> The crew showed up early and tore off the old roof in a single day, an impressive feat. The crew foreman called me in the early evening to give me a field report and to drop a bombshell on me: the cost of repairs would be an additional $20k. I was expecting this moment (I knew there might be some repairs required and they would only be revealed once the old roof was off) but I was not expecting the pricetag. I expressed my shock at the price tag and asked if there was anything "not absolutely necessary" that we could trim from the repairs to get the price down. His answer was a flat "no." Moreso, I would have to remit payment immediately. Half tonight and the other half tomorrow. > > This moment is the main reason I'm writing this post. If you own an old house and you're getting your roof redone, you are going to experience this moment. You will have zero leverage in this moment. I literally did not have a roof on my house. Rain was expected on Thursday. The foreman even sent me a screenshot of the weather to turn the screws on me.

This is a scam that has been around for decades, and it works for the very reasons that you cited. We're not all experts. We don't necessarily have the visibility and knowledge to check them on their work and claims either.

Likewise, when they do these things, as you noted, you are literally without a roof; and they know this which gives them incredible leverage. What they did was blatantly illegal, but no shortage of people have paid up because "that's a nice house you've got there. It would be a shame if something happened to it."

On that note...

> They used particle board instead of the plywood specified in the contract. Do I want to fight them over it? No I do not. They also installed a section of the downspout incorrectly so it leaked. It took a week to repair and once again their communication was poor. I had to harangue them to get it done.

> The total cost came to $31,500. I believe the work was done well and the roof is high quality (although only time will tell).

You absolutely do want to fight them. Particle board is fine in IKEA furniture. It is not fine in roofing materials, nor is it what you contracted for.

They fucked up the install of the downspout causing a leak, and failed to fix it in a timely manner.

They charged you almost twice what your original cost was for an inferior roof that is most certainly not "high quality" by any measure and you think they did you a favor?

The only thing you should be doing right now is drafting your complaint to the MD AGs office, and seeing who might be interested in determining whether or not you have a cause of action.