Roofing and Attics

<The wave- wavy and rippled shingles are better seen live than with a photo. I suspected bad deck boards, settling in the home due to poor foundational support and several additions having been built. The picture below shows some of the reason also.

 >Great Stuff-  

You know that spray can foam stuff you can get almost anywhere.  It's not a sealant, it's an insulator and it deteriorates with exposure to sunlight.  This improper repair will leak again soon.

<The Flasher has left the building-

This chimney was missing it's flashing.  Previous homeowners smeared mastic along the shingles to prevent water infiltration.  We would recommend that the next time the roof is shingled, proper flashing should be installed.

V Below (left) photo shows a leaking roof that has been patched with black mastic tar.  Flashing along the siding is missing and it looks like some concrete bricks were propped up to shed water away from the roof-siding joint.  Inside ceiling repairs may be in progress in the location of the missing flashing.  Note the new water stains on the new board.  This area was still wet.

<Curbless skylight-

This skylight was installed "curbless" underneith the shingles, then they caulked around the shingles.  When it leaked, it looks like they later installed a 2x3 piece of wood above the skylight to route water around the skylight.  Curbless skylights are lower quality units prone to leakage, yellowing, and cracking.

>This improper flashing caused facia and roof rafter rotting to both roofs.  The fiberglass roof to the left and dark shingle roof to the right caused excessive amounts of water to flow toward eachother in this butterfly valley.

<Bundle of joy-  

Here is a nice example of a defective bundle of shingles in the center of this picture.  Defective shingles typically loose their granulars (the little stones like surface that repells the water) and the membraine deteriorates with UV sunlight rays.  They sometimes curl and separate prematurely. 

>These boots were made for walking- This HVAC flue had the transition boot installed over the roof shingles instead of under them.  This type of installation is prone to leaking as the mastic sealant begins to crack and separate.  We would recommend the boot be installed properly either now or when the shingles are replaced.

<Nailed-  Nails that were not installed properly by sitting proud (too high) or those that have worked up out of the wood sheathing can damage the shingles and cause further deterioration and leaks.   

<Rubbed the wrong way- Over time this tree will rub off all the granulars on this newer shingled roof.  Granulars are what repel the water and are important to the effectiveness of shingle roofs.

>Bowled over- This photo probably doesn't need much explaination.  It was a very nice large stainless steel bowl actually with some water from the roof vent above.

<Saturated planks.  The material used for this roof decking was wood ship lap (usually used on exterior siding).  The ventilation was choked off by a lack of soffit venting and overstuffed insulation in the attic, causing significant moisture to accumulate in the attic, thus swelling and warping the unpainted roof deck boards.  Some new plywood (bottom of picture) is also wet (the "roof" is new!-claims the homeowner).  Unfortunately they didn't know they had more problems than just needing to replace the shingles.  Lack of ventilation, rotting wood, mold, and warped deck boards that could lift shingles in a strong wind to blow them off the roof. This attic tested positive for stachibotris mold by the way.

<More is better, right?-

A common misconception is that more insulation is better, and it usually is.  However, here someone has packed insulation up against the sheathing, choking off proper ventilation in the attic. Because the ventiliation is compromised, mold and rotting could occur in the lesser vented areas. More insulation isn't always better when it restricts ventilation.

>Kraft side = warm side-  Some insulation has a paper or foil backing.  This backing should always be toward the warmer side of the house.  Warmer temperatures are more likely to experience condensation, and the backing is designed to help control condensation.  By installing the insulation wrong side out, it could increase condensation where it is not wanted, like in the attic.

V Sometimes mold can be caused by water infiltrating from a leaking roof, but more typically it is the result of high humidity levels in the attic combined with poor ventilation.  Here condensation has stained the wood because the cold part of the wood makes contact with the warm humid air comming up from the house.

<Here a gas dryer vent is discharging into the attic.  Couple problems- 1. could vent carbon monoxide into the home envelope, 2. will introduce moisture into the attic, causing mold or rotting over time on the wood.

>The patio roof (right) has several 2x6 rafters that are supported by 2 1/2" angle brackets that are screwed into the facia board behind the aluminum cladding.  As you can see, the weight of the rafter is bending the aluminum and the bracket.  The bracket is not designed to support that kind of weight, nor is the 3/4" think facia board.  Any kind of snow load on this patio roof will send it crashing down.  By the way, the screws holding this up were quite small.

<Missing flashing-  Flashing is the material (usually metal) that joins the siding to a roof or other plane of the home.  There are several kinds of applications, and necessary to protect against water infiltration into the home.

<Victory Garden?- The debri retains water on the roof for a longer time.  Note that the slope of the roof is improper, meaning even if the debri was removed the center part of the roof may not drain properly.

<Slip Sliding Away-  We don't see a lot of tile or concrete roofs in our area, but occasionally we do.  Here the tiles were not properly attached to the roof deck boards and they are sliding down.  Some gaps may appear and water infiltration.

<I've got you covered-  

Missing insulation or poor coverage can increase your utility bills, and cause heat to rise into the attic.  During the winter this warm air can condensate on the roof sheathing and cause mold or wood rotting.

<Smokin!-  Here we have smoke damage.  Like fire damage, smoke or high heat can break down the strength of the wood.  House fires should be recorded at the fire marshals office and in most areas a engineer is required to recertify the structure.  Smoke or fire damage may not be a reason to walk away from the home, but it does mean you should do some more homework to see if it was repaired properly and certified by a structural engineer.

<Fire!-  See the difference with the photo above?  Fire damaged wood leaves an aligatoring on the wood.  Usually this wood should be removed and replaced.  New OSB can be seen through the fire damaged roof planks, which provides a smooth surface for the roofers to reattach shingles.  But the greater concern relates to the strength of the rafters.  Again, an engineer needs to sign off on all fire damage in a home. Homeowners sometimes try to hide fire damage (difficult to do), in any event a good homeowner should provide the engineers or fire marshall's evaluation of the fire damage and it's impact on the home.

<A Tree house-  Tree branches can rub off the shingle granulars, which is the most important element in what repel the rain. Loss of granulars exposes the composite material to the sunlight and weather.  This roof area is at the end of it's useful life due to tree branches rubing up and down on the shingles.

<Death Valley?-  Nah, just a good picture that shows how a shingle valley usually wears out before the rest of the roof.  The valley carried more water that is concentrated in a smaller area than the rest of the roof.  As a result, this roof is at the end of useful life.  The older shingles have become so brittle, that just replacing the valley is not practical.

V These photos below show the inside and outside of the same location. The transition flashing, pictured left, has been repaired with black mastic a couple times, but is failing.  Partly due to the improper flashing and partly due to the movement of the addition that causes the joint to recrack every spring probably.

V Know when to fold em' - The photo on the left shows that the roll roofing material was probably folded for storage rather than carefully rolled.  Note the creases every four inches whereby the roofing material has lost granulars (the roofing materials primary water sheading element).  The result on the right photo shows a series of slow leaks that caused mold and OSB wood deterioration underneith.

V Raindrops keep falling on my head-  It is not always possible for your inspector to see what might be causing something.  This day it happened to stop raining during the inspection and we were able to trace the basement sill seepage to a leaking gutter scupper, that was allow water to run down the brick veneer and into the basement.  Normally the brick veneer screed should have also prevented the water seeage, so more evaluation is needed to check that as well.  

All of the above concerns are repairable.  And although it may not have effected our clients buying decision, they really appreciated just knowing about these concerns.  We realize you have a choice in home inspectors, we hope you make a wise choice in hiring Home Check America.  Because your peace of mind matters.