Hello--

I'm in a quandary and could use some feedback.

Last week I had my roof replaced by a local contracting company that
comes highly recommended. The first day the crew started in an
afternoon and asked me if the garage was included in the bid...I said
yes it was. They replaced the roof that day (it is a detached
building). The next day I heard from the crew chief that they got in
trouble because the garage roof wasn't included in the bid... I insisted
it was. They started working on the house and I finally located my
signed contract...low and behold, the garage was included in the bid.
First red flag.

In the process I discovered that I had a racoon infestation in the
past in my attic, necessitating a complete clean out of the attic before
the new roof was put on. Done. Honestly, I hadn't been up there in
years and it was a rude awakening. The roof tops the third floor of my
house. It is a complete floor with a full stairway. You can stand up
everywhere and has been used as a living space in the past. I just
parked many boxes of books up there. It was clear that the raccoon had
accessed the attic through a worn/rotted spot in the third floor soffit
on both sides of the house. I don't know if the raccoon made an opening
or capitalized on a weakness but it is clear that was the point of
entry. You can see the little paw prints (ugh).

The roof contract clearly stipulated "replace rotted wood where necessary on soffits."

I've stayed home from work and took pictures of the whole process. It
is has been fascinating. I thought they were doing a great job.

I noticed that they had not replaced the wood in the soffit area
before new vinyl vented soffit was put up. I remarked to the crew chief
about it and told him I was concerned because that was the area where
the raccoon had entered. He said the roof needed the opening for
ventilation (the new vinyl soffit is vented on this entire floor).

This doesn't make sense to me. If the roof needs ventilation, why
install vented soffit over wood? Conversely, if you were going to leave
wood and then install vented soffit over it, wouldn't you replace any
missing wood to make a consistent barrier?

The salesman stopped by and complimented me on my choice of roofing
materials (it was very expensive, heavy and beautiful and made for a
slow installation...CertainTeed Carriage House). I expressed my concerns to him about the areas that
were missing wood with the vinyl soffit placed over the gap and he said
not to be concerned..."if they can go through wood they can go through
anything..."

Anyway, I wrote to the owner of the company and expressed my
concerns. The gutter installation folks came today and I told them not
to do anything until I hear back from the owner (no use putting up
gutters only to have to take them down to replace the rotted soffit
wood). I emailed him, called and texted him today and haven't heard
back... He has been very responsive up to this point.
My question is: am I being paranoid that they have cut corners in not
replacing the wood in the soffits before putting up the new vented
vinyl material? I want to make absolutely sure that there are not points
of vulnerability where raccoon can enter the attic and start this mess
all over again. I guess I'm concerned that since the crew was operating
under the erroneous assumption that they installed a "free" roof on my
garage, they may have cut corners in other areas to try to save costs.On
the other hand, is it overkill to replace the wood and then cover it
with new vented vinyl soffit? Does this compromise the attic
ventilation?

I appreciate any and all feedback. I've also posted this on The Old House forum...please forgive the redundancy if you read both. I've attached some pictures. The area of concern is to the right above where the guy in blue is standing...you can see the rotted wood. Thanks everyone!

Monica