Everybody makes mistakes, and a property owner is relieved that a roofing contractor is owning up to their mistake – in this case, removing a roof from the wrong home.
In a story from CBS-affiliated KCTV, Steve Kornspan in Overland Park, Kan., had moved out of his house months ago and has been leasing it to short-term rentals. Last week, one such guest texted Kornspan in the morning asking why contractors were working on the roof. He was just as surprised, as he hadn’t scheduled any work for the house, let alone roofing.
It turned out the roofing crew went to the wrong address. By the time Kornspan could make it to the home, the contractors had torn off about 99% of the shingles, leaving a mess in the yard and the roof in disarray.
“It was a disaster,” Kornspan, a Realtor, told KCTV.
Using a drone, Kornspan captured images of the roof he later posted on Facebook, which shows the underlayment and wood exposed to the elements. Security cameras show the roofing crew coming and going and quickly leaving when they realized they were at the wrong house.
Kornspan called another roofing company to make repairs. Meanwhile, thanks to the surveillance video, he knew what vehicle the roofing crew was using and said he filed a police report to find the company responsible. He learned that the correct home was a few blocks away on the same street and matched up the vehicle to the one that was at his property.
“Police, insurance, and my roofer are working on it,” he said in his post.
On Aug. 3, he made contact with the owner of the roofing company that had torn off the roof, who was apologetic and just as upset about the situation.
“He verified the story and called back, and said he would drop off a check for our new roof tomorrow,” Kornspan said in an update. “He sounds very sincere and upset that his people did not tell him of the mistake.”
Kornspan didn’t reveal the name of the roofing company since they took ownership of the problem, and said he was not going to pursue criminal charges.
“Everybody makes mistakes, but you have to stand up for your mistakes,” Kornspan told KCTV. “When you make a mistake you have to fix it. That’s what [the company owner] was most upset about, too.”