CHICAGO (CBS) –Buying a new home is often comforting and sometimes comes with a roof house guarantee.
But several suburban homeowners are enraged after having to perform costly roof repairs.
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Now these homeowners are turning to CBS 2 investigators for help.
Amy Martino shares the nightmare she has struggled with since buying her new home. She says her shingles are coming off.
“I was happy to be in our new house at the time, but now I am shocked that our new house has a huge problem,” said Martino.
Another homeowner, who was dealing with the same problem, said roof issues were unexpected given the new condition of their home.
“They don’t expect major repairs in the first 10 years or so,” said TJ O’Hanlon.
O’Hanlon has more than $ 1,200 in expenses paid for roof repairs.
He takes out one of the bills and says it’s his fourth.
In March, O’Hanlon’s neighbor took a video of his roof shingles blowing in the wind.
The faulty roof is still visible two months later. Blue tarpaulins cover his and some of his neighbors’ houses.
Roof repair specialist Dean Helfers said he has done 32 roof repairs in the same relatively new part of Oswego in the past three or four weeks.
“I’ve never seen it where you’ve had to do multiple repairs on brand new roofs,” said Helfers.
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Shingles should stay attached to each other and roof for at least 15 years if properly installed.
According to the helper, the blown shingles show signs of inadequate installation.
“Here’s a bottom clapboard – it’s nailed too high,” he said, indicating a bad installation. “High nailing can reduce the strength of the seal, resulting in poor adhesion.”
Martino said she felt her roofing problems match the definition of a construction defect set out in her 10 year home warranty.
“If that stuff wasn’t nailed properly, it has to be on them,” Martino said. “It can be impossible just because a wind storm got through.”
A brochure on the roofer’s website states that the roofs can withstand winds of at least 110 miles per hour.
The weather data for March, when homeowners say the last damage has occurred, shows the highest sustained wind speed hit at 41 mph. The strongest gust was 60 mph that month.
The client refused to cover the repairs.
“I think they should be the ones to fix the problem and they refuse,” Martino said.
Since CBS 2 recorded a video of the roof issues, four homeowners have received new roofs that have been insured for.
However, they still paid the bill for their deductibles because the builder declined the warranty claim.
Residential building codes require roofs to withstand winds of 85 miles per hour.
After our phone calls, the building contractor K. Hovnanian agreed to take a second look at the demands of the homeowners.
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