I posted this on a home improvement forum, but thought I'd take a stab here as well...any advice is appreciated!

My wife and I are in the process of building in a development. Things are moving along, foundation is poured, etc.

The past week or so, we have had strong winds in our area - with March rolling in that is no surprise. Through another local forum, we have discovered that people in the development we are building in have had some significant issues with their roofs. Shingles have been blown off, torn, ripped...you name it. Two people have been kind enough to privately speak with me and tell their stories. The one person had roof problems since day one, supposedly fixed under warranty and now is having the problems mentioned above. This person actually had a roofer come out and told her that their roof was not installed well and should be replaced because of the large quantity of loose shingles. She also said the roofer has replaced one roof in the development already, and that another homeowner had a roof replaced by the builder right after moving in. I personally drove through the development. There are about 100 homes right now, and I saw at least 4 with some blown shingles or severely lifted. This was while I was trying to drive as well and only seeing mostly half of the homes' roofs. By the way, the oldest home is only 3 yrs old! Many of these homes were built during the final part of the building boom around here, so maybe things were slapped together a little too quick, but I still worry.

My wife and I are very concerned about this, as you would imagine. Most accounts say that this builder does a good job building a solid home. Apparently the roof issue is surfacing now, though. I feel as if we are past the point of no return, however, we feel we must do something. I wrote our realtor to gain advice, but would like other input as well.

What do you think we should do? Should we let the builder know we are aware of these issues surfacing and expect a quality roof among all other things? I know this has raised my awareness to getting a home inspection before occupying and maybe at our final warranty submission.

Hi Jon,

I am an experienced roofer, but please bare-in mind, I am not a professional. I can tell you from experience that it is possible for a "brand-new" shingle to be broken under sustained winds, especially in the cooler months. The reason this happens is because the adhesive tar-strip on the underside of the shingle is heat activated. Eventually the sun's heat bonds the overlapping rows of shingles and causes the entire roof to basically become one layer. During winter, and cooler months it takes a little longer for the tar strips to bond.

Another area of the roof that is prone to loosing shingles is the ridge cap. The ridge cap is not as secure as the shingles on the flat areas of the roof. The individual shingle caps usually only support four nails, rather than the six or seven along the run.

If your neighbors had some leaks, chances are, water came through the ridge because a cap or two had been blown off. However, this is your home and your investment. If it were me, I would climb up on the roof and watch how many nails they're fastening each shingle with. I've watched pro's shoot so fast they leave up to 12" of shingle without a single nail.

Some other problems occur when roofers are in a hurry to finish, either because of money, weather, or just poor oversight and training. Some guys put nails right into the edge of a shingle. This is something the manufacturer warns against because nailing too close to the edge can result in a leak, nails should be (at least 1") from edges. There is also a certain area of the shingle where two layers overlap and add strength where it accepts a nail, but too often nails are shot above or below this area because the roofer does not know about it, or they are trying to be a "super-roofer!" Another mistake, but a very rare mistake I have noticed is using nails that are too short. But the number one mistake is not laying the felt correctly, or even worse, felt missing in some places or no felt at all!!!

Good luck, and remember, don't be afraid to approach your contractor with any questions. 

-Chris in FL

Chris -

Didn't see this reply until now.  Thanks for your detailed and thoughtful comments.  Your thoughts mirrored what the builder told us.  I believe the roof is already "flattening" out due to a couple of warmer days.  I will keep my eye on it, but overall I'm hopeful that it looks good!