The roof...the roof...the roof leaks?

Yup. Well, rather, it did.

This has been an ongoing issue for just over a year. I discovered the first leak last July (the roof was replaced a bit after Hurricane Ike, so it's just over two years old - it definitely shouldn't be leaking yet). My awesome realtor tracked down the company who did the roof, they sent some guys out - who sealed the old gutter holes they had left unsealed (heavy rain-fills gutters-rain goes into unsealed gutter holes-leaky roof). My neighbor and I had taken care of another more minor leak earlier last July - I climbed into the attic and sealed around a vent and he climbed on the roof and sealed it there - and then informed me that they had used kitchen tile sealant (the white stuff) instead of roofing sealant (the black stuff). I should have known then it wasn't the end of the leaking problems.

The gutter hole leak did some decent drywall damage in my bedroom, so I filed the claim with the roofing company since everything was still (thankfully) under warranty. Then I got sick and about 6 months went by before I was able to follow up with it. In January, I started what ended up being a 7 month process of trying to track down someone who could help me. The company is called Aspen Contracting and they subcontract out to smaller companies all over the country. After months of their subcontractors not calling them back, or sending out a painting crew to my house instead of a drywall crew and me refusing to let them just paint over the damage, I finally reached an awesome woman in their main office, Kathi. After I took about 15 minutes to recount everything that had happened (I kept a log of all the calls that I made to the company and who I spoke to), she flat out interrupted me and said "honey, we are going to fix this". After several calls to their non-responsive subcontractors in this area, she finally gave up and told me to find my own contractor, fax her the quote, and she would write a check. I did and she did and the money is sitting in my account ready to pay the contractor who is coming on Wednesday to fix the damage.

Oh, but it's not over yet :). During the month of June/early July this year while I was working with Kathi to figure something out, another leak developed in my living room. We hadn't had rain for months (literally) so I am so glad this happened when I was in discussions with the company. I emailed Kathi and she told me to have my contractor come out and take a look and then send me the quote. It ended up being cosmetic and due to rain blowing in through a vent, so easy fix. AND THEN (oh yeah, it goes on), my housemate reported there was a leak in her bedroom. So I told Kathi and she sent out a great (they drove from about two cities away to get here) crew who did a full inspection of the roof, found two leaks, sealed them, tested them, the seals failed, so they ended up replacing two of the attic fans and the flashing around the fireplace. Right before the storms stirred up by Tropical Storm Don started coming through. And I am happy to report, a ton of rain and no leaks!

Throughout this process, I have been very thankful that it has gone so smoothly. You may think that all that I just wrote above isn't the textbook description of "smooth" but you and I both know that it could have been a lot worse. My biggest fear was that I would have to get legal on them and I really didn't want to do that, so I am thankful God answered that prayer. And also that Kathi works at Aspen. And that the company has been handing over money to pay for all the repairs (yes, that's what they should be doing, it's just nice that I just haven't had to argue with them about it or even ask).

Bottom line though, if you need roof work, don't go with Aspen Contracting. Their main office is competent and professional, but the three subcontractors I had to deal with initially were decidedly not. So until Aspen Contracting subcontracts out with some reliable companies, avoid them.