# Regards to Tamko Warranty



## LA_nailer (May 10, 2008)

First off, in 3 years of business i've never had to inquire about a warranty on shingles of any brand i've used (tamko, c-teed, oc, AP) so i'm unsure on the protocol of this.

Here's the story.

Did a new constuction 48 square roof about 4 weeks ago. About 2 weeks after completion we had a semi-strong line of thunderstorms move through. Well 10 of the ridge shingles that were nailed into the ridge vent blew off. The H/O (who is GC-ing the house himself) contacts me, i go out there. Needless to say, the problem with the shingles that blew off was the tar strip on the shingles were not sticky/tacky at all. This greatly confused me as, it was about 80-85 degrees when the shingles were installed and there has been numerous 90+ degree days since completion. This greatly concerned me!! To fix the problem I first put a strip of tar directly on the ridge vent. Then i renailed each shingle and put a strip of tar on top of the manufacturs' tar strip, then nailed the next shingle. Then i went along all of the hips/ridges and pulled on the tabs to see if the others were seeled down. And there were some(15-20) that were not, so i put beads of tar under those also.

Well, yesterday, i receive a call from the H/O. He found a hip/ridge shingle in the grass near the house. I went out there a few hours ago and found that 1 ridge shingle blew off. This shingle had the same problem, the tar strip was not sticky, and the tar itself was hard as a rock and almost looks brittle.

Note, this problem is only with the shingles that around nailed on top of the ridge vent, all other shingles are supurbly sealed down.

I've come to the conclusion that this must be a manufactur's defect with the shingles, and would like TAMKO to pay for replacement. I just don't feel i should have to pay the $700 for new ridge vents and hip/ridge shingles to go on top of them, not to mention 6-8 hours of my time.

Here's the DILLEMMA.

The tamko warranty states "The Owner must notify TAMKO by certified mail". The problem is i don't have time to WAIT for mail to get to tamko, have tamko come to inspect the site, and then approve or dissapprove the claim. The H/O wants this thing fixed and I don't want more shingles to be blown off the next rain we get.

Should i just go ahead and fix the problem out of my pocket, and document all the work i do with pictures and/or video camera? And save all the hip/ridge shingles so they can be inspected (just not while they are applied to the roof).

Or, should i write to TAMKO and WAIT for them?
If the answer is write to tamko, could i get some insight on the protocol of what to write to them. Should i send samples of the shingles and a History of the problem in a letter, or just a letter. Are there any tips for how to write the letter to give the claim a better chance of being accepted?

ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!


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## Brock (Dec 16, 2007)

Don't bother. I had a tamko roof fail to seal down this year already. Wind blowing tabs up until they tear off. Had to go back out twice and replace the affected area. I just went ahead and sealed down the unattached tabs with tar out of caulking gun. No problems since. I wouldn't even waste my time contacting them. Unfortunately Tamko is too big and they don't care about guys like you and me.


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## LA_nailer (May 10, 2008)

bump


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## johnk (Apr 23, 2007)

There is a respected forum member on here that I believe uses Tamko and I don't think he would use them if there warranties weren't any good.He comes around often,I won't mention any names cause that's how I am but he will read this post I'm sure and get back to you soon.Just try to be patient-John


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## Ed the Roofer (Dec 12, 2006)

How strong were the highest reported wind gusts during the wind storm?

Check with the NWS archived records for the daily reports.

They are only warranted up to a certain wind speed.

Did you use their perforated Hip and Ridge cap shingles ot similar colored 3-tab shingles for the cap?

Will the job leak during the waiting period?

The home owners home insurance policy may have to kick in or else your own completed products liability insurance policy, but you and he will both have deductibles anyways, so is it worth it to have that small of a claim?

I would first have the home owner call for a warranty package and see how long it would take, but ensure that the roof will not leak in the interim.

Ed


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## LA_nailer (May 10, 2008)

Neither windstorm had winds over 60mph, i checked that after the first storm came through.

Yes, i used the perforated H/R shingles.

The job has not leaked at all despite the shingles being blow off during the rain, so no, it won't leak.

Any thoughts on why it's only the H/R shingles that are nailed to the ridge vent? Because the hips are sealed just fine.

thanks, for the replies everyone.


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## Ed the Roofer (Dec 12, 2006)

Usually the perforated specialty H & R caps do not have sealant on them at all. Did yours?

The wind at the peak of the roof created an uplift as it creates a cyclonic affect as it passes over the apex of the roof.

Ed


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## LA_nailer (May 10, 2008)

yes, they have a tar strip similar to that of a 3-tab.


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## Patrick (Apr 12, 2006)

Your supplier should be able to handle this for you. Anytime we have had a problem, they have given us new material, and billed it to Tamko.


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## LA_nailer (May 10, 2008)

Patrick, talked to the supplier today and no luck.

anybody else got an opinion on what i should do?


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## Patrick (Apr 12, 2006)

LA_nailer said:


> Patrick, talked to the supplier today and no luck.
> 
> anybody else got an opinion on what i should do?


What do you mean no luck? Thats their job!! Do you have a salesman? If you do any type of business, and there is a legit problem, your salesrep, as well as the local tamko rep should be out on that roof. Who is your supplier?


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## Ed the Roofer (Dec 12, 2006)

Buy some more ridge cap and seal any loose tabs you find and replace what is necessarry at this time.

Where did you nail the caps in and with what size nails?

Did the nails penetrate through deep enough to exit the underside of the plywood decking by at least 1/4"? Also, with your nail placement, did you ensure that the nails went through both layers of cap shingles?

Fix it quickly, even if there is more problems down the road and at least appease the customer you were doing the work for, at least for the time being.

Only small splotches of sealant though, as too large of a dollup can eat through the shingles due to the solvents that need to flash out of it.

Ed


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## Patrick (Apr 12, 2006)

Ed, have you ever had caps blow off on you? FWIW, We have never had an issue with caps... We always buy H&R though. I know a lot of guys just get three tabs, and infact our supplier will give you three tabs unless you specify H&R. But we sell our roofs as a system, so the customers know they are getting real H&R and every other detail to spec.


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## Ed the Roofer (Dec 12, 2006)

The H & R caps we get, or at least the last time I checked and looked, do NOT have a sealant strip on them.

For the few colors that are an exact match from the Heritage line to the Tamko Elite 3-tab line, I prefer the 3-tabs just because they do have the sealant strip. Other than those few colors, I always use the Specialty Cap Accessory shingles.

Other than that, I can think of 2-3 instances over the past 10 years or so, that a brand new install had 1 or just a few caps get blown off from a pretty heavy wind storm, right after we installed them, but never months or years down the road.

Ed


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## LA_nailer (May 10, 2008)

patrick. I do not go through a tamko sales rep. I go though a local roofing warehouse that supplies tamko products. I forgot to mention they suggested just fixing it "out right" but enacting the warranty so that if the claim is excepted, the H/O will pay me for the fix. One look at the shingle i brought in and the owner of the warehouse said the shingle was bad.

BTW, I hand nail the H/R shingles onto the ridge vent with 3inch roofing nails (the tamko ridge vent said to use at least 2 1/2 inch nails).

I'm on my way out there now to replace the ridge vents (i never reuse them) and the H/R to go ontop of them.

OH and ed, if you want, i can post some pics of the Tamko H/R shingles with the tar strip on them.


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## Ed the Roofer (Dec 12, 2006)

Go ahead and post the pictures.

We are capping a job off today, so I will take a look and shoot a photo if they do not have a tar strip on them.

Ed


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## Ed the Roofer (Dec 12, 2006)

I just checked. Yes, they do have tar strips for sealing on them. Shows you what I know and my forman says they have been that way from Tamko since he started working foe me 10 1/2 years ago.

Ed


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## Patrick (Apr 12, 2006)

LA_nailer said:


> patrick. I do not go through a tamko sales rep. I go though a local roofing warehouse that supplies tamko products. I forgot to mention they suggested just fixing it "out right" but enacting the warranty so that if the claim is excepted, the H/O will pay me for the fix. One look at the shingle i brought in and the owner of the warehouse said the shingle was bad.
> \


Thats my point!!! Its the salesman from the warehouses job to call the tamko rep and say "hey we got some bad stuff here, come check it out" I cant imagine having a legit problem, and having one of our suppliers just leave us hanging to take care of things on our own.


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## jlsch1 (Jun 12, 2008)

*Patrick is right*

I am a roofing supply salesman in Baton Rouge, LA. It is our job to call the mfg rep once we are notified by our customer he or she is having problems. Your supply house needs to call the representative immediately due to these things do at times take some time to get the claim going if one is justified. Most supply houses have good relationships with the representatives over lumber yards due to our volume and we see these guys on a weekly basis. 

1. Sometimes they require pictures and samples, so if you fix it without that you maybe out of luck. Check with your supply house. Don't know Tamko's policy but before you fix it if you want have the supply house contact the rep so if you need pictures or someone to verify the problem. This covers you by saying I did everything you wanted in following the procedures of filing this claim.

Yes, it is your salesman or supply house mgr's responsibility to notify the mfg rep and help solve the problem.


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## LA_nailer (May 10, 2008)

let me appologize for taking so long to get back with this. I've been very busy since tuesday.

the first pic is what the strip is supposed to look like, as this is fresh out of the package

the second pic is a shingle that blew off.

BTW, i've decided to just take this as a loss. I've come to the conclusion that it's my fault and i will take responsibility. I should have never nailed these on without taking a good look at them before application.


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