Staff Report

WARSAW — A Warsaw man was arrested after entering into a contract to perform roof repair and then allegedly failing to complete the job.

Andrew Barfell

Andrew Vickry Barfell, 50, 731 W. Market St., Warsaw, is charged with home improvement fraud, a level 6 felony. 

According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Feb. 17, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy spoke with a homeowner who said he had hired Barfell to repair his roof in April 2019. 

The homeowner said he entered into a contract with Barfell to have a section of his roof that was leaking repaired for $1,800. The man said he had paid $1,750 of that.

On the written document, according to the police report, Barfell listed the costs of the repair as tearing off five squares of shingles, replacing plywood, water and ice barrier and repairing rafters. 

The homeowner said the process was moving slowly and at one point Barfell fell through the roof, causing damage to the interior of the residence and the roof. 

The homeowner provided copies of text messages from November and into December 2019 requesting that Barfell finish capping the roof and clean up the roofing materials on the property. 

Barfell reportedly did not return to finish capping the roof and did not make further repairs. Barfell did lay mismatched shingles on a 13 x 27 foot section of the roof.

The deputy contacted Barfell, who said the roof was not leaking and the water was actually condensation due to lack of insulation and the cold temperatures. 

He told the deputy that the budget did not allow for him to properly replace the faulty sections of the roof causing the leaking. 

Barfell did admit that the agreement was to repair the rafters and sheathing and to replace the shingles that were needed. 

Barfell said he attempted to get the homeowner to spend more money to install a metal roof, but said the homeowner did not have the money for a metal roof. He said he used mismatched shingles due to those shingles being less expensive. Barfell told the deputy that the sheathing was needed the most and the budget would not allow for him to replace all of the sheathing. 

The homeowner hired an independent contractor to repair the interior damage to his residence caused by Barfell during the unsuccessful roof repair. The contractor reported the roof leaking over the entire 13 x 27 foot area worked on by Barfell and reported that the roof needed to be replaced in that area.

The contractor told the homeowner that the materials used by Barfell appear to have been scrap materials and that instead of repairing the roof, Barfell merely covered the soft spots with scrap boards and then shingled over it with mismatched shingles, causing further damage.

The police report states that the materials used were described as improper to repair the roof and the shingles used appeared to be older, utilizing a nailing technique that did not appear professional in nature. The shingles were nailed to  the roof on a part of the shingle that was incorrect, causing exposure to water.

Barfell was booked at the Kosciusko County Jail July 16 on a $1,800 cash bond.