Is this a defective tile?

Jonathan Park · 11-06-2009, 03:03 PM

I inspected a roof yesterday that the roof tile is questionable.

It appears to be a composite type tile (not concrete or wood), and is very brittle. Needless to say, I did the inspection from the roof edge.

The question is, I am trying to identify the type for the buyer. There was a licensed contractor (doesn't say roofer) who gave a 2 year cert after doing repairs ranging $1800. However, in my inspection I still found the following:

Several cracked tiles; and even more patched/caulked tiles
Several loose hip tiles
Loose caulking of the roof-to-wall flashing and/or improper installation
Missing rake tiles (?)
Hip tiles not sealed at overlapping areas

Does anyone have any idea what type of tiles these are, and possibly how I should write it in my report?

Thanks!

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**Jim Luttrall** · 11-06-2009, 03:35 PM

Repairs are needed by a competent roofer. Short and sweet. The less said the better in some circumstances.

**Jerry Peck** · 11-06-2009, 07:10 PM

I think you may have this tile or something like it:

Cal-Shake® Shake Roofing Class Action - Product ID

American Cemwood Roofing Litigation Settlement

Jonathan Park · 11-09-2009, 12:17 PM

It looks very similar to the American Cemwood tile.

Thank you.

**Gunnar Alquist** · 11-09-2009, 05:25 PM

Jonathan,

JP is (as usual) correct. I have seen a little of this type of tile. It was a great product, just don't let it get wet.

When I see it, I advise replacement.

**John Kogel** · 11-09-2009, 09:05 PM

Originally Posted by Jonathan Park

It looks very similar to the American Cemwood tile.

Thank you.

Jonathan, I think you mean the Permatek shingles in the bottom pic, which have the shiplap-style edges. Cemwood tiles are pictured above, laid with a gap between. Yours are like Permatek, uniform widths, but the laps are reversed, so they may be one of the other brands. Be careful what you say here, and good luck!

**Richard Flores** · 11-11-2009, 10:38 PM

It amazes me how some people call themselves roofers. broken tiles, corrected with NP1, missing rake pieces, missing flashings... Before becoming an inspector, i worked at a roofing supply house and did training on proper roofing installation techniques. We would go to job sites where the "better roofers" were installing and we always found improper techniques. I guess it is the same everywhere.

Jonathan Park · 11-13-2009, 03:45 PM

John - Thank you for pointing that out about the tiles being Permatek. But wouldn't they all fall under the umbrella of Cemwood?

I finished the report but didn't say it was Cemwood; just pointed out all that I saw. I referred it to a qualified licensed roofing contractor for further review/evaluation.

Thank you everyone!

**Tim Spargo** · 11-17-2009, 12:42 AM

There's been a few that I gave a "thumbs up" to, but most of the time someone got in a hurry or similar on a roof.

As we all know, most of the larger losses on a home minus fire, are going to be moisture related. A roof is a good place to start looking.