While the homes in Settler's Grove were only built a little more than a decade ago, many houses are starting to experience problems with their shingles. John Mellor of Master Court has gone to great lengths to get to the root of the problem and find a solution. He has this information to share:
"Like many others in this neighbourhood, we have a defective roof. Our shingles, which we upgraded to the newest commonly-available technology at the time, was installed in 1999. When we moved in, we an excessive amount of shingle granules in the runoff. When asked about this, the Thomasfield construction supervisor stated that it was normal for these granules to be shed for an initial period, and not to worry. We didn't worry for ten years...
"In 2009, we started noticing disconcerting signs of shingle damage - horizontal surface splitting
and edge curling - and the alarm bells started ringing. Last year we were concerned enough to
bring in the original roofer to assess the problems. Allan Beach assessed the roof and informed us
that it was in rough shape, but would last another year or so. He also brought in a representative of
the shingle manufacturer, who agreed with Allan Beach and suggested that we use the available
warranty. We learned that there was a two year period when there was a manufacturing
problem with the shingles - the same time period when many of the houses in Settler's Grove were constructed.
"We have applied for and received confirmation that there is a pro-rated warranty on the roofing materials, under which we will be reimbursed for approximately 1/3 of the shingle cost. We intend to be re-roofing in April. In reading the warranty information, it is apparent that this warranty is available as a result of a class-action lawsuit regarding all CRC (CanRoof Corporation) asphalt roofing materials dating back to 1972, but it is not clear why home owners in Settler's Grove were not made aware of it or given the option to join the class-action suit. The class action is still in progress, but there appears to have been a preliminary finding, which is the basis of the current CRC claims payouts.
"We have also learned that the warranty on the shingles is only available to the original homeowners and subsequent homeowners who paid CRC for a warranty transfer. For the 20 and optional 25-year types of shingles that were used on the Thomasfield homes in this area, the warranty covers 240 or 300 months respectively, with prorating degradation of the warranty value calculated at 1/225 per month for the first 180 months since installation, and either 1/600 or 1/300 for the remainder of the warranty, depending on shingles installed. The offered shingles are their newest bottom-of-the-line shingles, and not a suitable replacement for the 25-year shingles that we had upgraded to.
"We are not alone in experiencing trouble with our shingles. One of our neighbours, had a completely-failed roof requiring emergency tar spray and tarps, and a major insurance issue as a result. They have received a similar warranty payout, but because of the damage and the temporary nature of their repairs, required a new roof immediately. We are aware of several others in the neighbourhood who have had to put a new roof on before reaching any reasonable design life of the shingles. It is not known if they pursued this warranty mechanism. At least two other home owners I have spoken to have decided not to install CRC (CanRoof Corporation, using the brand name "IKO") replacement shingles, and instead replaced them with a top-end GAF product.
"In walking around the neighbourhood and speaking with several different roofers, most of the problems are occurring on the south and west faces of roofs or at points where the second story gutters drain onto the first story shingles. Each roofer pointed out that we should have:
- steel sheathing in the gutter areas where the roof angles meet,
- starter strips at the edge of the roof to mitigate driven rain damage,
- much more venting, and
- second-story drainage with extra downspouts added to keep the water from running onto the first-story shingles.
Two roofers have also pointed out that we have the minimum-code tar paper underlay under the first three feet of the shingles and that this should be replaced with a rubberized ice/water shield product to improve performance in driving rain and heavy snow, along with the entire roof having a water-resistant underlay installing.
Contacts regarding what to do:
1) To make a warranty claim or pursue a lawsuit, you will need your purchase agreement or similar information from the Land Registry Office. You will need this to determine the property address as known by the Province of Ontario (not the street number). Patene Building Supplies (on Victoria St), provided the shingles and can use this information to determine the exact date of your roof's installation, the quantity of shingles used and to provide you with the paperwork to make a warranty claim.
2) As far as we can determine, all Thomasfield houses in this neighbourhood were shingled by Allan Beach Roofing, who has an excellent reputation and BBB profile. He can be reached at 519-746-0752 before about 8am. If you wish to use another roofer, check the BBB registry and search the web for customer reviews as we found a few who had warranty and quality issues.
3) The class-action lawsuit against CRC was brought by Charles M. Wright, of the law firm Siskinds LLP in London, and the court order dated July 9th, 2010. Contact Sharla Stroop at 1- 800-461-6166 x2341 for the current status. As far as we can tell, agreeing to the warranty revokes your right to also join the class-action or to start your own lawsuit.
4) CRC, the roof manufacturer is at 1-800-521-8484, and has a web page outlining the details of the warranty available at http://www.canroof.com/warranties.html. When you receive the warranty notice, return a signed copy, and the company will issue a voucher for the agreed-upon number of bundles of shingles, to be used either by yourself or a contractor. The voucher functions as payment of warranty."
Based on this information, it is likely that all Settler's Grove homes will need a new roof over the next few years. On the next nice day, take a look around your roof and look for signs of damage or leaking. Hopefully the information provided by John will help others to catch any roofing problems sooner rather than later and avoid costly interior damage.
