CHESTERFIELD, VA (WWBT) - A man who returned to his home to find part of his roof had been erroneously removed now has a new roof - but not the one he wanted.
A subcontractor for Hardesty Roofing made a costly mistake in Chesterfield's Bexley neighborhood. They removed part of a slate roof on a house up for sale, but it was the wrong house.
A long disagreement ensued over whether to install a slate or shingle roof to correct the mistake. 12 months later, the homeowner's insurance company installed a shingle roof - not Hardesty Roofing or the subcontractor.
Homeowner Steve Lowe says he did what he had to do to cut his financial losses from having a house with a partial roof that he couldn't sell. He still believes a slate roof is what he should have - not a shingle roof - but he says several storms caused interior damage that he now has to repair.
Lowe's insurance company paid for the new shingle roof in full, but he's not satisfied. Neither insurance company wanted to fix the mistake by installing a $40,000 new slate roof.
"Hardesty has refused to replace what I had," said Lowe. "It's been 12 months with virtually nothing being done. This should have been corrected in 30 days. It should have been put back like it was, and it should have been done 11 months ago."
Last February, Hardesty Roofing owner Sam Hardesty told NBC12 that the mistake happened when the supplier sent the materials to the wrong house. Hardesty said his subcontractors went to the home where the materials were sitting and tore off the roof.
They had the right work order to go to the right address, but Hardesty says they didn't read it.
Hardesty: "Now that we made this mistake, he's going to get a whole new slate roof, because we tore off a little section by mistake."
NBC12 Investigator Diane Walker: "It looks like a pretty big section from what I saw."
Hardesty: "It does. We're going to make it right. Trust me. We're going to get to the bottom of this."
A year later, and Lowe is just now seeing movement. He says during the time his property was covered in tarp from February 2017 through November 2017, he had to pull his house off the market.
"No one could get a loan for a house with no roof," said Lowe.
In addition, he says several storms caused water damage in two rooms. The ceiling is collapsing in one, and most of the damage is in the Florida room.
"We cut a hole so that the water could drip out, but it's got damage all the way across," said Lowe.
This isn't the first time Hardesty Roofing has been accused of removing the wrong roof. A court dismissed John Grigg's 2011 claim against Hardesty but found in his favor on his claim against the subcontractor. He got a new roof, but he says the long fight hurt him financially.
"Using a subcontractor allows him to do exactly what he's doing: hide behind the subcontractor if something goes wrong," said Grigg. "There should be something if you're a contractor. You should have responsibility for the action of your subcontractor."
NBC12 called Hardesty Roofing for comment and was told he would call back. So far, that hasn't happened.
Hardesty has maintained, through his lawyer, that he is not legally obligated, because he hired a subcontractor to do the work and he gave them the correct address. He also says he attempted to satisfy Lowe and help him file an insurance claim.
Meantime, the subcontractor's insurance company is deliberating whether it will pay for Lowe's interior water damage.