Before you bought your home, did you look up in the attic?

PLEASANT PRAIRIE (WITI) -- Before you bought your home, did you look up in the attic? A Pleasant Prairie family wishes they had. What they found lurking underneath the roof could make you sick.

The Szela family just bought their home last summer and now they are living with Staci’s parents after water started leaking into the basement all because of the roof.

“You basically have shingles that were not offset properly at all, “says Adam Landwehr with Infinity Exteriors and “You can see water debris. It's all still wet obviously and that is a problem."

But this is nothing compared to what you are about to see underneath the shingles.

“What a mess." Ed Szela had to cut an access panel into the attic because it didn't have one. What he found inside was unbelievable. Somewhere along the line someone built a makeshift gable roof over a flat roof and with no venting, the space is filled with mold.

Landwehr says, “I have never seen anything like this. When I stepped down off the ladder I looked at Ed and said you might have to get litigation involved in this because this is a huge problem."

Ed emailed Contact 6 and after seeing the pictures he took, I called the Village Administrator. Turns out - no permits for a new roof were ever pulled and judging from aerial views, he thinks the work was done sometime between 1990 and 1995.

Which means the house flipper who had the house shingled - didn't do it. And the home inspector is off the hook too because his reports says "workmanship on the roof is marginal. May want a qualified roofer to evaluate roof." Since Ed says it wasn't listed as crucial, he didn't have it done. Now it's a must and the Szela’s are paying Infinity Roofing $20,000 to do the job right.

Katrina talked with the roofer who shingled the place and because there was a 3 year warranty he has refunded $2500 for the shingles. The homeowner’s insurance company tells Contact 6 it has denied the claim because the policy doesn't cover defects in construction or mold.

So remember before you buy a home, you need to have access to the attic. You have the right to ask the current owner to open it up and let's have a look.

We all know hindsight is 20/20 and the Szela family would have never bought this house if they had seen what was underneath.