Unprofessional Roofing 101, And How This Home Inspector Could Tell

Unprofessional Roofing 101, and how this home inspector  could tell.  It took him about 5 minutes.

The house information said, "New roof!"

And from the street it looked great, roof and gutters.

But a home inspection is to try to take a close look at things.

So this home inspector  did look closely.

Even from the street the plumbing penetration on the left of the above photo looked fried.

And having a closer look it was!

This collar is probably original to the house, from the 80s.

It has been reused.  So had the other one.

A professional roofer would have put on new collars. 

See the roof tar?  This home inspector thought that there had probably been repairs inside because of previous leaking.  He was right.

Looking at the left side of the roof the shingles were not only poorly cut but did not extend over the edge by 1", as is proper installation procedure.

A professional roofer would not have done this.

Properly-overhanging shingles are the way to go. 

This home inspector  knows that too.

The right side was the same!

But interestingly MORE information was evident on the right side.

Three distinct layers of shingles could be seen!

That should never be done.  Three layers is too many.   Even two can be problematic.

A professional roofer would not have done this third layer.  And this home inspector  knows that too.

There were a couple of other indicators outside, which lead to some more investigation inside.

One thing to look at was the front bedroom under that plumbing penetration in the photo above.

Yes, the drywall had been replaced and the insulation was missing.

From the attic serious leaking could be seen.

It was a mess.  There was also rotting along the entire lower edge of the roof front and back from shingles not overhanging far enough into the gutter.  And active leaking at the ridge vent and furnace chimney.  These were further proof of an unprofessional roof installation.  All in all this was a very damaged roof, and needed some real professional evaluation and care.

My recommendation:  these were not the only problems in this house, but the roof certainly was a major one!  The purpose of a home inspection is to evaluate a house as completely as possible, IN JUST A COUPLE OF HOURS, and try to give the buyer(s) an idea as to what they are buying.  The home inspector observes and reports.   This home inspector  is always on the side of his client.  Sometimes a home inspector's findings do not facilitate a particular sale, but that is not his objective.  The objective is to collect information, no matter what it is.  And that is what this home inspector  tries to do.

 

 

 

Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC  

Based in Bristow, serving all of Northern Virginia.

Office (703) 330-6388   Cell (703) 585-7560

www.jaymarinspect.com