Curling Problems With Certainteed Shingles. PLEASE HELP!

TommyGun715

This problem makes it more stressful 'cause I'm in the process of selling. The roof was a complete tear-off in '97. I've done visual inspections twice a year for the last 5 1/2 years, and the roof has been good. Recently, I've noticed some shingles that have started to curl, while other shingles look fine. The roofer said this is caused by heat. Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it gets warm in July, even in WI! He was very reserved, and puzzled when he looked @ my roof, yesterday. I have proper insulation and ventilation (both done by a professional). He told me to contact Certainteed's warranty # and basically wished me the best. The roof is only 7 yrs old and should not be having these kind of problems!
There has been many complaints from people who have had problems with Certainteed in this area. Contacting Certainteed has been a major challenge due to the high number of complaints.
I have a buyer for my house, but not till I get the roof problem resolved.

How responsible is the roofer?
Will Certainteed give me the "run-around"?
Will my Homeowners Ins help?

What should I do?

Thanks- TommyGun715

Grumpy

Yous aid done by a professional. I don't know how many times I fix a insulation "professional" installation. They almost always block the eaves from fresh air intake. It's incredibly common for this to happen in new construction.

If the roofer indeed did install the roof to the manufacturer's specs inculding proper ventilation then he is not responsible. It's possible a manufacturer's defect if he did install the roof properly. If the roofer did not install the proper ventilation then he has some blame in this, but maybe not 100%.

I've heard good and bad from certianteed's warranty dept. Sometimes they cut a check no questions asked. Sometimes they low ball and offer a few hundred dollars. Sometimes they stone wall and blame the roofer. I wouldn't be able to answer how they will react but I can say you won't know unless you call them.

It is doubtful that insurance will help, but that's a question for your broker. Most policies I have seen do not cover things like manufaturer's defects or installer's error.

Call certianteed and have a rep come out. That's what you should do. If certianteed isn't helpful then tell the buyer you will subtract half of what you paid for the roof back in 97 from his offer and you can close.

dougger222

Certainteed used to just have you send in the defective shingles but now due to so many problems primarily with the Horizon shangle used back in the 90's there paying a representative to look at the roofs. Being that your roof is only 7 years old they should pay for at least half the replacement. I've done a roof that was defective after three years and Certainteed payed for about 2/3's of the cost (my bid was $2K cheaper than the original cost too).

The installer is not to blame it's the shingles. They could be the Sealdon 20's that were discontinued around 97. Are your shingles three tabs or full tabs?

I've done a few defective roofs on homes that were being sold when the new homeowner hired a private inspector to look things over.

What part of WI are you in?

Grumpy

They will only pay for materials, not labor. I want to point that out. No warranty cover's labor except the new upgraded warranties (Sure Start).

TommyGun715

Dougger,

I live in Hudson, and I've talked to a few other roofers, and there has been overwhelming complaints with Certainteed Shingles. I'm waiting to hear back from the roofer to get what kind they are.

I contacted Tech Service @ Certainteed, and they were not very "customer friendly". They do not send anyone out. They refer you to their website to fill out the claim form and send in 2 defective shingles from the roof. Actually, they were very rude!

Thanks

Grumpy

LOl they should be rude. Theya re a french owned company We We!

dougger222

They will only pay for materials, not labor. I want to point that out. No warranty cover's labor except the new upgraded warranties (Sure Start).


Then that nice homeowner must have lied to me! She said Certainteed paid for shingles AND $2,000. She was a friend of my builder (another woman) who has a lot of pull with Certianteed. She builds up to 50 homes a year and all the insulation, roofing, and siding says Certainteed on it.

In all reality Certainteed will usually only pay for the shingles, no ridge, felt, ice and water, vents, ect. However, I've heard from a few homeowners who have been happy with the outcome of the Horizon problem.

Grumpy

Douger if you read the warranties that's what it states. Your friend had pull, and obviously used his pull to pull some strings. I personally dislike certianteed, not for the quality of their shingles, but for the quality of their customer service.

4 years ago certianteed stopped delivering shingles to chicago for 3 weeks. When they re-openeind their factories they raised their prices 15% without notice. We were exclusively selling certianteed shingles at that time, and it really really messed us up. It gave us the opportunity to find GAF, we are now certified by them and have no horror stories such as the one above.

dougger222

You must be talking about the strike at the Certainteed plant a few years ago. I personally know people who have worked at the Shakopee, MN plant and they say they love there jobs and the pay and benifits are second to none. My good budy's Uncle has worked there for many years and will retire there for sure.

The lumber yard I buy from who is the same yard my two builders buy from only carry Certainteed shingles so there price is always the best in the area and usually I can call and have a delivery the next day.

Every shingle manufacturer has problems here and there with batches or styles of shingles. One thing I do like best about the GAF is there Timbertex ridge cap which is the thickest and nicest looking on the market but it's also the most spendy.

Grumpy

I'm always suprised people don't have more roofing supply houses in their area. I hear often that people buy from lumber yards.

Douger you are right that every manufacturer can have a flawed batch but it's suprising that I real alot obout defective certianteed shingles in these forums. I've seen a few about owens corning but nothing about GAF or Tamko.

dougger222

Grumpy, today I bought a pallet of Certainteed ice and water shield and a pallet of Tamko paper from a roofing only yard and by looking at there price list they were lower on underlayment and higher on most shingles.

I recall a homeowner who insisted upon useing Elk 40 year shingles because all the other shingle manufacturer had to many law suits. He bought the Elks and now I've heard they've gone bankrupt.

Certainteed really messed up with the old Horizon shangles, I've yet to find a roof with the shingles that are in satisfactory condition. Certainteed will loose big money over the next few years when more and more people notice there 25 year shingle has only lasted half it's life.

Glasshousebltr

Lets all convert to thatch............

Bob

Grumpy

LOL douger we get out shingles from the roofing suppliers and our underlayments from a local hardware store that gives us incredible prices.

Elk is bankrupt?! That's the first time I heard that.

Glass, why not greenroofs? Flat roofs with dirt and grass on them. Very energy effeciant and you can grow vegtables too!

dougger222

I've heard Elk being bankrupt by a few people in the industry. One guy I talked to said you could buy there 30 year laminate for $5 a square!

cjensen

We just discovered that our 10 year old roof is deteriorating! The roofer indicated that several local builders will not use the Certainteed Horizon shingle due to ongoing problems with quality. I will be in touch with a group in a local development that all have Certainteed Horizon and let you know if the plan any leal action. I have not yet filed a complaint with Certainteed but plan to do so. Our estimate for new roofing is $15,000 OUCH! This makes it worth pursuing!

Unregistered

We were supposed to have a 25 year roof but after only six years our Certainteed Sealdon 25 shingles are defective (the brochure says "unsurpassed assurance of quality"). In response to our claim, Certainteed says they will only reimburse us $600 to replace our roof which
will cost over $5,000! We only got about 1/5 the use we were supposed to get and they will only cover about 1/10 the cost. Roofers tell me they won't use their products anymore.
-angry in Apple Valley, Mn

Unregistered

I have the same problem with the Sealdon shingles - Apparently several others do as well, Any suggestions ?
-Also angry in Nashotah, WI

Unregistered

It ain't Tommy's fault, or his contractor's. I had a 20-year-old roof replaced with Certainteed ten years ago. The roof was well-ventillated to begin with, but we added more eaves vents and a ridge vent (and yes, I've been in the attic to verify that the slot was cut right and insulation isn't blocking the eaves vents). But the "25-year" Certainteed shingles are curled as bad as I've ever seen any shingles curl. Those Certainteed shingles are just c**p!

Unregistered

(If any of you guys in MN/IA/WS want to get together on this, contact me: danhicks@ieee.org Maybe we can together put a little "fear" into Certainteed and get a better settlement than the c**p they're offering.)

Unregistered

Not sure what one does to shake up Certainteed....we had a new roof put on in that 90-91 time period thinking we had a good quality 25-year roof. From day one we would loose shingles every time the wind blew. The contractor repaired them a couple of times and then we hired others to fix them. At one point we lost a large number of shingles and I called two different contractors to take a look at the roof...they both told me that the roof looked like it was 30 years old (at that point it had been on for ten years). We contacted Certainteed and went through the routine of sending shingles to be checked in their lab...of course we got back the answer we expected...the cracks weren't a problem and the sealing down should have been reported to them earlier as the wind warranty was five years. They were nice enough to send us info on how to seal them down by hand!!!!!!!!

We contacted them again and assured them that when we buy something with a warranty we didn't feel we should have to get on the roof with a caulking gun and seal down our shingles by hand and that they obviously knew there was a problem with them or they would not have taken them off the market in this area of the country(we live in IA). We haven't had trouble with curling but all are badly cracked and continue to blow off. They offered us no compensation and we will need to replace next spring.