[Greenbuilding] firing a roofer--update and 2 questions

[Ben Pratt]

  I am feeling very fortunate today that I did finally get the roofers 
insurance companies name. With that, i called a company, 
servicemaster, that aggressively pursued the insurance co's 
permission to come in a get the place dried out. They have removed 
some of the insulation and are running big fans and dehumidifiers. i 
am a bit concerned they haven't taken up the floorboards in the 
crawlspace (because i am certain there is wet insulation under there, 
but hopefully that will happen first thing tomorrow. They are 
supposed to be bringing a big truck in that will vacuum out all the 
wet insulation.

question 1: The ceiling in the living room is sheetrock covering 
plaster and lathe. There was a lot of moisture coming through the 
light fixture, and there are a few spots where paint is bubbling. 
Does that entire ceiling need to come out?

question 2: I want to do the right thing. If the inspector says the 
part of the roof completed (roughly a third to a half) is OK: 
1.should i pay the guy for his materials and a part of the labor. 2. 
Should i wait to make sure all the damage is corrected, and then pay 
him if i don't have out of pocket expenses?  3. should i consider 
that the inconvenience of working on it for 25 hours this weekend, 
having to live in a torn apart house, etc, is partially or fully 
equal to what he did on the roof? 4. let him take me to court and let 
the court decide?

I must say, it is great that my wife was able to stop  payment on the 
check for the half upfront. I once had an experience where the guy 
made a bad mistake the first day, took off with half the money and 
lots of my tools. Then i had to pay to fix the damage.

Thanks everyone for you help. i think and hope the worst is over.

-Ben




-- 
B  e  n  j  a  m  i  n   P  r  a  t  t
Professor
Department of Art and Design
University of Wisconsin-Stout
Menomonie, WI 54751
715 232 1537