Curling shingles - is this normal? Insurance are refusing to cover us

Roofing/Construction Questions
#1

Hi all,

Just to preface this, we’re originally from the UK, but moved to GA back in 2015 - please forgive any ignorance as (many) things are different over here, including roofing. Most houses in the UK have concrete or clay tiles, not shingles.

We bought our first and current house in 2017. The roof had been redone and installed in Nov 2008 by the previous owners (cost approx $13k), using CertainTeed XT30 shingles.

Our house was inspected by the insurance folks, from the outside, as I assume is normal, but our insurance was subsequently cancelled due to (among other things) “The roof shingles…curling extensively.” This is one of the pictures that the insurance reporter guy took in Nov 2017.

Screen Shot 2020-09-08 at 12.42.27 PM
Screen Shot 2020-09-08 at 12.42.27 PM772×579 59 KB

Here are the rest: https://app.box.com/s/1fuva7bwoflxu8ijeefuwnba2nyjzz7x

We argued that it wasn’t that bad and they agreed to overlook it, but we’ve since changed insurance providers and they said we have to replace the roof by the end of the year or they won’t cover us.

What we didn’t know was that the original owners had paid for CertainTeed’s 4 star warranty coverage, meaning that, if the warranty had been transferred, it would have expired in November of this year (2020). We didn’t know anything about the warranty until a couple of days ago when we came across some paperwork the previous owners had left. I know ignorance is no excuse, and I’d imagine we’d be SoL when contacting CertainTeed because we never transferred the warranty (from what I understand it should have been done between 60 days of the real estate title transfer).

What I’m asking is

a) Do you think XT30 shingles curling this much is enough reason to cancel insurance? I read on CertainTeed’s website about the natural life cycle of a shingle, but don’t know whether this is within normal parameters. (At the time of the pictures the shingles would have been 9 years old.)

b) If so, then do you think it would be worth getting in touch with CertainTeed to ask them to honor the original warranty?

c) If not, and this is natural for this type of shingle, should we try and play some form hardball with the insurance and say they’re being unreasonable?

Or d) are we screwed?

Thanks for any opinions or info. Like I said we’ve never had to deal with anything like this before and it’s kind of stressful for first time homeowners!

#2

In my experience certainteed is one of the better manufacturers to deal with. I would at least contact them and see what they might do for you.

#3

I see ridge vent in the pictures. Is there proper intake? The shingles look cooked. Warranty won’t cover shingles that aren’t properly ventilated. Btw, Certainteed has not covered a pretty basic manufacturing defect on a 3 tab recently with us. There was a continuous tar strip trapping water under the shingle. My local rep agreed but the factory did not. They ignored the tar strip and stated that it was overnailed. When we removed the shingles, we pulled it through the nails.

#4

I’ve never seen the XT line curl like that, are you sure it’s a XT30?

Either way with the shingles curled like they are they are more susceptible to blow offs so it stands to reason that the insurance co wouldn’t want to insure it.

You can price out metal, slate, & tile roofs and then you will understand why most roofs in America are asphalt shingles.

#5

How much labor cost out of $100 for tile,metal etc
Assuming it takes more time and logistics costlier with fragile stuff ,both hard to install on cut up roofs with cutting and shit.
Still price difference is like what 3-5 times compared to asphalt ?

#6

24 gauge standing seam is typically 2 to 2 1/2 times more than limited lifetime shingles in our market, depending on how cut up it is.

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#7

CertainTeed will NOT give you the time of day if you’re not the original owner or had the warranty transferred to your name.

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#8

I see and tile,slate takes even longer ?

#9

It’s difficult to get Certainteed too stand behind a valid warranty much less your deal. Have none of the shingles blown off? Sounds like you’re going too have to bite the bullet and pay for a new roof.

#10

Yes, quote a bit longer.

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#11

There are 2 or 3 box vents (I think that’s the term? Round vents with grilles and then a covering on the outside) on each side of the roof. Not sure if that’s adequate? One side of the house definitely gets more sun than the other, and the shingles on that side are in a worse state.

#12

Definitely the XT30 - I have the purchase order in front of me. I just wish I’d known that the previous owners had the warranty coverage in the first place…

#13

That’s what I feared. Going to call them now and see.

#14

No shingles blown off - it’s rare to get that bad wind here in GA, at least where we live. And a new roof after only 12 years? Is that…normal?

#15

Not normal. You either have no ventilation or it was a bad shingle.

#16

I am still not convinced that ventilation is a major factor in shingle life.

If it was a big factor, wouldn’t you expect shingles installed on eaves, gables, and porches, which are effectively 100% vented, to last much longer than the body of roof? I would expect it to be common for shot roofs to be picture framed by new looking shingles, but have yet to see one.

This looks like a manufacturing defect for sure.

Not familiar with this line specifically, but life expectancy on composition is generally 17-25 yrs, mainly dependant on sun exposure.

2 Likes
#17

Congratulations on seeing through the lie.

Manufacturers have been pushing this “no ventilation causes shingle failure” for close to 30 yrs now.

#18

To all who have replied here, thanks for taking the time.

I removed a shingle myself and sent it off to CertainTeed, along with all the ridiculous paperwork, physical printed out photos (they can’t accept them on the web because of ‘security reasons’ :face_with_raised_eyebrow:).

As expected, they initially tried to wash their hands of it, citing that we didn’t have the right warranty. We did/do have the right warranty, and I had to call them up to clarify this.

Not 20 minutes later I get an email with an ‘offer’. No admission of culpability etc, just the offer, which is along the lines of:

They’ll provide around $3.5k (includes labor, tear-off & disposal) and replacement shingles, hip & ridge and starter shingles needed to complete the roof.

We assume this means they (CertainTeed) believe this $ amount is enough to cover labor for removal of the old shingles and installation of the new ones. I’ll also assume that this means that there’s a manufacturing error, even though they haven’t admitted as such.

Prior to this offer, we had a couple of quotes to repair the roof, in case CertainTeed didn’t come through. These ranged from $7.5k to $9.7k, depending on the shingles we chose. Unfortunately neither quote broke down the labor vs materials.

My question is:

Given CertainTeed have effectively admitted their installed product was inferior, does anyone think we should push for more money, or should we just take the offer and move on?

The roof cost the original owners of the house approx $16k in today’s money, adjusted for inflation. As mentioned before, the roof is currently 12 years old.