A contractor I know has several of those industrial magnets-on-wheels tools, and after cleaning up (and running the magnet around) he tells the homeowner that there are always a few nails left behind, and offers to leave a magnet with them for a week or so. I probably ran it around my house 5-6 times before it stopped finding any more nails.
I am sometimes sent with a grinder to cut or grind objects that are sticking out from a fresh concrete slab from rebar to bolt theeads. Tripping to tire puncture hazards are not exactly a high priority until someone's fancy truck gets a flat.
The very first thing the roofers should have done after they noticed their mistake would be to ring the doorbell, tell those inside what just happened (that they've made a huge mistake) and then contact their boss, who then had to contact the home owner and solve the problem! Now, the home owner had to track down this company and resolve the matter, which ended up alright in the end but I do think the roofers did more wrong than just ripping the roof off by not informing the home owner, or at the very least call their boss who then has to contact the owner. Just packing up and leaving is a big no no if you ask me! Everyone makes mistakes, and this was nothing but a huge mistake but the roofers, again, did wrong by not informing the occupants, the home owner and their boss of what just happened!
IMO, the roofers leaving without the notification is a criminal acted. If the homeowner hadn’t found out who the company was that employed them, it would have been damage that they would have paid for which is over the dollar amount for a felony.
Yall are assuming the roofers spoke English. I would tend to assume they did not. Idk. But I'll give u 3 guesses what language they probably spoke & 2 don't count
My roofer laid down tarps all around my house to collect all the old shingles and nails. Then he cleaned out the gutters, replaced a damaged section and left everything as he found it. So, there dose appear to be some good ones out there.
Mine did the same thing. I have a magnet on wheels that I use around the garage and stuff and I took it around the house and found exactly three nails that they had missed. I was very impressed
That’s what ALL legit roofing companies do. If you see a company not doing so, they are DEFINITELY cutting corners on your roof install as well. It’s pretty standard to lay tarping/plastic down for tear off
This same scenario happened to a friend of our family. Roofing company showed up and began ripping shingles off. Even pulled up some damaged plywood, leaving the roof opened and exposed. They did about half of the roof when they realized they had the wrong house. So they left down the street to the correct house. When the homeowner came home it didn't take him long to find the roofers down the street. Roofing company owner said it was a mistake and they would fix the damaged half. Homeowner threatened legal action so the business replaced the entire roof of the home.
The fact that this company owned up to the error, and made good on it, without being publicly shamed makes them worthy of having their name shared, not to shame them, but so that we all know the name of at least one reputable contractor. I would consider hiring them, as they take responsibility.
There is a difference between the contractor and the workers. Giving him the benefit of the doubt I could see a situation where his workers tore off the wrong roof then tried to hide it from the boss when they realized they screwed up. When the boss was notified he made it right. The other possibility is he hired an independent tear off company to do the job and they messed up the address. Then the original contractor would have no liability.
@The Glorious White Male I dissagree. The Workers did the harm, the owner of the company could not have known. As soon as he was told he stepped up and fixed the problem.
What I find odd about this is that any roofing job I ever see or been involved with will have a large dumpster delivered to the job site before the roofers show up. First clue when the roofers show up and there is no dumpster to be seen that they my be at the wrong address.
I roofed for 13 years counting the years in high school that I did it as a summer job. The guy I worked for made it a priority to leave the yard in the exact same condition it was in prior to doing the job. That's not necessarily very easy to do but it makes all the difference to the homeowners in my experience.
@@remodz6385 it can be when it isn't 100 degrees outside or the area to be tarped is in the shade. Leave a tarp on the grass in the sun for an hour in this heat and you'll have a nice big dead spot.
The thing is, if a construction company makes a mistake like this they should rectify it fast. Not only does it limit the long term damage but you can control the costs. Saying it's the insurance company's problem and leaving, opens you up to further damages and paying FULL price for another company to do the work with full price materials.
I roofed for 25 years and we torn off the roof on the wrong house once! But we did correct the problem like a real business owner does! And that's a mistake you only make once!
Exactly. There is absolutely no point in trashing the business's reputation if they make good. It's not as if a reputable business is going to "reoffend" with a screw-up like this.
@@additudeobx fire them maybe, but can’t garnish their pay if they are no longer working for you. Aside from the legality of collecting damages from an employee without a judgment.
If the roofer was an honest person, the crew would have been tasked with putting a new roof on the house that was mistakingly torn off, not down the street doing the roof that was scheduled. I am sure that finding the workers down the street, the homeowner had contacted the boss, before the end of the day. The only reason this roofing company agreed to make things right, because they had no choice, other than make it right.
@Richard Cranium I'm just saying a possibility didnt say it did it didn't happen but this is the kind of thing the public is going think when say he didn't know and his employees ran off and didn't tell him ...should of better oversight then
@The Glorious White Male The contractor (business owner) was quite likely not present with the crew that did the strip-n-run. If they have multiple crews, it is common for the boss to have foremen/women who run each crew. The job of a business owner is not to do the work, but to arrange tomorrow's work.
@Richard Cranium if this contractor was totally honest there would not had to be a follow-up video on this mistake. The second the contractor found out his crew screwed up, there should have been a crew on the job to fix it, or told the property owner, whatever the cost, I will handle it, if they are not comfortable with them doing the work. The contractor should have never let dark set in that night, without making sure that home was in the dry.
This actually happened here in our HOA in Florida. A lot of house numbers are all the same but the streets are named different. The contractors had the right house number but the wrong Street. The street they was supposed to do the job on was Goldsboro Loop. But instead they went to Gainesboro Loop and started ripping the roof off of the wrong house. They had the whole roof torn off before they realized their mistake. The contractors immediately covered the house with blue tarps. And agreed to come back and put the new roof on no problem the next day. It was an honest mistake and the company made good for it
My neighbor came home from work, parked in the garage, look up and half of the roof was gone. She was walking around the house in shock when the contractor drove up. He admitted his mistake (transposed numbers in the address) and said he would replace the roof for free. She said that she would pay for the remaining half.
I woke up one Saturday morning to the sound of a very big mower outside my window. I look out and there's a landscaping crew working my front yard. I went outside and found the crew boss and he started telling me that the homeowners association had hired them to do the lawn since I wasn't. Two things worth noting here. First of all I was on our HOA board and we had not done that. Not ever to anyone. We did get our own mowers out and cut the grass for a couple of people who had medical issues and couldn't but I guarantee you we never called in the landscape crew. Second of all I cut my own grass and did it once a week. I had planned on doing it that very afternoon. The crew boss really couldn't understand. We had a little bit of a language barrier. He got the owner on the phone and we quickly determined they were at the right house number but in the wrong subdivision. He was kind enough to have his crew finish my yard before they left. I ended up with a free Saturday afternoon. Then I found out how much he charges to do a yard and I got a lot of Saturday afternoons back. He was very affordable so it turned out to be a lucky accident for me. I'll never forget growing up my dad teaching me that if you make a mistake the absolute best answer is to confront it head on. First of all you own it so it's the right thing to do. Second of all nobody really expects you to do that so it kind of throws them off their game and most of the time all they want you to do is fix it. I found that to be very true in life. If I screw up I own it.
I instantly have roofing ads on my phone after this video! When I arrive at a customer's house I always knock on the door to let the tenants know I'm working on and around the house..The roofers should do this as well especially if there is skylights in the bed/bathrooms or they could face a different set of problems!
They carry 2' wheeled magnetic carts at Menards and Home Depot for about $60. They look kind of look like a two wheel dolly with a long magnet between the wheels. They work great.
I had a friend do my roof, yes he was a pro, His kids played with my kids at the house. He had his guys tarp up the area between the house and the trailer. He said the best way to make sure there is no nails on the ground is to make sure none fall there. He still went over the area with a magnet and even found a few screws that did not come from the roof. He did admit he does not normally do this process.
A metal detector will find even more nails, tin caps, etc. that got ground in by the worker's shoes, or equipment. Did that for my elderly neighbor recently and wound up with a Homer bucket full of detritus. Hedges, planters, and bushes/trees are a real "Easter Egg hunt", also.
May I just say, that I love that you used the word "detritus" in a sentence?? In a world, where it seems too many native English speakers can't speak English, I find this very refreshing.
First roof I had a crew do was back in the 90s. Old house with those at least 50 year old diamond shaped asphalt interlocking shingles over the original cedar shake roof. Whole mess had to be stripped off, new OSB sheathing placed over the original skip sheathing and new asphalt shingles laid down. The crew seemed to to a good job, they were able to get a small dump truck right next to the house so all the old asphalt shingles and most of the nails went in there, and they had heavy tarps to collect residual debris. The excess of nails was my fault. At least they were ferrous, as aluminum nails don't get attracted to magnets. The old cedar shingles were tinder dry and since my in laws in another town used wood heat, I knew they would use them and had the crew just dump most of them in a pile for me to deal with later. In laws got about 3 years worth of perfect kindling and I had to get the nails out of the ground on my own. Only complication was that the roofing company went under a few months later, just before the rainy season began. That's when I learned that they had installed the flashing around the chimney backwards so that it directed water into the house and onto the plaster ceiling. Fixed that myself. Not as bad as the roofing contractor who apparently thought my wife was attractive and, after putting a metal roof on our home started sending her pics of him in nothing but tight underwear. He worked for a commercial roofing company and was doing residential jobs as a side gig. I had a fun chat with his boss as this doorknob was using his regular employer's reputation to get his side business. "It was just a pocket dial," the idjit claimed. Don't know what happened to him but can only surmise he had an interesting converstaion withu his boss.
I am reading your book. I read books words for words. Thanks for your research. I would like to see a new video on the Italian hall disaster this year.
Steve, peopld do the right thing all the time, that's why it doesnt make the news, because it is so common that it is not "newsworthy" I believe in my fellow man.
@The Glorious White Male If the contractor is a slimy weasel, then he didnt do the right thing and makes the news. thank you for confirming my observation.
@The Glorious White Male The owner was not at the work site from all indications and most likely he was not notified by his crew of what they had mistakenly done. Happens all the time.
Happens more than you think Im a roofing contractor, its never happened to us, thankfully.but we hear of it happening..numbers sometimes get transposed
@@Bobs-Wrigles5555 Bonnet is what I called it...took years to use hood. Surprisingly we said trunk and not boot. Never got over cheque loosing out to check. Ben jumped out at me!
@@terrancecoard388 Old habits die hard, I just googled why UK and AU call it a boot-- "goes back to 18th century horse-drawn carriages where the coachman sat on a chest, which was used to store, among other things, his boots." I guess "trunk" comes from old cars having a trunk fitted outboard at the rear.
@@Bobs-Wrigles5555 cool...I learned something. I get those moments when I remember something from decades ago and say..hey, I need to verify that now that we have the internet.
Eh, I don't really agree. The fleeing the scene thing is specifically about vehicle accidents and the like, isn't it? This is a liability/negligence case where the offending party is known and able to be reached for compensation, not some fender bender leaving a motorist stranded in the middle of nowhere.
@@Kune35 yes becuase alot times people not at fault flee the crash for whatever reason and they still get charged ....like that polictians in new Jersey that just hit a guy on a bike that ran a red light ...she kept going now she's trying say she must.of hit her head and don't remember lol 🤣😂 hope she gets charged cuz I know she thought it was her fault and ran plus there's other video of her trying use her being a political person as a reason to get off
@@Kune35 The only reason the offending party is known in this case is because the victim was able to find them after they went to the correct house. From Lehto's recounting of this story, I don't see any indication they even attempted to inform the homeowner what they did.
Had my roof replaced and I had to do several laps after the roofers and go way out in the yard. Those nails will fly pretty far as you might expect. So far no punctured vehicle or lawn mower tires, but it wouldn't surprise me if there's more nails out there waiting for their chance to strike.
Didn't have to worry about nails when the roof was redone. Tarped working areas on the ground, ramp and dumpster, instead of piles dumped around the house. They checked w magnets after too.
How does this even happen? Every time that I have ever seen roofing work done, the new roofing materials, and dumpster are always onsite BEFORE they show up to strip the roof.
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket Really? My family has had three roofs replaced in the past three years, two houses, and one large garage. Contractor did not just strip our houses, but had all of the materials onsite before they stripped the roof.
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket Yes, but usually the dumpster will show up before they really have a chance to start and dropping off a dumpster is extremely noisy.
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket I am having siding done now, and yeah, the material was here before they stripped the old siding off the house. You just don't remove a homes weather protection until you have the material to replace it.
I own a roofing company here in north central Florida and you’re exactly right, how they (homeowner and contractor) reacted is what rational people would do. However, in this world, that would rarely happen. I got behind and had a roofer friend do a roof for me, he didn’t do a good job, instead of fixing what he did, I tore off the new roof and did it right. Homeowner and bldg inspector appreciated it and have since done roofs for several inspectors and referred from homeowner.
Back when I was doing roofs and continuous aluminum gutters. My job was to arrive on site, double check the paperwork to make sure it was the right address. Go up and knock on the door and speak to the tenants letting them know we were about to start the job. And getting a spot cleared in the driveway usually while waiting for the waste company to deliver a dumpster as the crew rolls up in their own vehicles. We used tarps around bushes and in yards and magnets to pick up the nails. We always left the property looking better than it did when we started the job.
There is zero reason in this day and age, for even the most "fly by night" company, to not have the tools needed to take a picture of the home in question and provide it to their workers
Exactly this. You could ask for a picture of the home front from the client. 30 years ago, that would be unacceptable. But today you can take a picture and send it in 10 seconds or so.
In some cases, juries have been told that they may infer "intent" from the actions surrounding the situation. For example, if a bank robber shot the bank teller during the robbery, they jury was allowed to infer that it was the intent of the robber to shoot someone because if he hadn't had that intent, the gun wouldn't have been loaded.
In this day and age, these “wrong address” events, bank forecloses on the wrong house, police raid the wrong house, property destroyed, people killed *seem* to be happening a lot. Are they? Are people getting more careless? Or do we just have access to more news?
One way to reduce address errors is to list the address in digits AND words. "126 (one-two-five) Elm Street, Anytown, State, ZIPCODE" tells me right away that there is a mistake somewhere, and I'll ask questions before taking off a roof or kicking in the door for a no-knock warrant.
Hi, Steve,, I have some friends that are roofers. After they pick up all the shingles they walk around the yard pushing a rectangular magnet on wheels and every one of them will tell you there are some nails still there.
I’m not sure the workers ran away. After a hurricane I watched crews replace roof after roof. The people who stripped the old damaged roofs were not the same ones who put on the new roofing. I wonder if the removal crew finished one and moved to the next address on their list.
My family owned a home furnishing store. We are in an itty bitty town and most of the landlords came to us for flooring, and because we often went into the same house every 3 or 4 years...or sooner if a tenant trashed the place, we kept the house plans on file. (pre internet days). One day a landlord came in, chose some commercial carpet for an enclosed porch and some vinyl for a small kitchen on the other side of the sliding glass door that separated it from the porch. He said to go in, the house was unlocked and would be happy if we could get it done in a day or two....and he handed us a piece of paper with the address of the house. We look up his file, and see we have the house plans, the landlord says nothing has changed in the house since the last install some 3 years ago, so no need to go re-measure it. On that piece of paper, the landlord also gave the directions to the house as well as a general description of what the house looked like. A few days later, the installers load up materials, leave and come back that afternoon, having done the job. The next morning we get a call from a home owner...who asked us if we installed a certain colored carpet and certain patterned vinyl into a house the day before. Turned out the landlord's rental house was the next house past that one, on the same side of the street. The houses were exact designs, and both houses were painted white with red window trim. The landlord had put the wrong address down, and the home owner to that house never locked his doors and he was at work all day and he came home to new flooring...lol. Because this landlord gave us the wrong address it was his fault. But because he was a repeat customer, we made a deal with him to pay for 1/2 of the wrong install, and we gave him a little bit more of a discount for the install on the house that was suppose to get the carpet and vinyl. The other home owner was happy as hell with his new flooring. He liked the color of the carpet and the vinyl pattern...lol. He actually came in some months later and said the new vinyl in the kitchen made his living room look drab and he bought some new carpet for the living room. It wasn't the best situation ever, but we didn't make the landlord foot the whole bill on the mistake, and we even told the homeowner that if he didn't like the colors that we would be willing to let him come in and pick something else, but as mentioned, he was happy with his unexpected new flooring. Bad mistakes happen, but a honest business will do what needs done to make it right for the customer...or non-customer who's are involved.
There's a difference between a crime and being liable. While someone ripping off a roof may not be a crime (vandalism) the company is absolutely liable for the damages (which would be a civil case) Fixing the problem voluntarily usually gets every on your side in a court case.
It does, but in this case a large part of the resolution would be a new roof anyways. As well as potential legal fees, damage done if it rains before it gets covered and interest on any emergency loans that need to be taken out to get to fixed while things go through the courts. It may well be them doing the right thing, but the cost would be substantially more than just fixing the roof and probably covered by insurance.
Steve, you hit close to home this time. Some 30 years ago an Amish/Mennonite crew was working in the area. On one of their building projects they ran into a “bumping heads “ situation with a county building inspector. Fast forward a few weeks, a meeting with a new customer for a roof replacement takes place at a local restaurant. The day comes to start the roof job. The crew proceeds to remove one entire side of the house roof. The owner of said house comes home to see half of his roof removed. The crew was one block off on the address. The total irony of the story is that the crew had inadvertently taken the roof off of the very same building inspector’s house. This was quite an honest mistake. The situation was just as quickly resolved as the building inspector allowed for only the half of the roof affected be replaced. ( you can’t see the front and the back of the house at the same time) The crew lost about a day and a half and half a jobs materials. Then went over a block and did the roof of the correct house. No lawyers involved.
Have a really nice device 24 inch long magnet on wheels with a broom handle, works really great picking up steel magnets not so good on the aluminum roofing nails.
Many roofers in my area sub out the tear-off work to anonymous men with an unmarked truck who they pay in cash. All they do is show up very early with like a 20 workers and remove the roof as quickly as they can and leave. The actual roofers are different people who show up later with a much smaller crew and they spend all day doing repairs and putting on the new roof. In my old rental house, the landlord had a new roof put on just this way. The tear-off crew were some guys he found looking for work outside Home Depot and they got paid in cash and cases of beer, which they drank while working. Those guys downed beer after beer and kept on working. I have no idea how. The new roof leaked. Hmm I wonder why. The same men came back later to remove an old barn on the property and again worked for cash and beer. Beer cans all over the yard. It was crazy.
What a great explanation of mens rea and its relationship to a "crime"--whether it was, in fact, a crime. Scraping off the shingles painted an excellent mental image. Thanks!
I did that once when installing gutters. We showed up to 2 main st. [ Before gps] Did the job and left. We went to 2 east main st. The job was to be at 2 west main st. Neither house was marked east or west. Never went back to 2 west. They were only separated by the street which split east and west.
In the UK, Section 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 would cover this & cases like it, bar the fact that in THIS case rectification is being made by the offending firm; such restitution would negate the “public interest” of a prosecution, thus the crime would be filed No Further Action, but still be on record. The text of S1 CDA ‘71 is:- A person who without lawful excuse destroys or damages any property belonging to another intending to destroy or damage such property or being reckless as to whether any such property would be destroyed or damaged shall be guilty of an offence.
Some year’s ago there was an article about a study of medical malpractice and the medical sides first reaction upon learning of the incident. Those that apologize, recognize fault and move to correct the issue were sued much less often. Go figure
I never trust a contractor to do anything right. I supervise them, gently but firmly. I have caught plenty of screw ups and stopped work until we could work it out. Problem is they do not supervise their subs very well. There is often a language barrier so misunderstandings are common.
Reminds me of the time the police pursued a no knock warrant on the wrong address. They destroyed the front door and broke the teenage sons collar bone when they cuffed him. That alerted the people they we supposed to serve the warrant to. The police refused to fix the front door or pay the medical expenses of the son because of qualified immunity. That's what the idiot judge said.
@@tissuepaper9962 the cop who wrote down the wrong address did so while applying for the warrant. He got busted down from a sergeant to a regular officer. That's what the news reported anyway.
People seriously underestimate just how much can be swept under the rug with a simple apology and good faith attempt to make things right. "Hey I just tore off your roof by accident thinking it was this other house two blocks down, my bad, hire someone to fix it and send me the bill." And boom, homeowner may be annoyed but the damage is done and the fix is already open and available. I think any reasonable person would just write that off as an honest mistake and move on. Now of course the tearoff crew running off without any attempt to make contact with anyone would piss me off a good bit, but they're also not the ones in the position to do something about it, so I can kinda see it from the point of view that there's nothing they can do but pass it up the chain and let someone at the right pay grade handle the situation. But an honest apology still goes a long way.
I nearly cried when I saw this , I was choked up that someone didn't just screw the other people. It made me realise humanity still exists, even if someone doing the right thing makes global news Thank you to the company for fixing the problem you created
I would definitely name this company in his position. This is a business owner that did things the right way and should be recognised for it in this modern world of cheats and thieves.
These "wrong roof" and other "wrong address" incidents happen so often that it's a wonder that these companies don't put in some kind of extra step to verify the address. For instance, if the foreman of the crew were to simply knock on the door and verify that it is the correct customer before starting outside work on the property, or, in the case where the homeowner isn't expecting to be home, the homeowner could have been asked to leave a note on the door confirming the work that was expected. Even if we accept that the incidents are so rare that the company owners don't think it could happen to them -- their crew is better than that, etc. -- it's a wonder their insurance companies don't mandate such a process.
Having just had our roof replaced a year ago….we had to get a dumpster. If there’s no dumpster then the guys doing the roofing should say something is wrong here.
When I had my roof done, tear off and reshingle, the supplies were dropped off three days before and a dumpster the day before. The delivery guys had even delivered the shingles on to on the roof. I could not get off work (contactor). I left at 6:30am and by the time I got home at 4:30pm a 10 man crew had finished 2800sqft and were packing up.
After seeing this I got to start the wonder how often does this happen. You have technology that will point you to the right house. You have Google maps, not to mention the ability to read the number on the house and the street. Amazon and FedEx can get it wrong some of the time but they're not causing property damage when they do.
If you use Google maps in rural areas you can definitely end up at the wrong house as they often have the road names wrong. My property shows up as a different road name and I have had several contractors show up to work at a different house!
Growing up in Houston Texas back in the 80s the morning DJs of a local radio station played a prank on somebody where they called them and told them they were the construction workers and they had torn out all of the grass in their yard by accident just to see what kind of a reaction they could get from the person. I think they ended up getting a couple tickets to a concert.
Well if his roof was 15 years old... he got a new roof to replace his, which would have had problem more than likely in about 5 years. He comes out very well! As he should...his roof was removed prematurely.
First time we had the roof done they put tarps down,made multiple magnet passes, used a bright flashlight looking for nails, and did a few apot checks feeling on their hands and knees. The second time they put nothing down and only used a magnet for a single pass. Results were the same, found about a dozen ourselves each time.
1:51 I do roofs what we do is we get a go metal rack we magnetize then the do a light racking around picks all the metal up ..they sell ones already magnetized If you don't know how to do that
Do roofers commonly not ring/knock to check with the people living in the house before they go to town ripping the roof off? The couple times I've gotten repairs done on mine, they've always come to the front door first to introduce themselves and say they're there to do the repair.
What they did to minimize the nails around my house was actually attached tarps to the underside of the eaves and these massive tarps draped down to the yard. I think they were actually made to cover a whole house. In any case it solved most of the nail problems and I only found five nails afterwards. I used a giant electromagnet and got back nothing. That said... Hey Steve what boots should we be wearing if you're walking around where there could be nails? Is there a boot you would recommend? *Wink wink*
As someone who works in construction, 1st thing I do is ring the door bell. Wait a minute then ring again. If I do not get a response the 2nd time I knock, wait a minute then knock again. If still no answer , I call company I work for and inform them I have no contact with homeowners. At this point they will either contact homeowners or tell me to continue work as homeowners are unavailable. In this case judging from information this was not done. At no time will I commence work without Customer consent or authorization from company.
I would love to know the name of the company. Screwups happen and it shows good character for the company to make it right. I'm sure the workers wear afraid of being fired but stuff happens. The important thing is to learn and do better in the future. Kudos to making it right.
One of the guys I work with came home to a new roof on his garage. They asked him to pay for it. He declined but was happy about his new roof because it was on his to do list.
The workers may have left because they didn't want their boss to know about the mistake. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, it may have been as simple as being on a tight schedule. They have multiple appointments that day and they delay might have caused problems for the day's schedule. Lack of criminal liability does not mean that the roofing company owner isn't civilly liable. It seems in this case that there won't be any civil claims made. I'm curious if the roofer has a contractor's license. I got my license earlier this year, and I learned about the state's process for filing claims against contractors with the state board, and the actions that follow. It's interesting how states handle these matters differently.
Getting the roof replaced right now. We are changing the gutters so they swept everything into the gutters and then removed them. There is still nails and stuff around.
Regarding the "fire!" shouting maybe it was an unannounced fire drill to see if the room had adequate exiting, particularly with children involved. Regarding the roofers, it seems they were more worried about getting the proper job done two blocks away to avoid getting fired than the mistake they made. If they "ran away" they would have run much farther and never come back. Maybe the boss got the message from the landlord before they could contact their boss.
To add to what Steve was saying, shouting “Fire” in a crowded theater is not a broad First Amendment loophole permitting the regulation of speech. The phrase originated in a case that did not involve yelling or fires or crowds or theaters. Charles T. Schenck, the general secretary of the U.S. Socialist Party, was convicted in a Philadelphia federal court for violating the Espionage Act by printing leaflets that criticized the military draft as unconstitutional. The leaflets urged people to obstruct military recruiting during wartime.
Posting the name of the company that took care of the problem would not be shaming, but would actually be good publicity showing the company has integrity Posting the name of the company that ran away would be warning ⚠ others of a bad company
My old boss lives on XXX Street, my town also has XXX Terrace... She has almost no lawn in her side yard it's mostly garden, in front of her house is all terraced gardens, she has no back yard. Twice landscapers were supposed to go mow XXX Terrace, but mowed down all her gardens at XXX St instead. They never contacted her either time.
No, they could and should have stayed on site until the issue was resolved. Running is the difference between a costly mistake, and gross criminal negligence.
About 60 years ago we stopped in to see my Father's uncle George who was a retired railroad engineer. I clearly remember him saying "and I killed three people there and another two there" a total of around 10 I believe. As a young teen I was shocked by his casual attitude about killing people. Of course HE didn't do it, the train hit people doing stupid things that he couldn't do a thing to avoid.
I believe in the old days when a parent found things on the kid that were obviously shoplifted the parent would march the kid back to the store to hand the stuff over and oppologize. That taught kids to stand up to mistakes. That rarely happens and kids see that their parants steal or lie to get out of something. It's so rare that it is news worthy.
Personally, I'd spread the business' name as a good thing. Everyone makes mistakes, and employees panicking after making such an expensive mistake is bad, but understandable, but a business that fixes their mistakes is one I want to support. (If they're making mistakes all the time, that's a different matter.)
About 5 years ago in Fort Worth, a contractor mistakenly gutted the wrong house near the TCU campus in preparation for a major remodel. What was remarkable was the series of events that led to this happening. The victim house had been a rental and was being sold which meant it was vacant. The people who actually hired the contractor didn't give him a key and told him to just break down the door. Even the address markings on the curb were done in a way that one could see how they thought they had the right house. The contractor was there for 3 days removing everything - appliances, toilets, etc., and told neighbors they had been hired by the homeowner. When the victim homeowners discovered the mess, they thought they had been burglarized and called police. Once everything was figured out and the contractor realized his mistake, he took complete responsibility and made the owners whole again. The police didn't charge him with any crime because, as Steve discussed, there was no intent to cause harm.
A contractor I know has several of those industrial magnets-on-wheels tools, and after cleaning up (and running the magnet around) he tells the homeowner that there are always a few nails left behind, and offers to leave a magnet with them for a week or so. I probably ran it around my house 5-6 times before it stopped finding any more nails.
I use my magbar on the farms parking area - then hunt for what is missing a bolt!
You know you are having a bad day when the building inspector picks up a nail in his tire while inspecting your new roof.
I found many nail and trimmings from the metal roof. Used a magnet on a stick
Aluminum roofing nails are very common and laugh at your magnets.
I am sometimes sent with a grinder to cut or grind objects that are sticking out from a fresh concrete slab from rebar to bolt theeads. Tripping to tire puncture hazards are not exactly a high priority until someone's fancy truck gets a flat.
The very first thing the roofers should have done after they noticed their mistake would be to ring the doorbell, tell those inside what just happened (that they've made a huge mistake) and then contact their boss, who then had to contact the home owner and solve the problem! Now, the home owner had to track down this company and resolve the matter, which ended up alright in the end but I do think the roofers did more wrong than just ripping the roof off by not informing the home owner, or at the very least call their boss who then has to contact the owner. Just packing up and leaving is a big no no if you ask me! Everyone makes mistakes, and this was nothing but a huge mistake but the roofers, again, did wrong by not informing the occupants, the home owner and their boss of what just happened!
Just packing up and leaving is the difference between a serious and costly mistake, and gross criminal negligence.
IMO, the roofers leaving without the notification is a criminal acted. If the homeowner hadn’t found out who the company was that employed them, it would have been damage that they would have paid for which is over the dollar amount for a felony.
Yall are assuming the roofers spoke English.
I would tend to assume they did not.
Idk.
But I'll give u 3 guesses what language they probably spoke & 2 don't count
@@jupitercyclops6521 For something this stupid? I would assume they speak English.
@@jupitercyclops6521 Tagalog? Bulgarian? Klingon! Do I win?
My roofer laid down tarps all around my house to collect all the old shingles and nails. Then he cleaned out the gutters, replaced a damaged section and left everything as he found it. So, there dose appear to be some good ones out there.
Mine did the same thing. I have a magnet on wheels that I use around the garage and stuff and I took it around the house and found exactly three nails that they had missed. I was very impressed
That’s what ALL legit roofing companies do. If you see a company not doing so, they are DEFINITELY cutting corners on your roof install as well. It’s pretty standard to lay tarping/plastic down for tear off
One in a million
This same scenario happened to a friend of our family. Roofing company showed up and began ripping shingles off. Even pulled up some damaged plywood, leaving the roof opened and exposed. They did about half of the roof when they realized they had the wrong house. So they left down the street to the correct house. When the homeowner came home it didn't take him long to find the roofers down the street. Roofing company owner said it was a mistake and they would fix the damaged half. Homeowner threatened legal action so the business replaced the entire roof of the home.
The fact that this company owned up to the error, and made good on it, without being publicly shamed makes them worthy of having their name shared, not to shame them, but so that we all know the name of at least one reputable contractor. I would consider hiring them, as they take responsibility.
I would still never hire them. They never should have made such a stupid mistake in the first place.
Perhaps, but what kind of idiot contractor climbs on a roof and starts going at it without knocking on the door and talking with the occupants?
There is a difference between the contractor and the workers. Giving him the benefit of the doubt I could see a situation where his workers tore off the wrong roof then tried to hide it from the boss when they realized they screwed up. When the boss was notified he made it right. The other possibility is he hired an independent tear off company to do the job and they messed up the address. Then the original contractor would have no liability.
@The Glorious White Male I dissagree. The Workers did the harm, the owner of the company could not have known. As soon as he was told he stepped up and fixed the problem.
What I find odd about this is that any roofing job I ever see or been involved with will have a large dumpster delivered to the job site before the roofers show up. First clue when the roofers show up and there is no dumpster to be seen that they my be at the wrong address.
I roofed for 13 years counting the years in high school that I did it as a summer job. The guy I worked for made it a priority to leave the yard in the exact same condition it was in prior to doing the job. That's not necessarily very easy to do but it makes all the difference to the homeowners in my experience.
It’s very easy to do with the proper tarping or other plastic and a magnet.
@@remodz6385 it can be when it isn't 100 degrees outside or the area to be tarped is in the shade. Leave a tarp on the grass in the sun for an hour in this heat and you'll have a nice big dead spot.
The thing is, if a construction company makes a mistake like this they should rectify it fast. Not only does it limit the long term damage but you can control the costs. Saying it's the insurance company's problem and leaving, opens you up to further damages and paying FULL price for another company to do the work with full price materials.
I roofed for 25 years and we torn off the roof on the wrong house once! But we did correct the problem like a real business owner does! And that's a mistake you only make once!
Exactly. There is absolutely no point in trashing the business's reputation if they make good. It's not as if a reputable business is going to "reoffend" with a screw-up like this.
Yeah that's not a cheap mistake to remedy unless they're living in a tiny house with like a 4 square roof.
Cause you fire the idiots that work for you and garnish their paychecks.
@@additudeobx well I didn't really want to fire myself so there that so........... I'm glad I never worded for you dude!!
@@additudeobx fire them maybe, but can’t garnish their pay if they are no longer working for you. Aside from the legality of collecting damages from an employee without a judgment.
That Roofer is an Honest Man! It is good to hear there are still honest men and companies in the USA!
If the roofer was an honest person, the crew would have been tasked with putting a new roof on the house that was mistakingly torn off, not down the street doing the roof that was scheduled. I am sure that finding the workers down the street, the homeowner had contacted the boss, before the end of the day. The only reason this roofing company agreed to make things right, because they had no choice, other than make it right.
Unless he's trying throw his empolyees under the bus lol and knew about it
@Richard Cranium I'm just saying a possibility didnt say it did it didn't happen but this is the kind of thing the public is going think when say he didn't know and his employees ran off and didn't tell him ...should of better oversight then
@The Glorious White Male The contractor (business owner) was quite likely not present with the crew that did the strip-n-run.
If they have multiple crews, it is common for the boss to have foremen/women who run each crew.
The job of a business owner is not to do the work, but to arrange tomorrow's work.
@Richard Cranium if this contractor was totally honest there would not had to be a follow-up video on this mistake. The second the contractor found out his crew screwed up, there should have been a crew on the job to fix it, or told the property owner, whatever the cost, I will handle it, if they are not comfortable with them doing the work. The contractor should have never let dark set in that night, without making sure that home was in the dry.
This actually happened here in our HOA in Florida. A lot of house numbers are all the same but the streets are named different. The contractors had the right house number but the wrong Street. The street they was supposed to do the job on was Goldsboro Loop. But instead they went to Gainesboro Loop and started ripping the roof off of the wrong house. They had the whole roof torn off before they realized their mistake. The contractors immediately covered the house with blue tarps. And agreed to come back and put the new roof on no problem the next day. It was an honest mistake and the company made good for it
My neighbor came home from work, parked in the garage, look up and half of the roof was gone. She was walking around the house in shock when the contractor drove up. He admitted his mistake (transposed numbers in the address) and said he would replace the roof for free. She said that she would pay for the remaining half.
I woke up one Saturday morning to the sound of a very big mower outside my window. I look out and there's a landscaping crew working my front yard.
I went outside and found the crew boss and he started telling me that the homeowners association had hired them to do the lawn since I wasn't.
Two things worth noting here. First of all I was on our HOA board and we had not done that. Not ever to anyone. We did get our own mowers out and cut the grass for a couple of people who had medical issues and couldn't but I guarantee you we never called in the landscape crew.
Second of all I cut my own grass and did it once a week. I had planned on doing it that very afternoon.
The crew boss really couldn't understand. We had a little bit of
a language barrier. He got the owner on the phone and we quickly determined they were at the right house number but in the wrong subdivision.
He was kind enough to have his crew finish my yard before they left. I ended up with a free Saturday afternoon.
Then I found out how much he charges to do a yard and I got a lot of Saturday afternoons back. He was very affordable so it turned out to be a lucky accident for me.
I'll never forget growing up my dad teaching me that if you make a mistake the absolute best answer is to confront it head on.
First of all you own it so it's the right thing to do. Second of all nobody really expects you to do that so it kind of throws them off their game and most of the time all they want you to do is fix it. I found that to be very true in life. If I screw up I own it.
Their mistake also worked out well for them. They got a new customer!
They make magnetic (brooms) which are pretty inexpensive and work well. Available at the home improvement stores and I'm sure online.
I instantly have roofing ads on my phone after this video! When I arrive at a customer's house I always knock on the door to let the tenants know I'm working on and around the house..The roofers should do this as well especially if there is skylights in the bed/bathrooms or they could face a different set of problems!
My father taught me a great life lesson. If you fuck up, the first thing you say is "i fucked up. Where do we go from here to correct it"
They carry 2' wheeled magnetic carts at Menards and Home Depot for about $60. They look kind of look like a two wheel dolly with a long magnet between the wheels. They work great.
I had a friend do my roof, yes he was a pro, His kids played with my kids at the house. He had his guys tarp up the area between the house and the trailer. He said the best way to make sure there is no nails on the ground is to make sure none fall there. He still went over the area with a magnet and even found a few screws that did not come from the roof. He did admit he does not normally do this process.
A metal detector will find even more nails, tin caps, etc. that got ground in by the worker's shoes, or equipment. Did that for my elderly neighbor recently and wound up with a Homer bucket full of detritus. Hedges, planters, and bushes/trees are a real "Easter Egg hunt", also.
Yes, after the magnet it's time to break out the metal detector. Every roofing crew needs one.
@@thelatinist5024 Thank you.
May I just say, that I love that you used the word "detritus" in a sentence?? In a world, where it seems too many native English speakers can't speak English, I find this very refreshing.
@@spottheborgcat6523 😀
First roof I had a crew do was back in the 90s. Old house with those at least 50 year old diamond shaped asphalt interlocking shingles over the original cedar shake roof. Whole mess had to be stripped off, new OSB sheathing placed over the original skip sheathing and new asphalt shingles laid down. The crew seemed to to a good job, they were able to get a small dump truck right next to the house so all the old asphalt shingles and most of the nails went in there, and they had heavy tarps to collect residual debris. The excess of nails was my fault. At least they were ferrous, as aluminum nails don't get attracted to magnets. The old cedar shingles were tinder dry and since my in laws in another town used wood heat, I knew they would use them and had the crew just dump most of them in a pile for me to deal with later. In laws got about 3 years worth of perfect kindling and I had to get the nails out of the ground on my own. Only complication was that the roofing company went under a few months later, just before the rainy season began. That's when I learned that they had installed the flashing around the chimney backwards so that it directed water into the house and onto the plaster ceiling. Fixed that myself. Not as bad as the roofing contractor who apparently thought my wife was attractive and, after putting a metal roof on our home started sending her pics of him in nothing but tight underwear. He worked for a commercial roofing company and was doing residential jobs as a side gig. I had a fun chat with his boss as this doorknob was using his regular employer's reputation to get his side business. "It was just a pocket dial," the idjit claimed. Don't know what happened to him but can only surmise he had an interesting converstaion withu his boss.
I am reading your book. I read books words for words. Thanks for your research. I would like to see a new video on the Italian hall disaster this year.
Had my roof done last year, not one nail in the yard. They were fantastic, constantly cleaning up, roof came out super!
Ben on the hood of the Viper.
Steve, peopld do the right thing all the time, that's why it doesnt make the news, because it is so common that it is not "newsworthy" I believe in my fellow man.
@The Glorious White Male If the contractor is a slimy weasel, then he didnt do the right thing and makes the news. thank you for confirming my observation.
@The Glorious White Male The owner was not at the work site from all indications and most likely he was not notified by his crew of what they had mistakenly done. Happens all the time.
Removing the roof and leaving would be property damage, regardless of intent and IS a crime.
Happens more than you think
Im a roofing contractor, its never happened to us, thankfully.but we hear of it happening..numbers sometimes get transposed
Hola senior.
Como estas?
Ben posing on the bonnet of the Red Viper for a photo spread of "Bucks on Vipers", Steve's RHS
Bonnet... what's a bonnet??? Must be an Aussie thing... Good catch...
@@BenLeitch Definitely Aussie, Bonnet, Roof and Boot😁
Welcome back
@@Bobs-Wrigles5555 Bonnet is what I called it...took years to use hood. Surprisingly we said trunk and not boot. Never got over cheque loosing out to check. Ben jumped out at me!
@@terrancecoard388 Old habits die hard, I just googled why UK and AU call it a boot--
"goes back to 18th century horse-drawn carriages where the coachman sat on a chest, which was used to store, among other things, his boots."
I guess "trunk" comes from old cars having a trunk fitted outboard at the rear.
@@Bobs-Wrigles5555 cool...I learned something. I get those moments when I remember something from decades ago and say..hey, I need to verify that now that we have the internet.
The "crime" should be fleeing the scene of an accident.
This is far worse than side swiping someone's car and then driving off.
Eh, I don't really agree. The fleeing the scene thing is specifically about vehicle accidents and the like, isn't it? This is a liability/negligence case where the offending party is known and able to be reached for compensation, not some fender bender leaving a motorist stranded in the middle of nowhere.
It was made right, so why seek charges?
The owner of the roofing company did the right thing so it's good in my book.
@@Kune35 yes becuase alot times people not at fault flee the crash for whatever reason and they still get charged ....like that polictians in new Jersey that just hit a guy on a bike that ran a red light ...she kept going now she's trying say she must.of hit her head and don't remember lol 🤣😂 hope she gets charged cuz I know she thought it was her fault and ran plus there's other video of her trying use her being a political person as a reason to get off
@@Kune35 The only reason the offending party is known in this case is because the victim was able to find them after they went to the correct house. From Lehto's recounting of this story, I don't see any indication they even attempted to inform the homeowner what they did.
It wasn't an accident so no. Destruction of Prívate Property.
I hope he takes care of it properly. Making it the most careful and perfect roofing job he has ever done. No shortcuts, only quality work.
Had my roof replaced and I had to do several laps after the roofers and go way out in the yard. Those nails will fly pretty far as you might expect. So far no punctured vehicle or lawn mower tires, but it wouldn't surprise me if there's more nails out there waiting for their chance to strike.
Didn't have to worry about nails when the roof was redone. Tarped working areas on the ground, ramp and dumpster, instead of piles dumped around the house. They checked w magnets after too.
How does this even happen? Every time that I have ever seen roofing work done, the new roofing materials, and dumpster are always onsite BEFORE they show up to strip the roof.
nah when ur company is just some dudes they don't plan like that.
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket Really? My family has had three roofs replaced in the past three years, two houses, and one large garage. Contractor did not just strip our houses, but had all of the materials onsite before they stripped the roof.
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket Yes, but usually the dumpster will show up before they really have a chance to start and dropping off a dumpster is extremely noisy.
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket I am having siding done now, and yeah, the material was here before they stripped the old siding off the house. You just don't remove a homes weather protection until you have the material to replace it.
You have to do that, even if only to protect yourself from supplier screwups.
I own a roofing company here in north central Florida and you’re exactly right, how they (homeowner and contractor) reacted is what rational people would do. However, in this world, that would rarely happen. I got behind and had a roofer friend do a roof for me, he didn’t do a good job, instead of fixing what he did, I tore off the new roof and did it right. Homeowner and bldg inspector appreciated it and have since done roofs for several inspectors and referred from homeowner.
Back when I was doing roofs and continuous aluminum gutters. My job was to arrive on site, double check the paperwork to make sure it was the right address. Go up and knock on the door and speak to the tenants letting them know we were about to start the job. And getting a spot cleared in the driveway usually while waiting for the waste company to deliver a dumpster as the crew rolls up in their own vehicles. We used tarps around bushes and in yards and magnets to pick up the nails. We always left the property looking better than it did when we started the job.
This will follow the roofer around for YEARS
Repairing their mistake was their only option to stay in business and repair their reputation lol
There is zero reason in this day and age, for even the most "fly by night" company, to not have the tools needed to take a picture of the home in question and provide it to their workers
Exactly this.
You could ask for a picture of the home front from the client.
30 years ago, that would be unacceptable.
But today you can take a picture and send it in 10 seconds or so.
what if the buildings look similar?
There is a house 10 driveways down the street that looks very similar to our house. Even the hills in the yard.
@@corvettebob96 i bet you got different numbers on your house though
@@graniteamerican3547 there is no mistaking a house with the address on its front face or curb.
In some cases, juries have been told that they may infer "intent" from the actions surrounding the situation. For example, if a bank robber shot the bank teller during the robbery, they jury was allowed to infer that it was the intent of the robber to shoot someone because if he hadn't had that intent, the gun wouldn't have been loaded.
In this day and age, these “wrong address” events, bank forecloses on the wrong house, police raid the wrong house, property destroyed, people killed *seem* to be happening a lot. Are they? Are people getting more careless? Or do we just have access to more news?
One way to reduce address errors is to list the address in digits AND words.
"126 (one-two-five) Elm Street, Anytown, State, ZIPCODE" tells me right away that there is a mistake somewhere, and I'll ask questions before taking off a roof or kicking in the door for a no-knock warrant.
More access to news...technology makes it so.
@@MonkeyJedi99 Like in bank checks.
It’s just you are on your phone/TV too much watching the news. Put down the screen and news
@@remodz6385 War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
-
How am I doing?
Hi, Steve,, I have some friends that are roofers. After they pick up all the shingles they walk around the yard pushing a rectangular magnet on wheels and every one of them will tell you there are some nails still there.
That's amazing! TWO rational people in the same area, interacting with each other and they take care of a problem. THAT'S NEWS!
I’m not sure the workers ran away. After a hurricane I watched crews replace roof after roof. The people who stripped the old damaged roofs were not the same ones who put on the new roofing. I wonder if the removal crew finished one and moved to the next address on their list.
Sure, the workers ran away.
Maybe, maybe not. They certainly didn’t make any real attempt to hide. They just went to work somewhere else.
My family owned a home furnishing store. We are in an itty bitty town and most of the landlords came to us for flooring, and because we often went into the same house every 3 or 4 years...or sooner if a tenant trashed the place, we kept the house plans on file. (pre internet days).
One day a landlord came in, chose some commercial carpet for an enclosed porch and some vinyl for a small kitchen on the other side of the sliding glass door that separated it from the porch.
He said to go in, the house was unlocked and would be happy if we could get it done in a day or two....and he handed us a piece of paper with the address of the house.
We look up his file, and see we have the house plans, the landlord says nothing has changed in the house since the last install some 3 years ago, so no need to go re-measure it. On that piece of paper, the landlord also gave the directions to the house as well as a general description of what the house looked like.
A few days later, the installers load up materials, leave and come back that afternoon, having done the job.
The next morning we get a call from a home owner...who asked us if we installed a certain colored carpet and certain patterned vinyl into a house the day before.
Turned out the landlord's rental house was the next house past that one, on the same side of the street.
The houses were exact designs, and both houses were painted white with red window trim. The landlord had put the wrong address down, and the home owner to that house never locked his doors and he was at work all day and he came home to new flooring...lol.
Because this landlord gave us the wrong address it was his fault. But because he was a repeat customer, we made a deal with him to pay for 1/2 of the wrong install, and we gave him a little bit more of a discount for the install on the house that was suppose to get the carpet and vinyl.
The other home owner was happy as hell with his new flooring. He liked the color of the carpet and the vinyl pattern...lol. He actually came in some months later and said the new vinyl in the kitchen made his living room look drab and he bought some new carpet for the living room.
It wasn't the best situation ever, but we didn't make the landlord foot the whole bill on the mistake, and we even told the homeowner that if he didn't like the colors that we would be willing to let him come in and pick something else, but as mentioned, he was happy with his unexpected new flooring. Bad mistakes happen, but a honest business will do what needs done to make it right for the customer...or non-customer who's are involved.
Everybody screws-up at times. Making good voluntarily goes a long way toward being trustworthy.
There's a difference between a crime and being liable. While someone ripping off a roof may not be a crime (vandalism) the company is absolutely liable for the damages (which would be a civil case)
Fixing the problem voluntarily usually gets every on your side in a court case.
It does, but in this case a large part of the resolution would be a new roof anyways. As well as potential legal fees, damage done if it rains before it gets covered and interest on any emergency loans that need to be taken out to get to fixed while things go through the courts.
It may well be them doing the right thing, but the cost would be substantially more than just fixing the roof and probably covered by insurance.
Steve, you hit close to home this time. Some 30 years ago an Amish/Mennonite crew was working in the area. On one of their building projects they ran into a “bumping heads “ situation with a county building inspector. Fast forward a few weeks, a meeting with a new customer for a roof replacement takes place at a local restaurant. The day comes to start the roof job. The crew proceeds to remove one entire side of the house roof. The owner of said house comes home to see half of his roof removed. The crew was one block off on the address. The total irony of the story is that the crew had inadvertently taken the roof off of the very same building inspector’s house. This was quite an honest mistake. The situation was just as quickly resolved as the building inspector allowed for only the half of the roof affected be replaced. ( you can’t see the front and the back of the house at the same time) The crew lost about a day and a half and half a jobs materials. Then went over a block and did the roof of the correct house. No lawyers involved.
I enjoy listening to your video’s. I find them enjoyable and informative. Thanks for your content.
Have a really nice device 24 inch long magnet on wheels with a broom handle, works really great picking up steel magnets not so good on the aluminum roofing nails.
My grandmother and her two sisters were at that Italian hall, one of her sisters died!!
Many roofers in my area sub out the tear-off work to anonymous men with an unmarked truck who they pay in cash. All they do is show up very early with like a 20 workers and remove the roof as quickly as they can and leave. The actual roofers are different people who show up later with a much smaller crew and they spend all day doing repairs and putting on the new roof. In my old rental house, the landlord had a new roof put on just this way. The tear-off crew were some guys he found looking for work outside Home Depot and they got paid in cash and cases of beer, which they drank while working. Those guys downed beer after beer and kept on working. I have no idea how. The new roof leaked. Hmm I wonder why. The same men came back later to remove an old barn on the property and again worked for cash and beer. Beer cans all over the yard. It was crazy.
What a great explanation of mens rea and its relationship to a "crime"--whether it was, in fact, a crime. Scraping off the shingles painted an excellent mental image. Thanks!
I did that once when installing gutters. We showed up to 2 main st. [ Before gps] Did the job and left. We went to 2 east main st. The job was to be at 2 west main st. Neither house was marked east or west. Never went back to 2 west. They were only separated by the street which split east and west.
I would praise and commend the owner. Mistakes happen, its how you fix it that tells us who you are.
Committing suicide is a crime 😔 has anyone or their estate ever been prosecuted ???????
In the UK, Section 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 would cover this & cases like it, bar the fact that in THIS case rectification is being made by the offending firm; such restitution would negate the “public interest” of a prosecution, thus the crime would be filed No Further Action, but still be on record. The text of S1 CDA ‘71 is:-
A person who without lawful excuse destroys or damages any property belonging to another intending to destroy or damage such property or being reckless as to whether any such property would be destroyed or damaged shall be guilty of an offence.
Some year’s ago there was an article about a study of medical malpractice and the medical sides first reaction upon learning of the incident. Those that apologize, recognize fault and move to correct the issue were sued much less often.
Go figure
Kudos to the owner that took responsibility right then and there and is making it right. A refreshing development...
I hired a roofing contractor to re-roof my house.
He did a good job EXCEPT he installed the wrong color shingles. I accepted a large discount
Youre not there to watch?
@@everythingpony Yeah, I got time off from work to do that.🤣
Our HOA would have a fit
I never trust a contractor to do anything right. I supervise them, gently but firmly. I have caught plenty of screw ups and stopped work until we could work it out. Problem is they do not supervise their subs very well. There is often a language barrier so misunderstandings are common.
@@everythingpony if I have time to be there to watch I’m then doing it myself and saving 60-70 percent.
Reminds me of the time the police pursued a no knock warrant on the wrong address. They destroyed the front door and broke the teenage sons collar bone when they cuffed him. That alerted the people they we supposed to serve the warrant to. The police refused to fix the front door or pay the medical expenses of the son because of qualified immunity. That's what the idiot judge said.
Failing to serve a warrant properly is dereliction of duty, so hopefully they at least got fired. Probably not, though.
@@tissuepaper9962 the cop who wrote down the wrong address did so while applying for the warrant. He got busted down from a sergeant to a regular officer. That's what the news reported anyway.
I like that out-tro "pre-board? does that mean you get on before you get on?" I saw an ad for "pre-existing pianos"?????
People seriously underestimate just how much can be swept under the rug with a simple apology and good faith attempt to make things right. "Hey I just tore off your roof by accident thinking it was this other house two blocks down, my bad, hire someone to fix it and send me the bill." And boom, homeowner may be annoyed but the damage is done and the fix is already open and available. I think any reasonable person would just write that off as an honest mistake and move on.
Now of course the tearoff crew running off without any attempt to make contact with anyone would piss me off a good bit, but they're also not the ones in the position to do something about it, so I can kinda see it from the point of view that there's nothing they can do but pass it up the chain and let someone at the right pay grade handle the situation. But an honest apology still goes a long way.
I nearly cried when I saw this , I was choked up that someone didn't just screw the other people.
It made me realise humanity still exists, even if someone doing the right thing makes global news
Thank you to the company for fixing the problem you created
I would definitely name this company in his position. This is a business owner that did things the right way and should be recognised for it in this modern world of cheats and thieves.
These "wrong roof" and other "wrong address" incidents happen so often that it's a wonder that these companies don't put in some kind of extra step to verify the address. For instance, if the foreman of the crew were to simply knock on the door and verify that it is the correct customer before starting outside work on the property, or, in the case where the homeowner isn't expecting to be home, the homeowner could have been asked to leave a note on the door confirming the work that was expected. Even if we accept that the incidents are so rare that the company owners don't think it could happen to them -- their crew is better than that, etc. -- it's a wonder their insurance companies don't mandate such a process.
One shared picture is all it takes to stop this.
Somebody does the right thing!
Having just had our roof replaced a year ago….we had to get a dumpster. If there’s no dumpster then the guys doing the roofing should say something is wrong here.
It's common in many areas for roofers to bring their own trailer for waste
@@ttww1590 That is a fair point. It may not be all that common around where I am, but I can see it being a practice for some companies.
@@ttww1590 Yeah, the de-roofers brought their own trailer to haul off the shingles on our house last week.
When I had my roof done, tear off and reshingle, the supplies were dropped off three days before and a dumpster the day before. The delivery guys had even delivered the shingles on to on the roof.
I could not get off work (contactor). I left at 6:30am and by the time I got home at 4:30pm a 10 man crew had finished 2800sqft and were packing up.
After seeing this I got to start the wonder how often does this happen. You have technology that will point you to the right house. You have Google maps, not to mention the ability to read the number on the house and the street. Amazon and FedEx can get it wrong some of the time but they're not causing property damage when they do.
If you use Google maps in rural areas you can definitely end up at the wrong house as they often have the road names wrong. My property shows up as a different road name and I have had several contractors show up to work at a different house!
I do always talk to the owner/ residents or verify with someone that I am at the right house.
If google has your road name wrong, submit a change!!!
@@davidh9638 Locally where I live there are a couple of roads that had their names changed but old timers still call the roads by their old names.
I was just stating there's redundancies to make sure you're at the right address that includes learning how to read the address your at.
So happy to see a story discussed that I sent in :)
Growing up in Houston Texas back in the 80s the morning DJs of a local radio station played a prank on somebody where they called them and told them they were the construction workers and they had torn out all of the grass in their yard by accident just to see what kind of a reaction they could get from the person. I think they ended up getting a couple tickets to a concert.
This ended up being a sizable gift to the homeowner!
Well if his roof was 15 years old... he got a new roof to replace his, which would have had problem more than likely in about 5 years. He comes out very well! As he should...his roof was removed prematurely.
First time we had the roof done they put tarps down,made multiple magnet passes, used a bright flashlight looking for nails, and did a few apot checks feeling on their hands and knees. The second time they put nothing down and only used a magnet for a single pass. Results were the same, found about a dozen ourselves each time.
Metal detector. It's the 21st century now.
It's terrible that companies are doing the right thing. Stop platforming morals, STEVIE BOY!
1:51 I do roofs what we do is we get a go metal rack we magnetize then the do a light racking around picks all the metal up ..they sell ones already magnetized If you don't know how to do that
Do roofers commonly not ring/knock to check with the people living in the house before they go to town ripping the roof off?
The couple times I've gotten repairs done on mine, they've always come to the front door first to introduce themselves and say they're there to do the repair.
What they did to minimize the nails around my house was actually attached tarps to the underside of the eaves and these massive tarps draped down to the yard. I think they were actually made to cover a whole house.
In any case it solved most of the nail problems and I only found five nails afterwards. I used a giant electromagnet and got back nothing.
That said... Hey Steve what boots should we be wearing if you're walking around where there could be nails? Is there a boot you would recommend? *Wink wink*
I had my roof replaced 4 years ago and I still find a nail every now and then.
As someone who works in construction, 1st thing I do is ring the door bell.
Wait a minute then ring again.
If I do not get a response the 2nd time I knock, wait a minute then knock again.
If still no answer , I call company I work for and inform them I have no contact with homeowners.
At this point they will either contact homeowners or tell me to continue work as homeowners are unavailable.
In this case judging from information this was not done. At no time will I commence work without Customer consent or authorization from company.
I not only stand up for my mistakes but I stand up for a lot of people's down the lines mistakes
Both the home owner and the owner of the roofing company did the right thing here👍
I would love to know the name of the company. Screwups happen and it shows good character for the company to make it right. I'm sure the workers wear afraid of being fired but stuff happens. The important thing is to learn and do better in the future. Kudos to making it right.
One of the guys I work with came home to a new roof on his garage. They asked him to pay for it. He declined but was happy about his new roof because it was on his to do list.
Props to the dude for not screwing people over pretty good idea for long term business in an age of constantly milking every cent out of folks
The workers may have left because they didn't want their boss to know about the mistake. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, it may have been as simple as being on a tight schedule. They have multiple appointments that day and they delay might have caused problems for the day's schedule.
Lack of criminal liability does not mean that the roofing company owner isn't civilly liable. It seems in this case that there won't be any civil claims made. I'm curious if the roofer has a contractor's license. I got my license earlier this year, and I learned about the state's process for filing claims against contractors with the state board, and the actions that follow. It's interesting how states handle these matters differently.
Steve thank you
Getting the roof replaced right now. We are changing the gutters so they swept everything into the gutters and then removed them. There is still nails and stuff around.
Regarding the "fire!" shouting maybe it was an unannounced fire drill to see if the room had adequate exiting, particularly with children involved. Regarding the roofers, it seems they were more worried about getting the proper job done two blocks away to avoid getting fired than the mistake they made. If they "ran away" they would have run much farther and never come back. Maybe the boss got the message from the landlord before they could contact their boss.
Very cool headed guy and now he got a free new roof!
It’s called intent, he had no intention to remove the roof and he fixed the problem.
To add to what Steve was saying, shouting “Fire” in a crowded theater is not a broad First Amendment loophole permitting the regulation of speech. The phrase originated in a case that did not involve yelling or fires or crowds or theaters. Charles T. Schenck, the general secretary of the U.S. Socialist Party, was convicted in a Philadelphia federal court for violating the Espionage Act by printing leaflets that criticized the military draft as unconstitutional. The leaflets urged people to obstruct military recruiting during wartime.
Posting the name of the company that took care of the problem would not be shaming, but would actually be good publicity showing the company has integrity
Posting the name of the company that ran away would be warning ⚠ others of a bad company
My old boss lives on XXX Street, my town also has XXX Terrace...
She has almost no lawn in her side yard it's mostly garden, in front of her house is all terraced gardens, she has no back yard. Twice landscapers were supposed to go mow XXX Terrace, but mowed down all her gardens at XXX St instead.
They never contacted her either time.
I guess XXX Street is in the red light district.
I respect the discretion of the homeowner.
My roof was done this summer and they cleaned up really well and even then after I cut the grass my big ass magnet collected around 50 nails.
It was the only thing they could do and not destroy their reputation even more, but I guess good for them for doing it.
No, they could and should have stayed on site until the issue was resolved. Running is the difference between a costly mistake, and gross criminal negligence.
I thought all the tradies placed the old nails in the back of their truck. Then they could drop them on the road as if they are driving a Batmobile.
About 60 years ago we stopped in to see my Father's uncle George who was a retired railroad engineer. I clearly remember him saying "and I killed three people there and another two there" a total of around 10 I believe. As a young teen I was shocked by his casual attitude about killing people. Of course HE didn't do it, the train hit people doing stupid things that he couldn't do a thing to avoid.
I believe in the old days when a parent found things on the kid that were obviously shoplifted the parent would march the kid back to the store to hand the stuff over and oppologize. That taught kids to stand up to mistakes. That rarely happens and kids see that their parants steal or lie to get out of something. It's so rare that it is news worthy.
Personally, I'd spread the business' name as a good thing. Everyone makes mistakes, and employees panicking after making such an expensive mistake is bad, but understandable, but a business that fixes their mistakes is one I want to support. (If they're making mistakes all the time, that's a different matter.)
Finally somebody that can take responsibility for their own mistakes and fix them.
About 5 years ago in Fort Worth, a contractor mistakenly gutted the wrong house near the TCU campus in preparation for a major remodel. What was remarkable was the series of events that led to this happening. The victim house had been a rental and was being sold which meant it was vacant. The people who actually hired the contractor didn't give him a key and told him to just break down the door. Even the address markings on the curb were done in a way that one could see how they thought they had the right house. The contractor was there for 3 days removing everything - appliances, toilets, etc., and told neighbors they had been hired by the homeowner. When the victim homeowners discovered the mess, they thought they had been burglarized and called police. Once everything was figured out and the contractor realized his mistake, he took complete responsibility and made the owners whole again. The police didn't charge him with any crime because, as Steve discussed, there was no intent to cause harm.
Not just intent, but because the contractor and owners came to an agreement like adults.