GREENSBORO, N.C. — If you’ve lived in North Carolina for any amount of time you know the value of a good roof. Greensboro gets about 45 inches of rain each year, throw in a couple of snowstorms, some freezing rain, and lots of sun, your roof takes a pounding.
Susan Lipper owns a townhome, so one of the perks is the HOA pays for all roof repairs or replacements. The downside is that she must pay for all damages inside the townhome caused by a roof leak. In most cases, a roof problem isn’t known until the ceiling is damaged.
“I had some water damage in the master bedroom,” Lipper said. “I called (management company) to let them know there may be a problem with the roof.”
A repair crew was sent out and a decision was made to replace the roof on Lipper’s home and a few others. Lipper reached out to her insurance company and a handyman to have some patchwork and painting done inside the home.
The new roof seemed to be doing fine but a couple of years later Lipper again noticed some water stains on the ceiling. Lipper reached out to the HOA again and was told a roofer would be sent out to inspect and make the necessary repairs.
A couple of weeks later, Lipper was notified by the HOA that the roofer had made the repairs, and everything should be fixed.
“Eight months later, the drywall in the bedroom was wet and I realized the leak was not repaired,” Lipper said.
The HOA was again contacted about the problem and a roofer was sent out again.
“The roofer realized (he) was supposed to have come to my house but he went to a different house and made repairs on that house instead of (my) roof,” Lipper said.
A remediation team was called to evaluate the damage. The roof leak caused significant water damage to the ceiling and drywall.
“They found black mold all the way down the walls to the floor,” Lipper said.
The cost of the repairs was around $14,000 to remediate and repair. Lipper asked the HOA to cover the cost of the repairs since the roof wasn’t properly repaired the first time. Lipper said the HOA was not quick to respond and did not initially accept responsibility for the leak. A short time later she contacted News 2 for some assistance.
“I wanted to be sure management company knew I was serious,” Lipper said.
News 2 contacted the management company to better understand the issue and see if it did indeed plan to pay for the repairs. A representative told us it would investigate the situation and follow up in the next week or so.
The HOA board would eventually hold a meeting and vote on what steps to take.
“The next day I got the results from the board meeting everything went in my favor,” Lipper said.
The board agreed to cover the cost of the repairs.
“Thank you, and 2 Wants to Know definitely gets results,” Lipper said.