Water Damage

[bmwtech4173]

Hi, I am in a little bit of a squeeze. Here is the situation. My wife and I bought a house back in October of 2009. We had the home inspection and found the roof needed replacement and saw on the cathedral ceilings in the dining room that some of the plaster was falling down around the chimney (its a two sided fireplace). The sellers realtor told us she planned on replacing the roof but was going to wait until someone put an offer on the house so the "new" homeowners could pick the color of shingles. And that the water issue was dueto a faulty roof. The home inspector said the roof was bad. We got the house, and as promised the roof and some windows were fixed. After we moved in we had this awful smellc coming from the house. We though it could be the carpets. We removed all the carpets in the house. I refinished the hardwood floors. and had new carpet installed in the family room. When I removed the carpet in the family room I found a lot of the subfloor was bad. It had at one time sustained a lot of water. Assuming that could be one of the smells, I replaced the subfloors prior to having the carpet installed. Once the winter time came, I couldnt smell the smell anymore. I assumed it was gone. Once it started raining again, I noticed water infront of both fireplaces. I looked up and saw water coming in through the ceiling. I went on the roof and saw a couple cracks near the fireplace. I patched that. I also found water leaking in through a vent pipe which traveled all the way down to the basement. I found they never stripped the roof, only put a second layer on. I fixed that problem. The chimney still was leaking and finally it got to the point where some of the plaster was falling off. I went on the roof and removed both layers of shingles. I found most of the plywood was complete rotted through, I removed the plywood and found the rafters were complete rotted through( since its a cathedral style, I couldnt see this from the attic). I also found ants eating away at the moist wood. I removed even more and found a lot of black mold and even in the insulation was white powdery insulation. I replaced the rafters and some plywood but I couldnt get the mold situation. I did contact my insurance company and they will be coming out to address this issue. I attempted to call the man who did the roof, but for some reason the company doesnt exist, the phone number's mail box is full, and I couldnt get in touch. (i still have the receipts of the work done because I was my own realtor). If for some reason the insurance company wont fix it, could I go after the guy who put the roof on. Or what steps should I take. I have all problems photographed. I have a feeling that the entire ceiling in my living and dining room will have to be replaced because of this. I am really stuck on this one. Any questions, comments or anything else I may not have said. Thanks

[Mr. Knowitall]

Are you telling us that the sellers agreed to replace the roof as part of the sale? If so, did the terms of your contract call for a full tear-off and replacement? If not, what does your contract say?