WASHTENAW COUNTY, Mich. – A disabled veteran ended up in a fight with a roofing company that went nowhere, and he watched as his damaged roof deteriorated and leaked when it rained.
When another roofing company found out, they decided they had to get involved.
In subdivisions all over southeast Michigan, when high winds come in June, July, and August, they are very damaging, and you can lose a lot of the shingles on your roof.
Usually, that’s an insurance claim and gets taken care of in days, a week, or a month, but in this case, it’s been two and a half years.
John Hammer’s roof had tarps replacing shingles and it was not working well.
“It was leaking into the garage, so the garage ceilings get water damage to it, and up in the corner, it was starting to leak,” said Hammer.
Hammer told Local 4 he battled a Metro Detroit roofing company, paid it his insurance money, and no roofing crew showed. Last week, another company had a salesperson in the neighborhood and doorknocked because the roof was that bad, but Hammer didn’t have the needed $15,000.
“I just didn’t know what to do,” Hammer said.
William Beaty owns Rapid Roofing of Canton. He and his team talked about Hammer’s case.
“It was in pretty bad shape,” said Beaty. “It definitely needed to be done.”
Beaty stepped up and offered his roofing crew. His shingle supplier, GAF, offered to provide the materials.
“I don’t know what else I would have done,” Hammer said. “I really don’t.”
“Feels good,” Beaty said. “I mean, it’s, you know, it’s always nice to do something for somebody and help out, make things right.”
“It was a Godsend in what these guys did,” Hammer said. “I’m very appreciative.”
It took about six hours to get watertight, and the Desert Storm veteran had perhaps the best payment everyone could have received.
“Thank you just isn’t enough,” Hammer said. “I mean, you could say thank you, but what they’ve really done is a lot!”
Hammer told Local 4 he wants to pull together some money to pay something toward his roof. Beaty and his team said they would have none of that, and in fact, his insurance company owes him more money, and they want him to get that as well, which is a grand gesture.
