replace any needed boards for $45 per board, as is written explicitly in her contract. Our normal fee for replacing sheathing is $80 per board. We replaced a total of five (5) boards and did not charge her for any of them. In fact we had several extra boards on site, in case we needed them, that we allowed her to keep, also without charging her. 
  
  As a final note, the last line on her contract reads, "Is there anything not written on the proposal that the estimator has promised?" There are two boxes that can be checked, one is yes and the other is no. If the answer is yes, there is space for any promises to be written in. This homeowner marked the "NO" button and signed directly below it. 
  
  I stress again that we were forced to file a mechanic's lien against this homeowner's home. We thought we informed the homeowner of this in our first response to their BBB complaint. After checking our records, we in fact informed the homeowner that we had placed the lien on their home the day before she filed her BBB complaint. 
  
  Our company was contracted to do a job for a specific amount of money. We did that job exactly as promised, contracted and then some. This homeowner is either unable to pay or simply refusing to honor their obligation to pay.
  
  We love our customers and treat them all like family. If there was anything at all we could do to correct an error, we would do it. Unfortunately there is nothing we can correct in this case because the job was completed above what was contracted. It is unfortunate, as a small business, that prides themselves on under promising and over delivering, that a homeowner would level false allegations against us in an effort to neglect their financial responsibilities and honor their end of the contract.

  Customer response

  06/20/2023

  This was not my first contract with hibco roofing   I cancelled my first contract bacause my agreement price went up over $6500 the night of signing. Scott forgot to add the price of vents in the roofing project and said I could have 1 or 2 more dumpster fees added. I expected only the additional $3000 for plywood and took out a loan to cover those fees. The next day I contacted a contractor who I had originally planned to hire and he offered me the same materials for an additional 4000 off the price. Then they got into a small bidding war and I decided to hire Scott because he said he didn’t hire crews he was part of the crew. I can show you text messages to substantiate my claims I just don’t know how to send them to you in this format. The reynoldsburg building inspectors are the people who advised me to withhold my final payment and contact you. The bbb in this Matter. They can validate at least the nw corner materials on my behalf. They don’t know my contract but they do know what they see. There are other things that need fixing. Drip edge falling off. Siding not tucked in etc.  thank you

   

  

  Business response

  06/20/2023

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond.

  
  This homeowner is somehow attempting to give validation to her refusal to pay based upon how she selected our company. It is true, she cancelled our first contract because of price. She claimed to have received a much lower estimate than what she agreed to pay on her original contract. She only went with us because we beat the other contractor's price by five dollars. We don't know the prices for sure because she never showed us the other contractor's written estimate. Even so, why she chose us or what price she agreed to is not a valid reason for refusing to pay. She now believes, because the owner of our company didn't drive every nail, that this validates her reasoning for not honoring her contract. However, we will point out that on page 4, of her contract, line 9, reads:

  
  "Customer may not assign this Agreement without Contractor’s prior express written consent. Contractor may, however, retain subcontractors to perform the work."

  Not only is it ludicrous, as an excuse not to pay her bill, but it is also something she signed in her contract. This is just another example of someone attempting to find any excuse to neglect paying their legal obligation.

  
  On the same page, line 12, this homeowner's contract reads;

  
  "Should Customer default in payment, late charges will be added from the date of invoice at a rate of two percent (2%)
  per month. If Contractor incurs any costs or expenses in collecting or attempting to collect money due Contractor as a result of
  Customer’s failure to make payment as due, all such costs and expenses will be charged to Customer’s account. Such costs
  and expenses include, but are not limited to, filing fees, lien fees, collection costs, and attorney’s fees and costs."
  
  We will reiterate, if there is any faulty workmanship, we will of course correct any and all faulty workmanship. The homeowner has again made, yet a new, allegation that "drip edge" is falling off. This is impossible. Drip edge is nailed to the decking of the roof. It cannot fall off. We have attached copies of contracts, certificates of inspection, as well as pictures of the home. Why do we not have any pictures from this homeowner showing any shred of evidence to support her claims? 
  
  We have filed a Mechanic's Lein on this homeowner's home. We will eventually get paid what our company has earned, with interest, and any collection costs. It is clear to us at this point, this homeowner filed this BBB complaint in response to us informing her of our mechanic's lien filing. 
  
  Finally, and again, if there is faulty workmanship or any defect in any of the materials we were contracted to replace on this homeowner's home, we will gladly correct the errors. What this homeowner is doing is claiming we did not do something she never contracted us to do. This is NO excuse to avoid paying her legal obligation. 
  
  Obviously, we have further legal recourse. We can and may do any of the following: send her account to third party collection, file a lawsuit, or begin foreclosure proceedings on her home. We absolutely would like to avoid needing to do any of these things. Sadly, there are times when a company must take required actions when a homeowner refuses to honor their legally obligated payments. We are prepared to take any and all legal steps to collect monies due. 

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩