Shingles cut short of drip edge

[msteger]

Saw this roof installation from 2006 today. Looks like a guy on his first day as a roofer got really excited to use his utility knife.

Most of the shingles are cut at least 1/2" from the edge and this was around the whole perimeter of the home wherever there was an edge. The neighbor's houses did not have this issue.

How would you comment? Obviously not a standard install..

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[Chad Fabry]

Almost all of the shingles on this roof were cut too short at the rake drip edge.

Every major manufacturer of three tab composition shingles directs the installer to leave between 3/8 and 1/2 of an inch protruding beyond the rake edge.

Roofing manufacturers are famous for weasling out of warranty obligations by pointing out that their installation instructions weren't followed.

I'd also question the overall quality of the job if the areas that are easy to see are this bad.... what'd they do with what can't be viewed?

[msteger]

Yep..sorry, meant the rake edge. The shingle underneath does stick out past the edge, but the bottom half of each shingle (which is now resting on top) is cut back at the edge. No idea why and I've never seen this type of install.

There have indeed been several past leakage issues and this home is not even 1 year old!!! According to the owner, two stack vent boots leaked and were replaced and one of the valleys leaks. As you said, who knows what else is there.

I got the impression that whoever installed this roof, this was his 'practice roof' to try out on. Several of the ridge shingles were also sticking up where valleys meet them and not sealed to prevent wind damage or leakage.

[Jim Katen]

The shingles were also installed using the racking method. Hardly best practice. When I see a few silly things like this I start to look harder. How was the nailing?

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[John Dirks Jr]

Originally posted by Jim Katen

The shingles were also installed using the racking method. Hardly best practice. When I see a few silly things like this I start to look harder. How was the nailing?

- Jim Katen, Oregon

I was wondering what you meant by racking method. I looked at the picture to see if I could figure it out and I think I got it. Is it because every other row is flipped the other way? I see the lack of exposed tabs every other row.

Flawed or not, What is the philosophy behind installing them this way?

[inspector57]

I did not notice at first glance, but your comment about racking made me look twice! It looks like they flipped the shingle upside down on every other row to keep cutouts from lining up... needless to say, that likely won't self seal and probably looks worse in real life than the picture shows. Can anyone say re-roof?

[Jim Katen]

No, you guys are getting paranoid. The shingles aren't flipped upside down every other row. These are uncut shingles. Think three-tab shingles without the cut outs. They used to be rather popular but I haven't seen them in a long time.

In a standard installation, you begin with a full-size shingle and cut the succeeding shingles either 5" or 5-5/8" (metric) so that they form a stair-step pattern up the roof. The shingles go on the roof in a diagonal pattern.

With the racking method, you alternate shingle positions back & forth as you proceed straight up the roof instead of on a diagonal. This is the method used by fast & lazy crews. It takes less thought and less skill. The crews often forget the final nail on every other shingle. Also, the shingles' butt joints end up aligned every other course. This increases the chance of leaks.

I've never seen a skilled crew use the racking method. It's usually done by weekenders who're fueled by cheap beer.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[John Dirks Jr]

Ahhh...uncut shingles. Don't also take these same uncut shingles and cut them down into smaller pieces to use as caps?

[Erby]

More info on racking and manufacturer's warranty.

http://www.gaf.com/Content/Documents/22850.pdf

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[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by AHI

Ahhh...uncut shingles. Don't also take these same uncut shingles and cut them down into smaller pieces to use as caps?

You could. Most roofers just use three tab shingles though. They're much easier to come by. If they want to get fancy, they'll use pre-made accessory caps.

They should never use architectural or laminated shingles for ridge caps; those products don't bend well.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[msteger]

The scariest part, guys, is that this was a new house in the fall of 2006. I also found several exposed nail heads that I recommended coating, but that may be a moot point when the client calls the builder and demands a reroof.

The client was the home's owner (it was a one year anniversary inspection for a new build), so he was already well aware of other roofing issues since he's had the roofer back 2 or 3 times to fix leaks due to unsealed stack vent boots and valleys.

At one point I told the client, looks like the roofer's first day on the job was the day he installed your roof. (I normally wouldn't have said that but the client already knew the roof install was of bad quality).