[alvinaa]

HI,

I have just installed the Presidential Shake TL. Some seams are exposed near the top of roof. The contractor insisted not to replace the section since the shingles and labors may be too expensive but he helped to seal the seams with caulking. Is it fine to repair the seams exposed with caulking sealant?

Thanks

 

[PatChap]

No caulking is not the fix here. They are short one course of shingles at the ridge,the caps will need to be removed, the top course installed and the caps reinstalled.
That they even attempted to caulk the seams on your brand new designer shingles would have me concerned.

 

[ddawg16]

^^ THAT ^^

No short cuts in this case.

 

[alvinaa]

Hi Thank you for your reply!:smile:

I had contacted with the contractor. He said it is not the shingles and labor cost issues. Caulking is an appropriate solution from his professional opinion. He said that it is no leaking and even no one will aware the seams after caulking. Actually this contractor overall did a good job for me and I appreciate them very much.

 

[craig11152]

Given the somewhat unique design and thickness of the shingles adding that last course with very minimal exposure before the cap may not have been the best idea anyway. It might have created a rather unsightly cap. :vs_worry:

I only worked with those shingles one time a lot of years ago and I can't say I remember much detail about them.

 

[PatChap]

You roof was install crooked, or your home may be crooked. Not to any horrible degree but crooked none the less. Adding the course will make this much more obvious, which may be the reason he doesn't want to add the missing shingles.

 

[Bud9051]

Sorry to disagree, but the crooked install and the missing last row are all part of proper planning, you measure where you will end LONG before you get there. There are indications in that photo that he was stretching the exposure. Had he reduced the exposure the needed amount and cheated if necessary to end up straight at the top, there would have been one more course ending right where it should have been.

Sounds like you are going to let this nice guy (bully) off the hook for a totally bad job.

He failed roofing 101 and needs to come back and do it over. Contact his insurance company and file a claim and see what they offer to resolve the problem.

Bud

 

[craig11152]

roofing 101 is to follow the manufacturers guidelines. In this case a strict adherence to a 4" exposure is specified by Certainteed. So any suggestion to "cheat" courses near the top would actually violate roofing 101....thinking you know better than the manufacturer how his product should be applied.

 

[Bud9051]

Lighten up Craig,
You know as well as I do that one of the first steps is to determine where that last course will go, and the cap above it. The cheating, or probably compensating would be a better phrase, occurs over the entire bottom to top install. I'm certain the mfg would not be upset with a 3-7/8 exposure. If for some reason one side is a bit higher than the other, never run into that, then a bit less exposure on one side than the other. The objective would be to arrive at the location for the last course exactly where you need to be. You can't make big adjustments at just the top or caulk the seams to provide an excuse for not planning.

And, if 4" is the max then he has several visible spots where he may have exceeded that.

Bud

 

[alvinaa]

Hi, Thank you for your reply ! :smile:

Attached is a pic of the whole section of seams exposed-
There are total six seams on one side and four seams on other side next to flat roof valley.

A little update:
The contactor called me and promises me to fix the issue of seams exposed next week which I am very appreciated. I will update the final result and post here after addressing the seams issue. Anyway, I think overall this contractor did a great job except this defected section. I still will recommend them if they fix the "seams exposed" issue correctly. :smile:

https://app.box.com/s/xhp0sm7dnq6322upwk8z75j2e3m754xd

 

[alvinaa]

deleted the pic accidently:crying:......The original pics

Attach here again:

https://app.box.com/s/yhakpqd1me815ms02zobxtpf846zfm8i


* somehow I cannot upload any pics again , but I only can insert link to post the pics...:vs_worry:

 

[craig11152]

Lighten up Craig,
You know as well as I do that one of the first steps is to determine where that last course will go, and the cap above it.

I was thinking you should lighten up since your the one who suggested they contact the insurance company about redoing the roof because of one course and some cap. Or did you mean they should get an insurance company involved over one course and some cap?

And as somebody who did residential roofing for nearly 30 years and walked on thousands of roofs in that time I don't know any roofers who started a face wondering where the last course would end. Thats the stuff only an OCD homeowner does.

 

[Bud9051]

All home owners should request and have in their hands a certificate of insurance before the job starts. I issues them and you should have also. Along with the liability coverage they provide leverage against a contractor who refuses to fix their mistakes.

Now, if you feel a 2 course skew of those shingles on the left side of the new picture is not a mistake, then please explain. Is that how you would have installed those shingles? As for the right side, a little "compensating" would have made that perfect.

Bud

 

[craig11152]

All home owners should request and have in their hands a certificate of insurance before the job starts. I issues them and you should have also. Along with the liability coverage they provide leverage against a contractor who refuses to fix their mistakes.

Of course insurance is important and yes we always provided insurence, license and workers comp information. But one shouldn't nickle and dime insurance over a couple of courses.

Now, if you feel a 2 course skew of those shingles on the left side of the new picture is not a mistake, then please explain.

I never said that, not for a second. And the newer picture was NOT AVAILABLE when I first commented. I saw it just now for the first time. A mistake , yes but its a cosmetic mistake that nobody can see unless your on the roof because the flat hides it.

Is that how you would have installed those shingles?
Bud

No. On the right side I would have started at the bottom and generally I chalk every fourth course.
On the left since its over a flat with a pitch I would have measured down from the ridge to get my starts so i wouldn't have had the problem. But again the problem is cosmetic not functional so then it becomes an issue of how important is it to press? Chances are it comes out of somebodies pocket rather than insurance because its probably less than a deductible to tear that 2-3 square off and redo it. Then maybe some sap gets fired over it. Maybe he deserved to get fired, maybe not.

 

[Bud9051]

Thank you Craig. The latest picture does give a better view and your explanation is perfect.

Bud

 

[alvinaa]

Hi all, thank you for your comment first :wink2:.

back to the original question:
1. Seam exposed will create leak in future or not ? since some nails may sit next to the seam ....or just cosmetic mistake? To homeowner, I believe no one accepts it even just a cosmetic mistake because it is a more than ten thousand job :smile:
2. Is caulking method to seal the seams an appropriate solution?

Just want to learn it more...:smile:

By the way, I think filing a claim from liability insurance is a last resort; however, the contractor is not that bad and promised me to fix it. I don't even think about it now but thanks for the suggestion!:smile:

I found a youTube to show as similar with my case :

 

[craig11152]

Hi all, thank you for your comment first :wink2:.

back to the original question:
1. Seam exposed will create leak in future or not ? since some nails may sit next to the seam ....or just cosmetic mistake? To homeowner, I believe no one accepts it even just a cosmetic mistake because it is a more than ten thousand job :smile:
2. Is caulking method to seal the seams an appropriate solution?

to answer #1 generically an exposed seam, depending on how much is exposed could cause a leak absolutely. Since I tossed out the term "cosmetic" originally I should clarify my point. An exposed seam isn't the "cosmetic" I was referring to. That is a case of not enough shingles on your roof (it needs to be fixed). The cosmetic I meant was the fact that the singles don't run parallel to the ridge. That is cosmetic.

I see two possible solutions:

1. Remove the ridge cap and add a course as needed to cover the seams, then install new cap. This solution will solve the functional part, the potential leaking seam is covered but there is still a cosmetic issue that the shingles are not parallel to the ridge.

2. Remove all the shingles and start over with the goal of a roof that runs parallel to the ridge thus eliminating the cosmetic issue.

Me personally, I would probably be OK with #1 on my house if I otherwise was happy and liked the guy I was cutting the check to. Maybe I would push for #2 if I didn't like the guy but then I would worry about a pissed off contractor sending pissed off roofers back to my house.

This is not a good analogy but here goes.... You order a steak medium but they bring you one that is rare. You send it back. Are you OK if they toss that steak back on the grill for a couple minutes or do you want them to pull a new steak out of the fridge and start over?

 

[alvinaa]

Hi I would like to tell everyone here. My contractor has already helped me to fix the seams exposed today (see link). They are a great roofing company and warrant to their work. Even they had some mistakes, as long as they fix for me and take their responsibility. I recommend and honor them. not perfect but good job!:wink2: ....no more seams and caulking!

https://app.box.com/s/5qc4nizkqogr2iaoznwmrzj8yq8gvpp9