Your roof was installed two years ago. Now there is a leak, you have a warranty in hand, and the roofing company that did the work will not return your calls. No response to voicemails. No reply to emails. You have been ghosted.
This happens more often than it should in the roofing industry, and it is one of the most frustrating situations a homeowner can face. So we sat down with Tom Martino, Colorado's leading consumer advocate for the last 45 years and host of the longest running radio show in America, to walk through exactly what a homeowner should do when a roofer will not honor a warranty.
If you have a warranty, your first move is to contact the roofer and create a paper trail. Tom's advice is specific: send an email so you have proof that you reached out. Phone calls are fine and you should make them, but an email gives you documentation with a date and time stamp that you can point to later.
This matters because everything that follows depends on being able to show that you gave the roofer a fair chance to respond. If the situation ever ends up in front of a judge, "I called them a bunch of times" is much weaker than a series of dated emails with no replies.
If you are still being ghosted after documented attempts to reach the roofer, the next step is to put a dollar figure on the problem. How much will it cost you because the roofer is not honoring the warranty?
This is where a second roofing company comes in. Tom's recommendation was to call Excel Roofing, have us inspect the leak, and provide a written repair estimate. That estimate becomes the documented loss you suffered as a result of the original roofer's breach of warranty. Without a number attached to the damage, you do not have a claim. With one, you do.
Before heading to court, there is a step that costs you nothing: call 303-Martino, which is 303-627-8466. Tom and his team will get you on the show to talk about the problem, and in many cases, that alone gets the roofer to come through. Companies that ignore a single homeowner tend to respond differently when their name comes up on the longest running radio show in America.
The number works around the clock. When the show is on the air, calls go through to the show. Otherwise they go to voicemail and Tom's team calls you back.
If publicity does not move the roofer to act, you still have options. At that point, you have the repair completed and sue the original roofer in small claims court for breach of warranty. Tom's team has a system for this and can teach you logistically, though not legally, how to file that claim.
Small claims court exists exactly for situations like this. You do not need a lawyer, the filing costs are low, and you already have the two things you need: documentation that the roofer ignored your warranty claim, and a written estimate quantifying your loss.
There is one point from our conversation that every homeowner needs to understand before doing anything else. You have to give the original contractor the opportunity to come fix the problem first.
If a homeowner skips that step and has another company repair the roof right away, they may lose their rights. The original contractor can argue in court that they would have honored the warranty if given the chance. That is why the documentation in Step 1 comes before the repair, not after. Reach out, document the silence, get your estimate, and only then move forward with the fix.
Excel Roofing has been installing and repairing roofs across Colorado and Wyoming since 1993. We have taken plenty of calls over the years from homeowners whose original roofer disappeared, went out of business, or simply stopped answering. It is a big part of why our slogan is You Don't Pay A Cent Until You're Content, and why we believe homeowners deserve to know their rights before they are ever in this situation.
If you are dealing with a leak and a roofer who will not call you back, we can help with the inspection and estimate side of the process. And as Tom put it, lawyers are expensive, but his help is not. Do not call him cheap, though.
Need an inspection or repair estimate? Contact Excel Roofing for a free assessment. We're On Top Of It.