Need Help with Garage Roof

West Linn OR

Description

It is a detached garage. A huge tree around 80 feet long fell on our garage in February in an ice storm. It broke some pieces of the framing of the roof, created a small leak, and the roof shifted so that the garage door cannot open. The garage is in need of urgent repair. Our insurance company has refused to pay for repairs. They claim the roof had settled before the tree fell on it, but that is not true. I cannot find an engineer who is willing to stake his reputation on refuting what the insurance company says. (The insurance company agreed to pay for an engineer) My mother is 100 and it is her house and garage. I am her only child. We are not wealthy. We are two widows with very little income. We do not have savings to cover this. I got quotes from contractors for much more than we can afford to pay to fix the roof. ($25 G) It will need to be redone starting with the frame and then the plywood and so on. I believe I can find someone to replace the tar and the shingles, but the other part is not within his skill. I do not know that I can persuade the insurance company to pay even if I sue them, since I have no way to prove they are wrong. Therefore, I am looking for two things: 1. Perhaps someone can volunteer to do the job of tear off and fixing the framing for a small price or as a charitable action: I would pay for the materials (naturally). I would pay a small amount for the repairs. 2. Perhaps someone could assist me in putting a set of huge tarps over the roof so that when the inevitable rains come just a couple months from now, the content of the garage is not totally ruined. The garage contains 70 years worth of accumulation of items, some of which are quite valuable, and it all could be sold, donated or dumped. That was going to be my main job this summer, but my mother is 100 and I am her full time caregiver so I have not been able to do it.