Having storm damage occur at this time of year is pretty uncommon, but we
had some Wednesday night. I was returning home from cycling to a free BBQ
lunch when I spotted a couple of asphalt shingles lying in the street. I
looked around and saw that they had come from my immediate neighbour's roof,
and there was quite a bit of damage to be seen:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/26249126253/in/dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/26249127893/in/dateposted-public/
I knew that the previous owner (a rental landlord) had the place re-roofed
by a Mexican roofing crew, so I was not surprised. A look at one of the
shingles in the street tells the story fairly well:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/26785840591/in/dateposted-public/
The first thing you'll notice is that the plastic strip covering the
adhesive stripe has not been removed. This adhesive gets soft when heated, and
helps the tabs stick to the layer beneath. Taking the plastic strip off is
extra labour, and many of these crews just don't bother. Also, the holes in
the shingle reveal that they had been fastened with staples, as I had observed
when the work was being done and which is not really proper as the Unified
Building Code (UBC) only allows galvanized roofing nails, or at least they were
the last time I looked. These shingles are also a relatively thin variety, and
coupled with the lack of adhesive and the staples is just damage waiting to
happen. I'm only surprised that it didn't happen earlier.
It is very likely that his insurance company will NOT cover this due to
the UBC violation(s) and the failure to remove the plastic strip.
People uniformly take comfort in hiring registered contractors, but the
truth of the matter is that the Registrar of Contractors in this state is a
joke, nothing more than another ineffective rubber stamp beaurocracy. There
are no random field checks, and the homeowner is left with the burden of
discovering the violations. Then there's the inspection, and the possibility
of having to hire a lawyer for the hearing if the violations are not corrected.
All you need to obtain a license is take a short multiple-guess test and post
a $1,000 bond.
Chris
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
- Hunter S. Thompson
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