Editor's note: Contact7 seeks out audience tips and feedback to help people in need, resolve problems and hold the powerful accountable. If you know of a community need our call center could address, or have a story idea for our investigative team to pursue, please email us at contact7@thedenverchannel.com or call (720) 462-7777. Find more Contact7 stories here.
WELLINGTON, Colo. — A northern Colorado man claims that he paid more than $17,000 to have siding put on his home, but he says the job wasn’t completed according to his contract or according to code.
Michael Griffin paid Window and Siding Outlet in Loveland $17,500 for a job over the summer of 2017. He reached out to Contact7 saying his house wasn’t “wrapped” with a water-resistant barrier or paper before the siding was put on.
“It was not done right from the very beginning,” Griffin said. “They didn’t use house wrap.”
Griffin showed a section of his home where a piece of siding had blown off. Underneath was an insulation board. He says he never saw crews install any form of Tyvek or asphalt paper underneath that.
“You have to have the vapor barrier,” Griffin said, who is now worried that moisture could get into his home and cause major problems.
Contact7 called the owner of Window and Siding Outlet, who confirmed that the home wasn’t wrapped. He claimed that the half-inch insulation board, with plastic on one side and foil on the other, was enough to keep water out of the home.
But according to building code in both Wellington and the surrounding Larimer County, house wrap is required. According to the 2012 International Residential Code, which the municipalities follow, “approved water-resistant barrier shall be applied over studs or sheathing of all exterior walls.”
Another siding contractor, not involved in this dispute, told Contact7 that multiple international codes require house wrap and specifically said insulation board was not enough.
Window and Siding Outlet is a BBB Accredited member with an A+ rating.
Griffin also had multiple issues with the type of siding used on certain parts of his home and complaints about the way it was installed. The company says they sent three separate crews out to Griffin’s house to try to remedy his complaints, and that the work that was done was signed off on.
Window and Siding Outlet said they’re considering sending Griffin a partial refund.
