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Is the obvious answer the right one?
Construction Questions
By Menno Dueck
How would you feel if you paid for a new roof you didn’t need? That’s exactly what happened to Janie, first time homeowner and a single mother of two.
Janie found the house she wanted and put in an offer, subject to a home inspection, confident that the inspection would show any issues she needed to be aware of. The inspection came back stating the shingles on the roof had several years left and also indicated that some nails in the attic of the family room addition had rust on them. The inspector verbally told her the nails were very dry, had been for a long time, and was nothing to worry about. The condition was lifted and she happily took possession.
Sitting in the family room addition one cold evening, she heard a dripping sound and looked up to see water beading along the ceiling and dripping on to a now wet patch on the carpet. Her conclusion: new roof and sooner than she could afford.
Janie didn’t have a ‘roofer friend’ nor could she find anyone who would recommend one, so she called two companies from the phone book. When they arrived, she told them about the dripping, what the inspector said about the life of the roof (completely forgetting to tell them about dry rusty nails) and stated, “I need a new roof.” Quotes were given, a company chosen, shingles were replaced, and Janie quietly cried as she went further into debt.
A few months later, colder weather sets in and what does she see… water beading on the ceiling! The old shingles were never the problem. The problem was insufficient airflow in the attic of the addition resulting in a buildup of condensation, creating water droplets that eventually found their way through the ceiling drywall. What Janie’s house needed wasn’t a new roof, but ventilation. A lot simpler and a heck of a lot cheaper!
The combination of an older roof and water leaking into the home could easily lead one to the same conclusion as Janie… new roof. However, the rusty nail statement in the inspection report should have been an indicator, but how was Janie to know. She had a home inspection done, what do “old rusty nails” mean to her? She made her diagnosis based on what she thought was the obvious answer to an obvious problem and paid dearly for it.
Menno Dueck is owner of Ask Menno Consulting, Dueck Enterprises Inc. His columns will be appearing in e-KNOW on the weekends.
He can be reached at 250-426-5460 – www.dueckenterprises.com
