This is a great special-interest consumer article. As a remodeling contractor I can relate to the warnings and red-flags mentioned in this article concerning homeowners getting ripped-off for home repairs. The general idea is that the homeowner needs to be educated at what is the cause of the repair and not just the obvious damage. Then there is no surprise of a ballooned cost or scope of work. The homeowner needs to use their own maintenance schedule to know when things need repairing and then choose a legitimate local contractor of their choice.
Storm-chasers and unsolicited contractors should be ignored at all costs. A well educated and prepared homeowner needs to be cautious of free and discounted contractors. A legitimate and fair business contractor will not try and hide or surprise with excessive costs beyond an estimate.
Mastering Roof Inspections: Asphalt Composition Shingles Part 20, by K. Shepard, N. Gromicko
This article is about Flashing-pt 4, mostly kickout flashing. As a home remodeling contractor, I have done many repairs on siding and even interior frame and drywall repair due to no kickout flashing or improper installation. Kickout flashing is required, with exceptions to do with masonry. The kickout flashing is installed where the step flashing ends on a wall adjacent a sloped roof meeting the wall. Kickout flashing is easily made from a piece of step flashing with a couple of cuts using common tin-snips.
Besides being required, properly installed flashing is needed to divert runoff water from getting behind and underneath exterior components and causing moisture damage.
The two articles I read were: Drones and Inspections, and H-Clips for Inspectors.
Drones and Inspections
Drones can be flown for recreational use, but unless an owner possesses a Special Airworthiness Certificate, it is illegal to operate a drone for commercial - home inspections - use. [NOTE: New regulations starting December 21, 2015: Any drone between 0.55 and 55.0 pounds must be registered with the FAA.] The use of drones could be very valuable for inspections, especially the more dangerous roof area inspections. With the drone industry exploding, the FAA will need to come up with appropriate regulations very soon.
H-Clips for Inspectors
H-clips are used between adjacent sheathing panels to help stiffen the edges between supports. Because they help stiffen panels, builders may use less material (wider rafter spacing, thinner panels) and thus help reduce costs. IRC 2006 require H-clips in constructions, but not all jurisdictions complies with the code. Inspectors note the lack of H-clips, but not declare it a defect.
On the home I inspected the asphalt shingles were showing many signs of age with both functional and cosmetic wear. Two distinct holes in the shingles were present where the plywood sheathing was exposed and beginning to show signs of rot. 6 Roof vents were present, none of which used flashing, causing water intrusion that can be seen by water stains on the interior of the roof sheathing. Asphalt shingles were beginning to buckle.
Article number one focused on the Inspection of Roof Panel Sheathing. The article gave great knowledge on thickness of the sheathing, allowable spans, arrangement of panels and fastening the sheathing to the rafters. Although a lot more of this inspection is on new homes being built, these are certainly things to look for while both on the roof and in the attic if an existing home.
Next article is Inspecting Underlayment on Roofs. Many different factors play a role in the underlayment necessary, from climate to fire resistance to varying roof designs.
The first picture shows an asphalt shingle 3 tab roof covering that has a convex change in the slope. There is a galvanized roof vent where it can be seen that the galvanization is preventing algae growth on the downslope of where the vent is installed. In the lower area of the roof the slope changes to a slope of 1/12 as indicated by the guage in the second picture. The minimum allowable slope for a shingle installation is 2/12. This is an improper use of a shingle roof covering.
Kickout flashing or diverter flashing is a type of flashing that directs rainwater away for the building cladding and into a gutter. Properly installed Kickout flashing provides protection against rainwater intrusion into the building envelope. Missing or improperly installed or modified Kickout flashing can lead to rainwater intrusion. Kickout flashing should be present and properly installed to direct rainwater away from wall cladding. This should be noted in the inspection report.
The underlayment is the first component of the roof to be installed. Different types of roof covering materials may have specific underlayment requirements. The inspector is not responsible to determine if the proper underlayment was used. The underlayment is a secondary moisture barrier membrane. They can be moisture resistant or moisture proof. Moisture proof membranes are used in areas more likely to leak. A combination of underlayments may be used on a roof.
[FONT=Calibri]ASPHALT SHINGLE INSPECTION[/FONT]
Reading & Writing Assignment
By April J Ross Mastering Roof Inspections
Roof covering materials are asphalt composition shingles; metal roofs; wood roofs; tile roofs; and slate roofs. Accurate identification of wind and hail are defects as well as manufacturing, installation and natural weathering in determining the functional versus the cosmetic damage. These determinations are criteria relevant to the home inspector, insurance claim adjusters, and roofing industry professionals. Mastering roof inspections teach the inspector how to recognize proper and improper conditions while inspecting steep slope, residential roofs. The purpose of the series covers framing, roof materials, the attic, and the conditions that affect the roofing materials and components, including the wind and hail.
Mastering Roof Inspections: Asphalt Composition Shingles Part 1
It is important to recognize, identify, determine sources of problems as often as possible and make good recommendations. The Standards and Best Practices are included in the relationship to shingle manufacturing and installation of the different types of shingles and their performance characteristics and their related components, such as underlayment, flashing and fasteners. Asphalt composite shingles are made of fiberglass or a cellulose mat, asphalt and minerals as opposed to a single material such as wood shingles or clay tiles. The mat provides the reinforcement that gives the shingles the strength of help resist splitting, tearing and pulling over the heads of fasteners. The thickness of the mat can make a big difference in shingle tear and strength.
[FONT=Calibri]Inspection & Writing Assignment[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]By April J Ross[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]ASPHALT SHINGLE INSPECTION[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]The focus of these photos is the asphalt composition of the shingles put on this detached garage roof in 2008. They are 7 years old and are not showing functional or cosmetic defects. The gutters are new and were free of debris and shingle granules. The ridge cap appears secure and no missing pieces of shingles were found. The penetration of the electrical mast shows no sign of leakage. These shingles are at the beginning of their useful life. I did not walk on the roof to inspect this improvement to determine the quality of installation and whether an underlayment was utilized. [/FONT]
Asphalt Shingles
I’ve included a photo of a 15 year old shingle roof – that shows “Cracking”. This condition was widespread over the roof. There were no indications of leaking as observed from the attic space.
Given the age of the roof – and the substrate of this roofing system – the most likely cause for this condition is from the expansion and contraction of the roof decking material. The area shown in the photo is below the ridge where a narrow section of roof decking (roughly 12 inches, has left a seam between sheets of roof decking. This is commonly referred to as a “functional failure”. Given there is no evidence of leaking at this time and the age of the shingles – (15 years) and the normal life expectancy for this type of shingle – close monitoring and prudent budgeting for replacement in the near future is recommended
Roof drainage Systems - Gutter inspections
The most common and familiar roof water management system that homeowners and even Professional Home inspectors will see is the roof edge (eave) gutters and downspouts system.
These Systems are an important part of overall home Health – improper or poorly maintained gutters / downspouts can contribute to a host of problems from rotted Fascia boards, to water infiltration into basement and crawl space areas. Properly pitched gutters that will direct water towards downspouts and downspout extensions will route water away from the house systems / and components. Of course periodic inspections and maintenance efforts will need to be scheduled to ensure gutter systems are clean and free of debris to allow free flowing of collected water away from the foundation.
DeWayne Silberhorn
This photo was taken on an older three tab asphalt shingle roof. The shingle permit was showing the roof to be 15 years old. The shingles are showing normal granule loss for a shingle of this age and as you can see from the photo, shingle tabs were missing due to being blown off. This was most likely due to a combination of the age of the roof as well as the adhesive strip no longer bonding to the other shingles. This will cause the shingles to be lifted up and eventually cracking and then full separation. This roof appears to have reached its life expectancy and inspector recommends a licensed roofing contractor to evaluate for repair or replacement.
This is an example of vent flashing that has been improperly installed. The shingles are not installed so that the bottom part of the boot flashing is exposed. Any water that runs down and around the pipe will find its way under the shingles and to the substrate.
Adding insulation to an attic can save a homeowner up to 20% in heating and cooling costs. It is optimal to keep the roof the same temperature as the outside air, therefore it is important that attic has proper soffit and ridge ventilation, and that the soffits are not covered with insulation. This can be accomplished with baffles installed along the lower portion of the roof. There should also be a moisture barrier installed under the insulation.
Inspecting Roof Panel Sheathing:
Roof sheathing will typically consist of either plywood, OSB, and in older homes, boards were often used. In the case of plywood or OSB, the panels should be installed perpendicular to the rafters. H clips may or may not be required, so it is important to not note this as a defect if you are not sure. If you can see the span rating on the panels, you may verify that the rafter spacing is proper to the panel rating. It is difficult to determine if the proper fasteners were used, but you may be able to tell by finding a nail that missed the rafter.
This photo of asphalt roof shingles shows cupping, delamination, the loss of granules, and wear of almost all shingle edges. The damage is due to the age of the shingles, high temperatures of the unvented attic below, high attic moisture levels due to the missing attic hatchway and persistent water problems in the house basement. This roof is at the end of its use-full service life. The attic view of the underside for the roof decking showed signs of localized water intrusion and uniform biological growth centered on the open attic hatch. Consult a qualified roofing specialist for an estimate on replacing this roof before further damage by water intrusion to the roof decking and framing.
Determining the type of roof underlayment and method of attachment is very difficult on a completed roof. Lifting the shingles along the edges (rakes, eaves) can cause the release of the adhesive bonding strip. There may also be an adhesive backed snow and ice shield below the shingles blocking any view of the underlayment placed further in. Carefully lift the drip edge along the rakes being sure not to deform it, and you may see the underlayment.
The underlayment may be seen from inside the attic space if there is a ridge vent installed. Below the vent there should be a gap in the roof decking at least 1” wide on either side of the ridge beam or centerline of the opposing roof decks of a truss system. Look for evidence of the type of roof underlayment here. Its also possible to see the underlayment showing around the underside of roof penetrations for plumbing stacks and chimneys.
The nailing pattern of roof underlayment and shingles can often be seen protruding thru the underside of the roof deck itself. The decking material is seldom thick enough to hide the tips of the nails or staples. Where the roof decking is plank look for gaps between the boards where you might see what is above.
This photo of asphalt roof shingles shows cupping, delamination, the loss of granules, and wear of almost all shingle edges. The damage is due to the age of the shingles, high temperatures of the unvented attic below, high attic moisture levels due to the missing attic hatchway and persistent water problems in the house basement. This roof is at the end of its use-full service life. The attic view of the underside for the roof decking showed signs of localized water intrusion and uniform biological growth centered on the open attic hatch. Consult a qualified roofing specialist for an estimate on replacing this roof before further damage by water intrusion to the roof decking and framing.
