Roofing advice please....

Came home to find a nice big wet spot in the ceiling. Crawled up into the attic and found many places where water has soaked through. Looks like it's coming in around the roofing nails. The roof is 15 years old and I paid for a 40-year composite tile. Guess I got screwed.

The plywood is already warping in some locations, so I'm guessing this is a full tear off and replace. Any experts here that can tell me what to do or not do? This is going to be a giant bill, so I don't want to get it wrong.

 

I am not a roofer by trade, but have sheathed and shingled a few. Whats that area look like on the outside? Depending on underlayment the leak could be a lot higher than where it finally wets the ply. In your mind make a triangle with the tip starting from the highest part of the wet ply with the base at the top of the ridge, is there any roof penetrations or even a ridge vent in that area?

Do you have soffit vents?

Also its not uncommon for the whole roof system to not last as long as the shingle lifespan. If you find a good roofer he may be willing to repair just that portion but he wont warranty it due to the age of the system.

 

Need some pictures of the outside. Also - Is there an ice dam? What are the temps? Was there heavy rain? Heavy wind? Missing shingles? Snowmelt? Are there any penetrations nearby? Do you know exactly what product they installed? Did they use ice/rain shield as recommended? Etc....

 

What state are you in? In Ca. a licensed contractor is on the hook for improper install, there's no 10 yr. limit on incompetent work.

 

No pics of the outside; it's dark now. But I checked it out yesterday and there's no damage or blockages. We've had heavy rain for almost a week now with some good winds as well. I'm up there 2-3 times a year to clean it and the gutters. Can't say the storms the past few weeks have been abnormal, but the volume of rain has been higher than usual.

There's a ridge vent that runs the length of the roof line and I know there's tar paper under the shingles. It's leaking in a number of places (not just the locations in the picture) and it appears the final 3-5' of roofline are all soaking through. So definitely starting higher up the roof and then spreading out as it goes down.

I'm in WA...I have my original receipt and the warranty was for only 12 months.

 

This might be covered with you home owner policy. Would not hurt to check.

 

I've already been told it's likely not covered. It would have to be "immediate and sudden" damage. This is normal wear and tear apparently. Even the water damage to the house.

 

Get some pictures from outside when you can. Try to get some closer shots where you’re seeing the water damage from the outside too.

 

photo's of composite tile please

what brand?

 

I have the same shit going on. Planned on a new roof this year before i found the leak. Mine is because the dumbass that built the house Installed the flashing wrong.

 

Had the same problem. I put black tar on a ton of loose nails and cracks in shingles but didnt work. Finally had a roofer come out and replace a 6 x10 section of shingles. A good roofer can replace that plywood and put matching shingles at a fair price. I had them check the rest of the roof while they were up there.

 

No clue what brand of shingles, but here are some pics

 

From what I can tell in the pics on my phone (which isn’t the best) the shingles aren’t perfect but I’ve seen worse. Most roofs should last more than 15 years if properly installed if you’re not in some horrendous climate. Then again, I don’t know anything about your climate/wind direction/installation. The pics of the wet plywood in your attic: are those pics showing the plywood at the bottom of the valley in the picture? I doubt you’re going to need a full tear off unless you have another crappy layer underneath already. I’d never put more than 2 layers on but some local codes even allow 3 in my area depending on the pitch and structure. You should have a lot of options tho.

Big picture, from the couple pics you posted it doesn’t look like some totally butchered roof job with inadequate shingle overlap/shingles falling apart/unnailed. The flashing might not be sealed properly in places especially the valleys (my initial guess as to what’s going on) or they might not have used ice/rain as liberally as they should have. You also need someone knowledgeable to look at the blown in insulation to be sure you’re getting the proper airflow/ventilation through that attic space and soffits, the one picture has me wondering about that. My guess is once the plywood dries out, it’ll be fine, unlike OSB which I’d worry about with as much saturation as you have and the fact you don’t know how long you’ve had the leak. Call 3 good reputable companies and ask them to come out and give you written estimates. I hope it’s as simple as fixing the flashing... that should be less than $1,000. :fingers crossed:

 

The water leaks are above the valley, so above the flashing.

 

How far above? Are the pics of the wet plywood from that valley? Is the only wet plywood in that valley? Water doesn’t always travel downwards in cases like this. Once the wood saturates, water can get pulled uphill in to the material. Just curious.

 

Neither of those pics are from the valley. Those two "incidents" are on the other side of my roof (3rd and 4th pics of my roof). The one near the valley is just as bad but starts well above it. I'm having to measure from random places in the attic and then find the same spot on the roof, so I could be off by a bit. But it does seem to follow the valley and flashing a bit.

Both sides are covered in a tarp now. First roofer that came out said he's never seen a roof fail like this. There are three large patches, plus lots of small wet spots where the water is following the nails down into my attic.

 

If you decide to replace your roof, i would highly recommend a company who does GAF roofs. If you plan to stay in your home it is well worth it. For 1,800 SF it was about $5700.00. With a 50 year guarantee. Even if the installer goes out of business another GAF roofer will repair it.
All the best.

 

Please define GAF...

 

GAF is the brand I believe. Just a good quality and installed by only GAF approved roofers so you can expect it to be installed correctly since they are 'trained' by GAF.

 

Looking at the Pictures I can see one issue that stands out is improper overlay of the Shingles although that may not be the cause of the water leakage it does indicate other items to check first thing is too look for Nails that are over driven in (recessed below the surface of the tile) or nails that were not on parallel with roof. the concern with the overlay is if you are in a higher wind area if it is not correct water will find way in. Next thing to look for is at the top most point is there a vent? was it black Tared in or a metal flashing installed? if Tared that is wrong the tar dries and will leak after a few years. Keep one thing in Mind where it leak into the roof inside does not mean that is where the water leaked into on top side.

Quick Bio about me ... I am a industrial Mechanical project manager / Engineer and no I do not know everything nor claim too but! because I have to deal with many many different types of issues and projects and have dealt with many different things I have learned how to research for reliable consistent guideline information on many subjects so I can "talk" the proper speak with the many different contractors from a large number of different trades dealing with high speed filling line machines to the roof and down in the ditch with the waste water treatment systems. one of my favorite roof guys is ... Mark Parlee at
< https://www.thebuildingconsultant.com/ > reason is is information has always proven to be consistent and has helped me find issues with project work that went wrong. Good luck!

 

GAF is a brand. They have a system of leak barrier, ice barrier, ridge vents etc. Their products are sold at lowes and home depot. Their website will tell you much more than i can. It will also give a list of installers and their qualifications. I picked a master roofer in my area and he had thousands of great reviews. When he is done the job an independent roofing consultant will come out in about 4 months to inspect the work and sign off. The guy found one shingle that had an small impression mark from a ladder and he made my roofer come out to replace it. My roofer left my property spotless. One other thing, during heavy rain i can barely hear it. My old roof would sound like hail was hitting it

 

GAF and Owens Corning are both excellent brands that stand behind the products that they make but! they still have to be installed correctly following all the Guidelines GAF is better at providing the detailed instructions and training so with a GAF certified contractor you stand a better chance that the Job will be done right and the contractor will issue that 25 year warranty (I had the golden Pledge limited done by GAF trained master contractor done on my house 3 years ago) and it still looks like it just got done yesterday!

 

They are architectural shingles. That's what most people go with vs just the plain 3 tab. If you haven't done any roofing, I suggest getting a roofer to inspect and locate area where it's leaking. Repair shouldn't be to costly. Just removing some shingles, replace damaged plywood, re-paper, and shingle. One potential problem would be is not finding correct color match of your shingles. Your roof looks to be in good shape from what I see. Good luck

 

Can’t really tell what’s going on with the photos on my phone but...
You do have a major failure going on in different locations there.
I would be very interested to see it in person.

I can offer up some advise for you though.

Where there is wood & water there is mold.

Call up an insulator (like tomorrow) & have them suck out the insulation. Yes all of it.

Rent a dehumidifier & get that going in your attic ASAP. Also put some box fans up there to pressurize the attic so it will help circulate the moist air out your vents.

You will definitely have mold issues.
I would be very surprised its not there currently... but if not it WILL happen very very soon.
Once everything is dry (sheathing, trusses & drywall) to moisture content of 15% or less you will need to do some mold abatement.

if it were me...I would hire a mold abatement company who can provide a “certified document “ stating the mold was professionally removed & cleaned.

This will not be cheap!

There will always be evidence of the mold unless they soda blast it & you will have to disclose the issue when you sale your home.
Better to have the certification & a clean bill of health.

x 2 on GAF products. But...
Up here in the great northwest.
Your never going to find someone to do a full tear off for less than $20,000.

If you decide to just do a patch. You will likely just be buying some time & will have the same issue again in a different location during our next ‘pineapple express’ rain event.

..Slayer

edit..
After looking at your original photos again.
I see the evidence of mold.

 

Appreciate all the advice. We are definitely doing a full tear off. The more I look at it, the more I see future problems if we just did a repair.

Pulling the insulation is a good idea. It would be better to find the wet spots now and deal with them than mess with embedded mold later.

 

Well hopefully your not set back to much. I know your on the west coast, as previously mentioned 20k is insane. All depends on how much square footage, and how much your roof is cut up, valleys, vents, dormers, and chimney.

 

I sell mostly GAF products, but can order tamko, marlarky etc.

Stick with GAF. Ice and water shield to prevent ice damning, synthetic underlayment is the way to go vs felt paper, use specific products now such as starter shingles and rolls, as well as dedicated hip and ridge shingles.

The GAF timberline HD or the impact line of shingles fly off the shelf these days.