Topic: A Day In The Life of The Phat Kid

[Phatty]

Got me a new toy today!  I went out and bought me a lawn tractor yesterday, and it was delivered today!  Now, instead of push mowing for 2 1/2 hours in my half acre, it took me just over an hour, but that's because I have a lot of trees, planters, a fence, and an odd shaped yard.  Today was a perfect day for it to arrive as well, because the humidity would've made it almost impossible to mow!

[Clonehead]

What kind did you get, Pat? Does it have a drink holder?

[Phatty]

LOL!  It DOES have a drink holder!  It's a Yard Machines 17.5 HP Briggs and Stratton engine, 42" deck, 7-speed shift on the fly tranny.  I like driving it for fun!

[Clonehead]

Sounds nice, buddy. Nice big motor as well. I'll bet I could do my yard with that in 20 min.

[Phatty]

Yeah, it's pretty nice.  I almost want to mow the yard again just because!

[Darth Aussie]

Always nice when ya want to mow the lawn huh?.....

[Phatty]

Tell me about it DA!  I've been waiting all week for the stupid grass to grow so I can mow again!  It's supposed to rain today, so hopefully there will be a full lawn to cut tomorrow!

[Phatty]

Man, what a long weekend!  Traveled to Indianapolis for my wife's brother's wedding.  Kind of a pain since NO ONE lived in Indy, but hey, it was nice.  Weather was beautiful, and couldn't have had any better for an outdoor wedding and reception.  I, of course, ROCKED my tuxedo (I was an usher), and it was pretty fun.  Stayed in the #7 Marriott hotel in the country, and they proved it well.  Very nice accommodations and the staff was very kind.  Now, I"m in full football season mode, watching all of the games from my couch with StatTracker up on the computer screen.  The poor dogs are exhausted today, we had to board them at the animal clinic for the weekend.  The older dog doesn't eat well or sleep when we do that, because he's not at home, and our youngest girl has abandonment issues, so I know they had a rough weekend.  Poor dears are snoring right this very moment!  Tomorrow, I get to play in the Mayor's Golf Outing for our city, and for free no less due to our PAC membership, so that'll be fun.

[Tamer]

sounds like a good weekend Pat. Have fun at the golf outing. You sure did clean up in FF yesterday!

[Phatty]

Okay, so the golf outing got rained out after 5 holes, but we did get vouchers to go back and play another 18 holes (it's a private club, too), and on top of that, I won a 24" television!  I've never won something as big as that before!

On to the bad news.  I have a leak in my roof, that I thought was confined to the bedroom downstairs on the main level, but while cleaning my den/Star Wars room, I noticed wet carpet under my heavy display cabinet.  I moved the cabinet out, and lo and behold, there was soaking wet and brown carpet (the carpet is actually a light purple) and mold growing on my baseboard in the corner.  So, I called my home warranty company, who sent out a roofer to do an estimate.  He said that because part of my roof is a 2/12 pitch, it should have been done with rolled shingles as opposed to the standard shingles that were up there which allows water to pool.  The roof is about 10 years old, so for the most part, the roof should be fine, but in that low of a pitch and those kinds of shingles 10 years is about it's max.  Anyway, he told the warranty company that it was "improperly installed," and they said they weren't going to pay for it to be fixed because it was an existing problem.  When I argued that it hadn't leaked in the past 9 months I owned the home, they put me on hold to scour my agreement, and came back to say that since it was "improperly installed," then they are not liable.  I tried to make them understand that there is no standard code on what kind of roofing to use on certain kinds of pitches in roofs, but they said they don't have to prove anything to me and that they are going by the roofer's estimate.  So now I'm trying to contact the roofer again to have him clarify the situation so that they will pay for it, and in the meantime, it's raining tonight and is supposed to continue through Sunday.  I don't want to touch the roof until I get complete closure on the situation.  On the plus side, if there is one, if I have to do the work myself, it's only approximately 12'x26' section and would cost about $100 or so.  The hard part is disposing of the old shingles.  So tomorrow I'm going to Menards and getting a heavy duty tarp to put up there for now.  Gotta love these warranty companies.  On top of all that, they actually tried to get me to renew my home warranty for $416.  I asked them why I would put that kind of money out there if they weren't going to cover anything anyway.  No response.  Imagine that.

[Tamer]

I have never tried to use my home warranty company. Probably I would get the same result. A person gets home warranty coverage for things like this and then they want to say its not thier issue. I am sorry, once they agree to insure the home its thier baby imo. Did the previous owners have warranty coverage on the home? Maybe if the issue happened as a result of a previous condition the old coverage would work if they had it.  Might be worth a shot if your existing coverage won't cover it. On another note, if you get another contractor they may come up with an entirely different opinion which would be covered under your policy. Estimates are free. Its just the hassle of getting them out there.

[Phatty]

Yeah, I'm awaiting a return phone call from the owner of the company who did the initial estimate on it.  All I need them to do is call the warranty company back and inform them that the roof was installed properly as any roof should be, but with such a low pitch, it has reached it's end and needs to be replaced.  The warranty company's decision hinges completely on the words "Improperly installed."  If that won't work, maybe I can call someone else out to give me the estimate I need.  It's all way too frustrating.

[Tamer]

Pat, one would think the contractor would be smart enough not to give the warranty company that type of information if he wanted the job, knowing that a pre existing condition would mean the warranty company would not pay it.  Not that I am saying the contractor who did your first estimate was a bad guy, but surely he has dealt with insurance companies before and knows if the wording they get is not correct then they will use any loophole to deny a claim. That is how insurance companies make money. I would also suggest that if this insurance company refuses to deal with regular issues like this then perhaps shop for a new home warranty company. I have used Erie and they were decent if not expensive, and I just switched to State Farm. They also added 5000 dollars to my home warranty for my Star Wars Collection. It is only costing fifty bucks extra a year and has no deductible and I can have anything replaced for any type of damage no questions asked. Now thats an insurance company!

[Phatty]

Damn, Shawn, that does sound like a pretty nice warranty!  Anyway, I spoke with the owner of the roofing company who did the inspection, and I'm sunk.  He emailed me a copy of the installation instructions for the shingles on my house (though I argue how does he know that my shingles are this particular brand, and never got anywhere with that) which does stipulate that those shingles are never to be used on a roof with a pitch less than 2/12, and mine's about a 1.5/12 pitch.  Not sure how that can be either.  SO, regardless of what the building codes say about what kind of roofing material to put on what kind of roof, the shingles that were used were inappropriate, and they will not change their statement.  Furthermore, without using these exact words, he basically told me that since the warranty company throws a lot of business their way, they aren't going to do anything to upset them.  Nice.  On top of that, it's pouring down rain here all weekend, my yard is completely flooded to the point you could do some kayaking or rafting in it easily.  I did get a tarp up on my roof yesterday, but my upstairs closed did take in a tiny bit more water overnight.  I guess I should be thankful it was only a bit and not the massive amount that it was sure to be with all the rain we had, but now I'm wondering if it is being caused by a secondary spot or a combination of both...

[Tamer]

Dang Pat, sorry to hear that. So, your contractor is in league with your insurance company. They will probably use his statement over another contractor anyhow. Still might be worth getting another contractor to do an estimate who might be able to refute this person's "testimony".  I would also think if this was sold through a real estate agent that they "in good faith" should cover some of the replacement cost. You bought the house in good faith that issues like this were taken care of. Might be a lot of bother though. It should really be the original owner's cost who had the faulty shingles on or the contracting company who put them on as it is thier job to put on the right type of shingles.  Ah the joys of owning your own home. I too found out things about my house after it was built that raised my blood pressure a bit. The sad thing is I had the original contractor back in a few times to fix thier problem and had to end up doing it myself to get it done right anyhow.  Sometimes you just have to take it, get on with it, and fix the problem. If I was closer I would help you. I hate hieghts though!