unprofessional roofing: Unprofessional Roofing 101, And How This Home Inspector Could Tell
- 03/15/18 01:53 AM
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 … (31 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: This Is A Poor Roofing Practice
- 12/05/17 03:33 AM
This is a poor roofing practice.
And I see it all the time on new construction. I'm not sure why it is done. It isn't thinking ahead.
When roof trusses are lifted up to the roof they are done in large groups and a crane is used.
This is new construction, a large house, and had many trusses.
The trusses were apparently lifted up in four groups because I saw four loops left protruding the roof.
I saw this during the pre-drywall inspection.
Why is this a bad practice?
1. It is never smart to leave things penetrating the roof. The fewer the better.
2. This loop, like the … (18 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: When Unprofessional "Roofers" Have Never Heard Of OSHA
- 10/14/17 12:40 AM
When unprofessional "roofers" have never heard of OSHA.
Many roofs in our neighborhood got shredded by a tornado in April. Mine included.
Of course I hired a professional I have known for over 20 years - licensed to the hilt, insured, professional in every way. And voted the best roofer in Virginia.
The first thing I noticed on the morning of my roofing job was the harness and ropes in many places around my house.
Why is this important? It means my professional roofer understands the 2017 OSHA safety rules regarding residential roofing. The rule, called The Final Rule, requires harnesses and rope restraints (called … (32 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: Missing Roof Sheathing Clips
- 11/02/15 06:22 PM
On a house advertising a recent roof replacement I found there were missing roof sheathing clips.
All over this roof the sheathing panels, which is the wood which makes up the roof and into which the shingles are nailed, were out of alignment.
This is due to the absence of clips.
There were no sheathing clips anywhere.
What is a sheathing clip?
Sheathing clips perform an important role in roofing construction.
This is a photo from a pre-drywall inspection and of a properly-placed sheathing clip.
What do they do?
1. Sheathing clips provide a 1/8" gap between sheathing panels. While this doesn't sound like a lot, it allows for … (8 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: EPDM Roofing - Dimples, Pimples and Pancakes
- 04/06/15 08:05 PM
When you see EPDM roofing - dimples, pimples and pancakes.
EPDM roofing is a synthetic rubber roofing which can last a long time when installed properly. When it is not, it can go bad quickly.
This large house is 6 months old. The flat second-floor balcony is not accessible from inside the house, except by window, but very visible.
It was left muddy, covered in paint drips and debris by the builder. The clients understandably wanted all that cleaned off. But that doesn't answer to the installation job itself.
Firestone has many web pages full of diagrams and explanations as to the installation of EPDM. … (15 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: How To Improve Duct Tape
- 10/30/14 06:38 PM
You might not think it possible to do, but this is a lesson on how to improve duct tape.
When I pulled up to the house and saw rolled asphalt roofing OVER an entire roof and could see that this rolled asphalt roofing was laid over a previous layer of shingled asphalt roofing I thought to myself that the only thing that could improve this rolled asphalt roofing repair would be a roll of duct tape.
THAT'S RIGHT, I HAD SARCASTIC THOUGHTS ABOUT THE HOUSE
BEFORE I GOT STARTED ON THE INSPECTION.
Sure, even I could see it was … (12 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: Patch Work Is Great For Quilts. But Roofs?
- 10/22/14 05:30 PM
Patch work is great for quilts. But roofs?
This is a condo building, just over a year old, with roof leaks repaired many times.
Sooner or later enough layers might just get put over something that it controls leaking, or at least forestalls it until after the warranty period.
Glue and layer. Layer and glue. Lather, rinse and repeat.
In this case too much patching, and layering, and gluing, apparently could not be done.
Reasoning with physics and fluid dynamics sometimes doesn't work. Water will do what water does.
The roofers have been out many times. And not only for this … (19 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: A Soffit And Ridge Ventilation System Is Supposed To Move Attic Air
- 09/24/14 08:50 PM
It is excellent when it works, but a soffit and ridge ventilation system is supposed to move attic air.
How does such a system do that?
Physics. Convection. High pressure to low pressure. Heat seeking cold.
It never fails.
Ideally a 50/50 ratio of air is coming in and going out.
Even a 70% in and 30% out works.
Or a 30% in and 70% out.
The 50/50 may never be possible with wind and such. But still, the air has to be able to move.
With plenty of unblocked intake locations under the gutters and a nice slice out of … (12 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: I Am Told This Roof Will Never Leak Again. We Are Saved.
- 09/16/14 05:54 PM
I am told this roof will never leak again. We are saved.
Yes, my first experience with this new and greatest leak stopper ever. I lifted my world to see it.
What did I see?
The handyman that you can get that comes in a can! We really are saved.
You just climb up on the roof, get out the spray can, shake it, and solve your leaking roof problems then and there!
It has to be true. Results are not only immediate, but permanent too!
I've seen it on TV!
This is a problem solved. Obviously.
Well, the spray can … (14 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: "'My Guy' Looked At It, And He Says It's Okay..." Said The Builder Rep
- 09/13/14 08:13 PM
My client complained more than once about a leaking front porch roof, and finally heard this - "My guy looked at it, and he says it's okay..." said the builder rep.
Interesting. Of course the roof was looked at when the homeowner was known not to be home, but that is an aside.
Just a little later, and before the one-year warranty expires, I was called to look at it. This is a small, flat roof, approximately 8'x6', and covered with a rubber membrane called EPDM.
REMEMBER, A HOME INSPECTOR IS AN OBJECTIVE EVALUATOR AND HAS NO FINANCIAL INTEREST BEYOND THE … (54 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: If You Don't Keep Water Out With Kick-Out Flashing, You Kick It In
- 04/29/14 07:34 PM
The same principle has held forever - if you don't keep water out with kick-out flashing, you kick it in.
Proper flashing is always a Best Practice.
Flashing is simple, but has to be done right.
Skipping any part of it will admit water.
Water does what water does - it is dynamically fluid!
Flashing diverts, pure and simple.
Flashing consists, as seen here, of step flashing, under each shingle, stepping, as it were, up the roof.
Counter flashing - which is a second flashing, covering the step flashing.
And then sometimes a form of siding. If the counter flashing … (7 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: REOs Should Hire Home Inspectors BEFORE They Put A House Up For Sale!
- 01/30/14 06:54 PM
REOs should hire home inspectors BEFORE they put a house up for sale!
The buyer called to ask for an inspection, and said the house was "in rough shape." But, he also said the bank had done roof repairs.
The realtor representing the bank said the roofer was done with "the roof repairs." I guess the "roofer" called the realtor who called the bank who sent him a check for the "repairs."
I AM GOING TO BET THE REALTOR REPRESENTING THE BANK HAS NOT BEEN BACK TO THE HOUSE TO SEE THE "REPAIRS." AND PERHAPS COULD NOT CARE ANY LESS.
… (41 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: I Have Never Before Seen A Completely Rotting Roof
- 01/19/14 07:16 PM
You don't anticipate seeing this, but I have never seen a completely rotting roof.
I smelled something funny when we got to the upper level. But we saw nothing amiss moisture wise anywhere.
Then opening the attic access I got a whiff and wow, lots of something was going on up there!
Everywhere I shined my light the roof was rotting.
The ENTIRETY of the roof!
This is an older town house, but the older, bad FRT roof sheathing had been replaced. Around here that would have likely been in the mid 80s to mid 90s.
Getting up there it smelled … (60 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: "New Professionally Installed Roof And Attic Fan"
- 12/07/13 09:28 PM
New can mean a lot of things, so when I see a feature on the list that reads "New professionally installed roof and attic fan," I am going to wonder.
And check it out!
The front roof was in the sun and looked newer, but not NEW. The house is 30 years old.
But I could tell immediately upon seeing the rear roof that it was NOT NEW.
How can I tell that?
Do you see the drippy black stain?
That is a spore called gloeocapsa magma.
It is commonly referred to as black algae.
Around here it begins to develop … (15 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: The Dormers Are Really High. No One Will Notice The Flashing.
- 12/01/13 05:48 PM
I can hear it now - supervisor to sub: "The dormers are really high. No one will notice the flashing."
On this new construction my client called me and an engineer to conduct a pre-drywall inspection. We both found the same things! Not talking one to another we each developed lists that matched.
The builder said two things: no other inspector had noticed anything and until our inspections they thought they had built perfect houses, and they made many changes due to what we had found.
And they didn't mind!
Having me back for a final inspection and before I got … (21 comments)
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unprofessional roofing: Every Mistake Possible On One Brand-New Roof
- 10/16/13 09:53 PM
Doing a new construction inspection, with a flat, front-porch EPDM roof, it's hard to do, but I found every mistake possible on one brand-new roof.
For the client, to say it was disappointing would not begin to approach their true feelings. This house provided me 8.5 pages of notes, and I write my notes in shorthand.
EPDM is a synthetic rubber roof, made by Firestone. Properly installed it is a great product. Poorly installed the roof can have rotting within a couple of years.
This is what every post on the guardrail over the porch looked like.
Obviously uninformed as … (40 comments)
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Unprofessional Roofing 101, and how this home inspector could tell. It took him about 5 minutes.
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