We were asked by the owner to inspect these two new roofs. The roof install overall within industry standards. The issue here is the roofer invoiced for doing all of both buildings but 1/3 of one building wasn't done. The difference between the old and new shingles is obvious so the two sections with the old shingles still need to be done.

Poulsbo is up in the Puget Sound area near the huge Bremerton Naval installations.  About a 3-1/2 hour drive. Turn left at Tacoma, go over the Tacoma Narrows bridge, past Gig Harbor, Bremerton and Silverdale then arrive at Poulsbo pop. 11,000.

The homeowners found our website and hired us to inspect their new Malarkey 'Windsor' roof. The install isn't close to manufacturer's instructions / requirements. Bad nailing, offsets and exposere random and all over the place. Owners paid an extra $1,800 for a premium warranty however that warranty is void and invalid and worthless. The roofer is expecting a big check in the mail instead they will be getting a copy of my report along with a letter from very unhappy homeowners. Stay tuned.....................        
 

The owner who lives in Spokane hired us to inspect this recently completed roof.  At first glance it looks really nice and there are many positives here. One issue is that the pipe flashings are the cheap entry level ones that fail long before the shingles do. Code requires flashing at any pitch change. No flashing here. Main thing is terrible fastening. All shingle manufacturers put embossed 'nailing line(s)' on their shingles. That is where the nails go. The line(s) show the strongest part of the shingle - where the 2 pieces overlap, these pieces are called the 'blank' and the 'sawtooth'. Here at least 90% of the nails are above the nailing line. It is just as easy to put a nail 'here' as it is to put a nail 'there'. Applying a nail really isn't that difficult, i've done it - millions of times. 

Actually, this roof overall is better than much of what I see; however, there were three things that required rework. Something about ‘code’ and ‘shingle manufacturers' instructions/requirements. This one is more about the terrible customer service. 

Firstly, the roofer assured the owners that he never used subcontractors. They used a sub on this one. When the owner confronted them about this the company owner said “you just don’t know anything about roofing”. What a guy! When confronted about items done wrong the ‘roofer’ attempted to say all was OK. Example: There was supposed to be a bleeder strip/starter course on all rake/gable edges. There weren’t. When the owner and his ‘project manager’ came for the final walk-through they were asked about this and the company owner assured that there were indeed strips along all rake edges. The owner asked them to show her so they got up on the roof to check. Still no bleeder strips. Roofer said ‘we’ll fix this”. At that point I’m sure he felt about four inches tall. When someone insists on making a fool out of themselves it’s best to just get the hell out of the way. 

Online reviews for this company are pretty bad. You’d think they’d take note and spruce their image up. Nahhhhh. Why should they take responsibility for their actions? According to the homeowner this company was profane, dismissive, rude and contentious. Add egregious prevarication to the mix and you end up with just another hack cowboy roofer. After their work is done that they should have done correctly we will go back again to have a look. If someone is paying fifteen grand for a new roof, then do it right and don’t treat your clients like chumps. These boys have a lot to learn.

Just when we thought we had seen it all, we come across this nightmare. No contract (which is required by law and plus - it's typically a really good idea!); four different kind of rake metal profiles, which we found quite clever; two colors of step flashing, with many of them only 2" on the roof (the requirement is 5"); no starter shingles anywhere.... none; mangled and dented flashing everywhere; field shingle nails way too short; chimney flashing that looks like my rabbit did it; valleys done wrong. Here's the amusing part: this "contractor' actually said with a straight face he knew how to properly install a roof. Talk about egregious prevarication! Can you say FULL REFUND?

Update: The 'roofer' dismissed me as an idiot and paid......I mean wasted money getting his own inspection. His guy said the same thing I did. One of the worst he's ever seen. The roofer has agreed to give a full refund. The owner's were pleased with our efforts.                   

The owners had what turned out to be valid concerns, so we went and had a look. They called Sunday morning at 11:00AM, I was there by 1:00PM, and they had their report by 6:00PM.

All shingle manufacturers put embossed nailing lines on their shingles. That is where the nail goes which is the strongest part of the shingle. This manufacture says "nails MUST be on this line". 90% were way above the line. It's just as easy to put a roof nail here as it is there. Proper fastening is crucial and is one of the most basic, fundamental, rudimentary aspects of roofing. It's actually quite simple and easy. I have actually done it - millions of times.

This contractor subs everything out, doesn't pay much, and charges very high prices. The only use one brand of shingles and have a sweetheart deal with that manufacturer. I have looked at about 14 of their roofs over the years and every one had significant legitimate issues. Many in the industry wish they would go away. The amount of bad reviews they have online is astounding and they just don't care.

What a mess. No text necessary here. These photos speak for themselves. Looks like my pet rabbit 'Missy' was up here doing this.........with apologies to 'The Hopper'.

The owners had ventilation issues, so we drove down I-5 and had a look.  The air intakes were blocked by insulation. Easy fix. The roof pretty much to industry standards. The nails for the ridge shingles too short but that's about it.   

The owner wanted an inspection of this new Malarkey Legacy roof before paying the bill. Lucky she did.

) Note the clever way the skylight was fastened - drive a large nail part way in then just bend it down with a hammer.

) Contract says 6 nails per shingle - there are 5 per shingle.

) Majority of nails under driven, over driven, angle driven.

) Underlayment under drip metal and on top of rake metal. Should be the opposite.

) 18 year El Cheapo pipe flashing on a 50 year roof.

) Ridge shingle nails too short.

) Toe board nails not banged down. Heads sticking up 1/4".

Owner will be demanding a full refund.             

The owner had concerns about his new roof so we had a look. As always we check for proper fastening. With 11,000 nails on this roof some bad nails are to be expected however we discovered that over 90% of nails were way above the factory embossed  nailing line with many over driven. This roof a Big Box  job. All they do is find some hapless chump willing to work for $12 an hour up on a dangerous roof and tack on a large 'middle man' fee for the honor and priveledge of having them involved. How gracious of them! Every one of their roofs I have seen had multiple serious legitimate code issues. They are no longer dabbling  roofing. The owner filed a warranty claim and will be getting a new roof. He was most pleased with our efforts.   

After 'repair', this roof was still leaking so we had a look. The work didn't match up what the contract said - we see that a lot - so the owner found a real roofer that will come out and do it again, this time correctly. The amount of shoddy 'workmanship' we see on a regular basis is astounding! Certainly no shortage of incompetant ripoff cowboy roofers out yonder. Trouble is, they keep getting tangled up in their spurs. 

This was our second visit in three years.  The previous roof was one of the worst we have seen so it was done again. Bad job so it will be done again. I felt sorry for the owner as he got screwed twice. Get this, the guy who did this roof was not a licensed roofer. He somehow got hold of a blank contract of some roofing company and filled it out and telling the owner he worked for that roofing company! What nerve! Talk about egregious prevarication!