We are having a new home built in South Florida. Roof underlayment was installed in mid February 2021, however due to other material delays, roof tile installation was not completed until mid September (well beyond 180 days that underlayment manufacturer provides 30-year warranty of its product). We feel the underlayment has been compromised since there are now leaks throughout the house, however builder is not taking responsibility. We are demanding that the old roof be taken off and a new roof be installed. Builder sought a letter from underlayment manufacturer warrantying their product for the exact number of days that the product was exposed on our home (but not one day over). We have not closed on the home yet. Thoughts or advice appreciated.
If the roof is leaking, make sure the builder addresses the defects and do not close until it passes inspection.
If they don’t want to fix the roof be prepared to either hire a contractor yourself or hire an attorney. Check with local code enforcement and see if they can offer any advice on how to proceed.
Spoke with County Code Enforcement who told me the builder has already had them out to inspect the roof two weeks ago to have the roof inspected. He also told me that the underlayment issue was not brought to his attention by the builder, however it’s tough to inspect underlayment once it’s covered with tile, so he really can’t inspect it.
We have already given our attorney a “heads up” about the problem, and he is ready whenever we are to go to litigation, but once that process begins, it will be an extremely expensive battle - more likely a far more expensive battle than the cost of a new roof.
We have a call with the builder next week for their final decision on whether they will agree to give us a new roof. We’re hoping for the best.
Who IS responsible for the roof leaks, if not the GC?
The underlayment shouldn’t even be seeing water at this point. The roof is done improperly if it’s leaking already. Tile roof underlayment is supposed to be a roof system in itself but actually shouldn’t be getting water on it unless there has been severe wind driven rain or debris blocking valley channels, which definitely shouldn’t be occurring on a brand new house.
Something is definitely wrong, doesn’t sound like it was dried in properly plus 6 months is quite a while for underlayment to sit due to wind etc. Did it have bats installed over the underlayment while it was sitting