Last September, I had my roof re-done after some hail damage. Besides the hail scars, the original roof looked normal from the ground. I basically had it replaced b\c my insurance said that it needed to be replaced.
The roofer is a local guy with a good reputation and a is long standing BBB member with a clean record. I genuinely believe he's as confused/upset about what's happened since as I am, but I'm hoping to get some objective opinions from you guys nonetheless. I fear this could turn ugly if somebody has to reach for their wallet.
His crew removed the original, checked the decking, removed the ~5 year old 3-tab shingles (original roof on a ~5 yr old house) and put down 30lb Owens Corning Fiberglass reinforced felt (I have a fairly steep [8/12 pitch] roof) and then 25 year Owens Corning 3-tab Supreme Shingles. They did not remove the original felt, though from what I gather that's pretty rare around here. All the original vents were replaced with new ones of the same type/size.
Anyhow, not long after the job was done my wife started complaining that it looked kind of sloppy. The roofer had warned me that we had a couple of high rafters, so I waved her off, thinking that it was more of a framing issue than a roofing issue. In hindsight though, I think I was struggling to admit that I might have a larger problem that needed to be dealt with.
Eventually, I started to realize there were alot of horizontal bubbles in the roof (conspicuously at regular intervals), in addition to a couple of vertical issues that I suppose could be due to high rafters.
Here's a picture:
(I'll get some more tmrw without the sun blazing in your eyes). This is the North facing side of the house which exhibits the problem most prominently, though it's also happening else where. It just happens that this is the side of my roof most visible from the street as well because of where we sit on a curve.
I went ahead and sent this photo to my roofer to see what he thought. At first he just acknowledged that it looked unusual and wondered if I'd been having any foundation issues. Then he asked if I'd modified the insulation or ventilation in any way. The answer to both questions was no.
He then came by the house and I even took him into the attic to show him that my soffit baffles were unobstructed and my plywood decking was not buckled and had the proper clips, etc. We walked around the interior so I could show him that there weren't any cracks or signs of foundation issues. I could tell he was starting to worry as well.
Anyhow, he then contacted his materials distributor and Owens Corning and had them take a look at the photos. They also suggested potential issues with ventilation being insufficient/becoming obstructed and foundation issues. Ultimately, some folks from OC came out to my house with the roofer and took more photos and even walked around on the roof.
According to my roofer, the bubbles are literally just that. When you press on them, the shingles flatten down. There is no decking pushing up on the shingles, just air. Even the high rafter theory is strange for the vertical defects because usually aren't those smoother? I mean if a high rafter is pushing up decking and that's pushing up the shingles, you'd expect a smooth hump, not a jagged ridge. My roofer is still totally puzzled, but he says the OC folks are going to run it by one of their experts in Ohio. I have no idea where that will go (or when)
So, has anyone ever seen this before? Any solid theories on what's going on or questions I can answer to help solve the mystery? I'm not planning to be in this house for much longer, so I really want to get this solved before I find myself trying to sell a home with a butt ugly and potentially physically defective roof.
The only thing that really changed from the original roof to the new roof (besides the roofers) is that the new roof went on top of the old felt (likely 15lb since it was a builder's roof) with the new 30lb felt on top of that. I'm wondering if that doubled moisture barrier has now become "too effective" at sealing air flow as well. Is it possible that the felt is blowing up along the decking seams like a balloon? What scares me is that this roof hasn't even seen a hot Texas summer yet. Does anyone think it will get better with the heat?
I'd appreciate any help you can give me! Thanks in advance.
-BC
The roofer is a local guy with a good reputation and a is long standing BBB member with a clean record. I genuinely believe he's as confused/upset about what's happened since as I am, but I'm hoping to get some objective opinions from you guys nonetheless. I fear this could turn ugly if somebody has to reach for their wallet.
His crew removed the original, checked the decking, removed the ~5 year old 3-tab shingles (original roof on a ~5 yr old house) and put down 30lb Owens Corning Fiberglass reinforced felt (I have a fairly steep [8/12 pitch] roof) and then 25 year Owens Corning 3-tab Supreme Shingles. They did not remove the original felt, though from what I gather that's pretty rare around here. All the original vents were replaced with new ones of the same type/size.
Anyhow, not long after the job was done my wife started complaining that it looked kind of sloppy. The roofer had warned me that we had a couple of high rafters, so I waved her off, thinking that it was more of a framing issue than a roofing issue. In hindsight though, I think I was struggling to admit that I might have a larger problem that needed to be dealt with.
Eventually, I started to realize there were alot of horizontal bubbles in the roof (conspicuously at regular intervals), in addition to a couple of vertical issues that I suppose could be due to high rafters.
Here's a picture:
(I'll get some more tmrw without the sun blazing in your eyes). This is the North facing side of the house which exhibits the problem most prominently, though it's also happening else where. It just happens that this is the side of my roof most visible from the street as well because of where we sit on a curve.
I went ahead and sent this photo to my roofer to see what he thought. At first he just acknowledged that it looked unusual and wondered if I'd been having any foundation issues. Then he asked if I'd modified the insulation or ventilation in any way. The answer to both questions was no.
He then came by the house and I even took him into the attic to show him that my soffit baffles were unobstructed and my plywood decking was not buckled and had the proper clips, etc. We walked around the interior so I could show him that there weren't any cracks or signs of foundation issues. I could tell he was starting to worry as well.
Anyhow, he then contacted his materials distributor and Owens Corning and had them take a look at the photos. They also suggested potential issues with ventilation being insufficient/becoming obstructed and foundation issues. Ultimately, some folks from OC came out to my house with the roofer and took more photos and even walked around on the roof.
According to my roofer, the bubbles are literally just that. When you press on them, the shingles flatten down. There is no decking pushing up on the shingles, just air. Even the high rafter theory is strange for the vertical defects because usually aren't those smoother? I mean if a high rafter is pushing up decking and that's pushing up the shingles, you'd expect a smooth hump, not a jagged ridge. My roofer is still totally puzzled, but he says the OC folks are going to run it by one of their experts in Ohio. I have no idea where that will go (or when)
So, has anyone ever seen this before? Any solid theories on what's going on or questions I can answer to help solve the mystery? I'm not planning to be in this house for much longer, so I really want to get this solved before I find myself trying to sell a home with a butt ugly and potentially physically defective roof.
The only thing that really changed from the original roof to the new roof (besides the roofers) is that the new roof went on top of the old felt (likely 15lb since it was a builder's roof) with the new 30lb felt on top of that. I'm wondering if that doubled moisture barrier has now become "too effective" at sealing air flow as well. Is it possible that the felt is blowing up along the decking seams like a balloon? What scares me is that this roof hasn't even seen a hot Texas summer yet. Does anyone think it will get better with the heat?
I'd appreciate any help you can give me! Thanks in advance.
-BC