New Roof Leaks Already

[Fleemo]

I bought my house about three and a half years ago and had a brand new composite shingle roof put on it. After some recent rain storms, I noticed some discoloration in an area of acoustic ceiling, which I assume is a sure sign of a roof leak. The wrinkle is that my roofer has since moved away, and I'm not even sure he's still doing roofing as a profession. How long is the warranty on most roofs? Do I even have a course of action if my roofer is no longer in business, or am I just SOL?

Thanks in advance.

-F

[Art]

If you know the manufacturer of the shingles you can call them if you believe that defective shingles are the cause. They will send someone out if they are still in business. If shingles look ok it is probably a flashing problem or if you have a brick house with brick walls sitting on a roof (2nd floor smaller than first) the brick wall is defectively installed.

[Joseph Meehan]

The materials (shingles) are most likely covered. However, a failure after less than four years is remote.

The most likely problem, IMO, would be a flashing problem. That would point to the roofer and even if you could find him, I doubt if you could hold him for repairs. Even if you could the cost of doing it would likely make it not worth the effort.

Unless you have some sort of written warrantee from the roofer, I would just get someone out to take a look at it and give you an estimate on the cost. The good point is it may not cost all that much to fix.

BTW it is possible it is not a roof leak. What those possibilities are depend on the construction of your home.

Good Luck

[Zemedelec]

Check the YP, then the BBB. Then start making calls to the approprite state official. zemedelec

[m Ransley]

Zemeledec says, Check the YP ? and the bbb Then call state officials ! Geese he doesnt even know what caused the leak yet . A waste of time.

[Longshot]

most contractors will warranty workmanship for just one year. If the roof didn't leak for the first 3 years I wouldn't think that the shingle installation wasn't the problem anyhow. shingles are warranted between 20 &

40 years but read the small print on the package, if they find one nail on the whole roof penetrated the shingle anywhere but in that one inch strip of tar embedded in the shingle , the warranty is void. in other words the shingle warranty & 39 cents can get your happy meal supersized. my guess on the leak is that:

A) you had ice dams last winter & water backed up under the shingles on an over hang or cricket or valley,

B) previous high winds have pulled some shingles or flashing up or away from a surface

C) it was a driving rain that blew in from some direction

D) your gutters need cleaning

E) a tree branch has damaged your shingles

need I continue?

[Edwin Pawlowski]

You mean the state officials will come out and repair the roof? If the roofer moved away and is out of business, the OP is screwed. Best bet is to find the cause of the leak first. It may not be the fault of the original roofer. Other things can happen over a few years. If the roofing material is defective, the manufacturer will take care of the repairs. Ed

[Bruce]

You want to complain! Look at these shoes. I've only had them three weeks and the heels are worn right through.

[Tom]

Need more info. Note where the leak is in relationship to an outside wall.Go out and check that same area, and above it, for any appurtenances (things that stick out of the roof's surface). Have it checked by a "real" roofer, one that KNOWS how to flash (flashing instructions are on every bundle!) for flashing probs, and a general field check for fastener misplacement. Tom Someday, it'll all be over....

[Glenn]

PLEASE DO CONTINUE ITS A LONG SHOT.........BUT WHAT THE HELL!

[Ed Larsen]

We had a similar issue on our 9 year old house. We were having some bathroom work done and hte contractor looked at it for us. The roof jacks which are the covers around pipe penetations in the roof. They seal the gap around the pipe had cracks in the rubber. Silicone caulk and the leak was fixed. They used to use lead roof jacks, and now use these worthless rubber things. Contractor said the price difference is only a few bucks a piece. I guess if you are ahome builder and building hundreds of home then a few bucks times a few thousand is a bunch of bucks.

[John Willis]

On Sun, 11 Apr 2004 20:02:54 GMT, "Ed Larsen" scribbled this interesting note:

New home builders do indeed use the flashings with a neoprene seal. For exactly the reason you stated. You would be time, effort, and money ahead to have all the original plumbing vent flashings with the neoprene seals removed and lead flashings installed. Save yourself headaches and hassles in the long run to take care of a problem you know is there already and will only get worse since they all will leak eventually.

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)