Roofer did shoddy work and has now filed court claim against me

[mocster1985]

An expert is not necessary if there is no dispute about the pitch or any other significant technical issue. His email suggests that it is 13.5 degrees not 13 degrees. I don't know if it makes a difference.

 

 

This kind of thing would go in your witness statement which comes later.

 

There is a contradiction between you saying that the work is defective because the building inspector wouldn't sign off on it and you saying that the building inspector approval doesn't matter because he isn't involved with the contract. You can't have a situation where things said by the building inspector in your favour are important but things said in his favour are not significant. You need to get clear in your mind what is the significance of the building inspector's determination.

 

 

If there is a real dispute about access then it might be needed. But to be honest I query whether CCTV would really be of much help.

 

 

Assuming the Defence has already been filed at court and sent to the other side you don't need to do anything formal for the court process, just wait for the Directions Questionnaire.

 

You should spend the time filling in the holes in your case. Your counterclaim is fine but I am a bit concerned by the number of assertions you are making about what other people have said - these would all need to be proved. You need to do your best to have evidence to support everything you are saying.

 

If you say something like "the roof has been inspected by a number of qualified tradesmen" you need to be able to provide evidence to support this. You also need to be able to prove the things you are alleging such as poor workmanship, damage and incorrect crews; and the things you are saying about the representatives from Velux.

 

Similarly, you would need to prove to the judge why it is a problem that the roof is not pitched at 15 degrees and how much it would cost to put this right - he needs to decide on a figure for the damages he will not just pull a figure out of thin air. As suggested above you should get quotes for the work. I'm not quite sure exactly what it means for the roof to be "unacceptable" so you need to be ready to fill in the details for the judge.

 

 

 

 

 

My 2 pence worth as a roofer. The pitch makes a massive difference. 15 degrees is minimum for good reason. If the pitch is to low water moves backwards up the roof. It is called Capillary action.

{http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090412032206AA7oFPr]

 

This causes water to run in. Secondly using the wrong screws is a bad choice. Velux windows come with specific screws which seal in the flashing . If the wrong ones are used......You need a specific hexagonal screw bit to do them up called a T5

 

https://www.google.mu/search?q=T5+velux+bit&es_sm=93&espv=210&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Tdi9UrLaH8qzrgfBlICgBg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=666#es_sm=93&espv=210&q=T5+bit&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=d7y7k9X50efJMM%3A%3Bfz2ijZhaxvSCHM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbutterflyknifekits.com%252Fimages%252Fproducts%252Flarge_267_6PieceTORXDriverBitSet.JPG%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbutterflyknifekits.com%252Findex.php%253Fl%253Dproduct_detail%2526p%253D267%3B700%3B531

 

I think they may not have had it so used other screws. Also what type of tiles were put on the roof? If they were grainy or sand finished these also soak up water and do not work well on incorrect pitch.

 

Also hammer marks on flashing? If the hammer has pierced the flashing this will cause leaks. Basically they do not sound like roofers. Take pictures of all of this and put explanatory note next to them. You could also get a roofer to survey the job and get written up to save on costs.

 

 

Hope this helps a little bit.

[mocster1985]

I believe the amount you can claim in small claims court for an expert is 750£ I previously believed it to be 300£

 

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/problem/when-should-i-use-the-small-claims-court-

 

Also have you considered a no win no fee construction solicitors? I have personally never used them or know what they are like. But my head gets frazzeled by reading through the law just for my small case.