The Chinese drywall issues are very real in the section of Florida I do inspections in. Almost every new homeowner moving into Florida has asked me about this problem. Damaged appliances and copper corrosion are usually found in these Chinese drywall homes. On some of the repaired Chinese drywall homes the remodeling company will use cpvc plumbing to cut costs.
The picture above is of a plumb boot that is concave and could hold water that eventual leak into the attic of this house. Any water intrusion will damage the roof decking causing it to rot over a period of time. I recommend that it be replaced to avoid costly repairs later.
A Garage Inspection
Garage inspections can sometime be very tricky if we happen to look at them in the wrong way. The article on inspecting a garage was very informative on the thing to look for; it talks about how the truss had been altered by someone installing ply-wood gussets at the truss joint connection. Remembering that truss are designed to bear loads at very specify points and should never touch interior wall.
This roll roofing is near the end of it’s lifespan.
The edges are starting to break down as the gravel layer is washing away.
The heads of the nail fasteners are rusting.
There is only one layer of roofing so it is possible to cover this roof
With an additional laver provided the fasteners are long enough for proper penetration and grab.
I have read several posts to complete this section of roof inspection education. I feel one part was left out. How far the shingles should be cut back from the center line of valley flashing. I have observed if the shingles are too close together that the leaf litter becomes trapped. Then the valley flashing is kept moist for longer periods of time and the flashing rusts before its’ intended lifetime. Therefore, a sufficient gap between the shingles should allow for free flowing water to keep the valleys clean. A 3 inch gap is sufficient.
The picture above shows the 3-tab shingle installed on the home being inspected. Visible in the picture are the valley between the two roof planes on the rear of the home, and other parts of the roof system. This valley is a closed-cut valley. Also visible in the picture are the drip edge metal at the gutters and the flashing installed around one of the vent penetrations through the roof. There are also a few areas of noticeable curling or uplift in some of the shingles, visible in the middle of this picture. This could be a problem in the near future and may be a defect. It is recommended that a qualified roofing professional be contacted to perform a more thorough examination of the roofing systems to ensure the roof’s integrity and determine if a repairs or replacement is needed.
“Mastering Roof Inspections: Asphalt Composition Shingles, Part 2” by Kenton Shepard and Nick Gromicko
Organic shingles are a type of shingle made from a cellulose mat which have not been manufactured since 2008. However, they can still be found on many homes in the U.S. They are more flexible and usually thicker than the fiberglass shingles used today. Homeowners will find it more and more difficult to match their existing organic shingles as manufacturer stockpiles run out. Over time organic shingles lose volatiles (compounds added to increase flexibility, durability, and make the shingles waterproof), which causes the cellulose mat to dry out and in turn absorb more moisture. This causes the shingles to expand and distort.
Asphalt architect shingles noted. Shingles are only about 11 years old but showing excessive signs of wear and granule loss. There are areas which appear to have hail and/or storm damage and the gutters have almost an inch of granules in them. Roofing shingles should be evaluated by a licensed roofing contractor to determine their remaining life expectancy.
Dimensional asphalt singles are shown. Some cracking and granual loss is noted. Gutters are clear of debris and appear to slope correctly.
I read the article, “Mastering Rood Inspections: Photography” by Shepard and Gromicko. I like the idea of taking a lot of pictures of the roof, since it difficult for some clients to see the roof. Many home owners do not like getting on roofs, so pictures help the visual what is in a report. The tip for having a good zoom function on the camera is helpful for difficult to reach areas on the roof. Overall, I though the article was very informative.
This picture was taken from the attic of a house I inspected, it was the sheathing underside of a false dormer installed on a roof with vertical flashing that had failed. The total sheathing area affected was about 24 square feet. The house was about 15 years old and had had a shingle replacement done already. The flashing or leak had been remedied as the sheathing was dry and we’d seen some heavy rains in the previous days. The problem was the sheathing was delaminating and crumbling in some areas, it should have been replaced when the shingles were done.
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The cap shingle pictured here is damaged at the electric service mast. It may have been damaged at the time it was installed. I see this often, and it can be an issue caused by a lack of offset of the service mast. The mast should be offset to allow proper covering of the roof structure.
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In reading Inspecting the “Underlayment on Roofs” and “Mastering Roof Inspections: Asphalt Composition Shingles, Part 4” articles, it is interesting to note that roofing underlayment not only provides an additional layer of moisture protection, but also, protects shingles from chemicals found in older plank decking such at pine resin. Here in Tennessee, we do not see much ice damming. It is helpful to know procedures for ice protectant underlayment. We do see much high winds in tornado season, and wind and hail damage is common.
The read and write article i chose was
Roofing Underlayment Types
The article goes on to describe that there are 3 types of underlayment, they are asphalt-saturated felt, rubberized asphalt and non-butimen synthetics. The most common in residential installations being the asphalt-saturated felt that comes in 15 and 30 lb thicknesses, the latter being more durable. The slope of the roof will dictate the overlap requirements on the installation. There are known failure reasons on the AS felt product, they are poor quality: there are some inexpensive versions on the market that aren’t ASTM approved and are prone to premature wear. Loss of volatiles, this happens over time due to heat. Deterioration due to UV exposure and installation damage. Asphalt as an ingredient will be used less and less due to the high cost of manufacturing, as a result alternative products will be used more and more. Some of these products include rubberized asphalts and non-bitumen synthetics. There are some advantages and disadvantages to these. They are light weight and high strength, resist fungal and are considered as vapour barriers. Unfortunately some of the synthetics don’t meet some building codes, some underlayment installations void roofing material warranties. Overall a good article that describes underlayment with the pros and cons.
Where the dimensional shingle roof intersects the low slope patio roof, the shingle roof is not properly flashed. Furthermore, the sealant has cracked and can be a source of water intrusion. On the tan rolled roofing on the patio roof, the roof has pulled up past a roofing nail and can be a source of water penetration. It was also noted that the rolled roofing may not be properly sealed at the edge of the roof.
It is recommended that this area be further evaluated by a roofing professional or general contractor.
Here is an example of a 15 year roof covering where numerous 3 tab asphalt fiberglass reinforced shingles have failed due to loss of sealing. This roof covering may shed water, however the roof covering is susceptible to damage from high winds.
The subject I read and studied is on bumping locks. I think it is a little scary to realize that there are bump key sets available online for anyone to purchase and then be able to unlock about any lockset, deadbolt or padlock that they choose in only a matter of seconds. There are many videos on social media that show you in a matter of minutes how to use these and be quite proficient at it. I always recommend that my clients consider having their exterior locks re-keyed so they know that no one will have keys to their new home. It seems now it would be a good thing to include a link to the article on bumping locks so they could learn this and be aware of the availability of bump proof locksets.
This essay is for the requirement in the “10 Steps to Performing a Roof Inspection” course. The picture that I am attaching is from a roof near the beach in St. Petersburg, Florida. The last roofing permit on file was in 1998. The shingles on the roof appeared to be 7-10 years old. The roof was apparently installed without a permit and probably by someone with little experience. There was already repair jobs from leaks. The repairs were not done correctly. The materials used is not acceptable and the repairs will not hold up. The buyer will have to either properly repair the roof with new shingles or replace the roof to ensure there are no future leaks.
This essay is for the requirement in the “10 Steps to Performing a Roof Inspection” course. The article that I chose to read was “Inspection Underlayment on Roofs”. I chose this article as I do a lot of roof certifications and Wind Mitigation (Florida Insurance Inspection) and the underlayment is usually impossible to determine. I am always looking for new tips and instruction in this area. While the article didn’t give me any new ideas on inspections it did provide a good refresher on types of underlayment’s and reasons for underlayment’s. I enjoyed the course and reading the articles. Cheers! David
