We own a duplex in Florida, it's right by the beach and we are out of state LLs. We had a new roof put on right at 5 years ago. As we all know, the average life of a roof is about 15-20 and around 10 -12 in harsher environments like being beach side. Our roof is failing only 5 years in. When we had the roof installed I paid for an "upgrade" and had the peels and stick underlayment put down. So right out of the chute, how and why do I have a leak when I have peel and stick? Issue #1.

We had the original roofer come out to fix the leak, not only could he not find it, he didn't return my call to updated me on what the issue is, or what is his next plan of action. Silence.. People, the property is in a place where it RAINS. He's left me holding the S-Bag.

We had a 2nd company come out to see what the issue is. Turns out, when the original roofer put the roof on, they used the wrong nail and all the nails/nail heads have corroded (are corroding) see attached.... Furthermore, we researched the nail requirements with the roofing manufacturer and indeed a hot dipped nail is required, No warranty claim can now be filed.

Sooooo.... You see where this is going. We had a third party reach out to the roofer to explain his mistake, and he claims since WE didn't specify him to use a higher grade nail, we got what we got. Nevermind the fact HE advised us to get the peel and stick upgrade. Naturally I assumed a qualified roofer knows to use the appropriate materials to hold the roof down, I'm not the expert he is. Obviously had I known, I wouldn't be in this situation and would have gladly opted for the correct nail. DUH.

What should we do? It's a mess, I have to do something quick b/c I have a time bomb on my hands with this roof. Everybody says "talk to your lawyer", so easy to say. They want 300 bones just to have an initial conversation. So move the math along, and legal fees would trounce any monetary gain even under the best outcome if we sue him. Small claims only allows up to 5K, but we're out of state, that further complicates thing.

Without looking back at all the shouldas couldas, to have any chance of recompense from this guy, what do we do? I know we're not the only ones that have been in this boat of hard lessons.