Roofers put a nail through my AC line, whose responsible?

Billydroveit

Billydroveit

Club Member
Had my roof done and one of the roofing nails hit my line set in the attic. I'm on a slab and all things run through my attic. THe line set for whatever reason was touching the bottom of the sheeting near it's entry point through the soffit. I have family that own a few different type of mechanical companies and they both tell me if it were them they would fix it since they didn't do due diligence and make sure the area was clear. The roofer (local company, licensed and insured and a friend of mine) say's it's not his fault the line was there. his first response was he didn't want to take on the repair bill, then he asked if i would split it with him. I told him i hired a lisc. insured company for a reason.

Long story short is it his responsibility to be sure he wont damage anything like that during the installation? He said "was i supposed to look in the roof for that?" But he had no problem telling me he relocated my bathroom vent and hooked it up, and seen the new return ducts i had installed last fall. So, in my opinion he was already up there, and should have made sure he was in the clear. He made an assumption i was on a crawl but never looked.

THanks, what say you?
 
Agreed, the roofer is at fault. With that being said, seldom do roofing companies ever go check the attic for utilities. Even if a line is in the attic, it should be attached to the trusses not the sheeting. The AC guy is really who screwed up.......but he sort of had "squatters rights" to the area.

How did they even attach the AC line to the sheeting without poking a hole in the shingles? You're lucky you never had a leak.

--Joe
 
The roofer damaged your home while he was doing his job.
He bears the responsibility, not you, not even the AC guy.

I would have expected the roofer to have it professionally
repaired & apologize for the inconvenience.

I would inform said roofer he has 7 days to have a professional
HVAC company repair the system - at his cost or you will be hiring
a professional HVAC company to do the repair – at his cost.

I would summit the above in writing and if the job was not completed
in the stated time frame, I would do what I said, summit the repair bill
for reimbursement (giving him 7 days to pay me). If he failed reimbursement,
small claims court would be my next & last stop.
 
the roofer has insurance for this very reason.

Ask for his insurance company information and make the claim yourself. Or have an attorney write him a letter.
 
Billydroveit said:
" But he had no problem telling me he relocated my bathroom vent and hooked it up

THanks, what say you?
Click to expand...


How difficult was this effort? Was it part of the agreed terms to address? Would not doing this have negative outcomes later, incurring much more financial/labor impact (over what it might cost to fix your a/c line) ?
 
His fault, for sure, he needs to admit it and be more diligent next time, it's easy to ask if the attic is empty or housing utilities.
I had a close friend of mine do my roof, mostly because I knew if I had a problem he would be there and fix it, getting a roofer or contractor to come back and fix something they did wrong or damaged is nearly impossible from what I've heard.
 
mustangmike6996 said:
Usually my thought, exactly.

Is this going to ruin a friendship? Is ruining a friendship worth a few hundred bucks? I mean, money is money but is it really worth it?
Click to expand...


Exactly my thought. Is this contractor "friend" going to lose a friendship
over a few hundred dollars?

I got it, you meant is the homeowner friend "going to lose a friendship
over a few hundred dollars?" My point is, it works both ways, maybe this
contractor isn't such a good friend.
 
Had another friend of mine who does HVAC come out that day, he charged the line with nitrogen and we found the leak. He repaired it for me put it under vacuum and filled it the next day (he had the wrong refrigerant with him) For coming on short notice, after hours, soldering in an attic full of cellulose insulation that was 120, he charged what i thought was a fair price. I called the guy who did the roof and he was more than agreeable to the price and apologized for the inconvenience. All worked out well, i think when i reminded him that i hired a licensed and insured company for a reason, it kicked in.

I have 2 kids, one of which has allergies along with a wife who does as well. being without AC in my house is not fun for them while trying to sleep. I couldn't wait to see what he was going to do, so i had it fixed and paid the bill. All turned out well, all the HVAC contractors my wife called said saturday was the earliest, then I'm paying weekend rates. I had a wedding saturday and fathers day sunday, aint nobody got time for waiting...lol

THanks for all the reply's guys.
 
Billydroveit said:
Had another friend of mine who does HVAC come out that day, he charged the line with nitrogen and we found the leak. He repaired it for me put it under vacuum and filled it the next day (he had the wrong refrigerant with him) For coming on short notice, after hours, soldering in an attic full of cellulose insulation that was 120, he charged what i thought was a fair price. I called the guy who did the roof and he was more than agreeable to the price and apologized for the inconvenience. All worked out well, i think when i reminded him that i hired a licensed and insured company for a reason, it kicked in.

I have 2 kids, one of which has allergies along with a wife who does as well. being without AC in my house is not fun for them while trying to sleep. I couldn't wait to see what he was going to do, so i had it fixed and paid the bill. All turned out well, all the HVAC contractors my wife called said saturday was the earliest, then I'm paying weekend rates. I had a wedding saturday and fathers day sunday, aint nobody got time for waiting...lol

THanks for all the reply's guys.
Click to expand...

Glad everthing worked out. Thats not a bad price either
 
Billydroveit said:
Had another friend of mine who does HVAC come out that day, he charged the line with nitrogen and we found the leak. He repaired it for me put it under vacuum and filled it the next day (he had the wrong refrigerant with him) For coming on short notice, after hours, soldering in an attic full of cellulose insulation that was 120, he charged what i thought was a fair price. I called the guy who did the roof and he was more than agreeable to the price and apologized for the inconvenience. All worked out well, i think when i reminded him that i hired a licensed and insured company for a reason, it kicked in.



I have 2 kids, one of which has allergies along with a wife who does as well. being without AC in my house is not fun for them while trying to sleep. I couldn't wait to see what he was going to do, so i had it fixed and paid the bill. All turned out well, all the HVAC contractors my wife called said saturday was the earliest, then I'm paying weekend rates. I had a wedding saturday and fathers day sunday, aint nobody got time for waiting...lol

THanks for all the reply's guys.
Click to expand...

Great to hear! I'm so glad the roofer stepped up & paid and apologized for the inconvenience.
How nice that another friend also stepped up & took care of the repair, for a really good price!

Turns out you have two friends who are contractors.
 
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