What Does it Mean if I Find Deteriorated Roofing on the Ground?

Sometimes, I get a call from someone who says they have noticed many pieces of deteriorated roofing on the ground, or around their home.

Well, usually the first thing I tell a homeowner is not to panic, that the cause may not be catastrophic.

The fact is, I have arrived at many of these types of situations to find that the actual roof is ok, but that the ridgecaps, at the very peak of the roof, or in the case of a hip roof, the trim pieces that form the angles, have simply rotted away. How can this happen

Well, it shouldn’t! The reason for such failures was mainly due to a product, which was decorative, used extensively pretty much all over, and even though it carried a long warranty, failed miserably. The name of the product was Dura Ridge. It was manufactured by a company by the name of Ridge Manufacturing Co., and was wildly popular for years. It’s purpose was to add a decorative, woodsy look to what, back in the day, were rather plain, drab looking asphalt shingles. It was very successfully sold as having the same warranty as the shingles themselves, and really did add substantially to the appearance of the roof on which it was used.

Then disaster! One by one, the product failed, until finally litigation forced the closing of it’s manufacturer. Because the product failure was exactly that, a product failure, and not a workmanship issue, the homeowner was left holding the bag, although a lot of contractors, my company included, replaced the faulty caps at a reasonable cost to the consumer.

The good news is that often times, the shingles upon which the ridgecaps were installed were still in good shape, thereby allowing just the caps themselves, rather than the entire roof, to be replaced. My company has performed many of these types of repairs.

So, how does one avoid this issue going forward? The simplest way is to insist that your new roof be installed as a system, supplied by one specific manufacturer, who will guarantee the entire system, not excluding any components manufactured by others. In this way you can be assured that you will be protected.

If signs of this type of problem ever do rear their ugly heads, remember, don’t panic!

Call Raneri and Long, we’ll solve the problem professionally and honorably.