You know, I have an inquisitive mind and an unrelenting sense of curiosity.  It has got me into trouble more times than I care to remember, but I will save that one for another day! :)

Anyways, where I live here in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), there is a phenomenal amount of growth in the private sector.  New homes are being built at an increasingly high rate of speed.  I honestly believe that unless you are having a "custom" home built, the "minimum to meet code" quality of some of these newer "cookie-cutter" homes are going to cause real problems down the road for both seller and buyer.

One problem that is becoming more evident with each passing day is the quality and workmanship of the roofing systems.  This is not necessarily a knock on the builder as much as it is on certain roofing companies that sacrifice quality workmanship for time, labour and a quick buck!   

For instance, as I was out driving today, I noticed some real "issues" this one house had with its roof.  This roof had more waves in it than the Pacific Ocean and the ridge board had a saddle look that would make every cowboy drool (both ends of the Ridgeboard were angled down towards the center).  What was even more problematic for me was the fact that this house was in a newer upper class neighbourhood. 

So having the unrelenting sense of curiosity that I do, I stopped to take a closer look.  Apart from wondering who the roofer was that took pride in such quality workmanship, I thought about the different things that might be contributing such a display of wonder!

Without getting a closer look - especially from the attic, this "wave" look can be caused by;

• the effect of moisture on the sheathing boards,
• over spanned sheathing boards,
• the rafters are not spaced out properly or perhaps
• the sheathing is missing the "H" clips (clips that hold two pieces of plywood together)

The "saddle" look to this Ridgeboard can be caused by

• broken or rotted ridgeboard,
• broken or missing cross ties,
• extra (over bearing) load on the roof structure

These issues may not be seen immediately after installation, but after a few weather cycles the evident becomes....well, evident!  Who knows, I may let my curiosity get the better of me and actually go up and knock on the door. :)

Calvin Bailey
A Closer Look Home Inspections
www.inspectorpages.com/cbailey1
cbailey1@on.nachi.org