4 year old shingle roof bubbling

[ordpete944]

Four years ago my house and garage were rebooted. This was about one year before I purchased. It was a complete tear off. Full length ridge vents were added and the house has fully vented soffits.

I am in central Florida. In the winter, the roof is flat. But come summer time, the temps rise and bubbles start appearing. I haven't noticed any water leaks in the areas of the bubbling. Both the house and detached garage have this, but to a lesser extent.

I am concerned that there may be roofing nails pulling out or pulled through when this happens. Any roofers on here that can comment and steer me in the correct direction? Were the shingles installed too tightly in colder weather and the hotter weather is causing normal expansion?

I had a soft spot that was replaced (2 ft x 4 ft) a few months after I moved in by the roofing company that did the work. They were pleasant to work with and didn't fight me at all. I just want to know what I'm in for before I call so I don't get fed a line of BS.

I have a moderate knowledge of roofing and did the roof on my attached build 10 years ago. I never had any issues similar to this.

Thanks all.

 

[ordpete944]

First one didn't upload

 

[ordpete944]

Let's try this again

 

[The Cobbler]

to me, it looks like it might be a sheet of plywood lifting at a seam . do you know if it was it re sheathed or rotted plywood replaced when shingled?

 

[ybnormal]

I googled "why do roof shingles bubble"

[Guide] What is Roof Blistering and Is It a Cause For Concern?

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colonyroofers.com

Roof blistering is a common issue that can occur with asphalt shingles. This happens when gas, air, or moisture gets trapped in the shingles, creating a bubble in the asphalt.

Are Blistering Shingles on My Roof Cause for Concern? (Steps to Repair)

Do your asphalt roof shingles have dark, coin-sized blisters or pock marks? Call our roofing contractors in Central Illinois at Sundown Exteriors at (309) 275-6801 for a roof inspection and diagnosis today! If you have asphalt shingles on your home, you will probably deal with blistering...

sundownexteriors.com

Trapped moisture and poor ventilation cause blistering on roof shingles.

Blistering Roof Shingles | Why Do Roof Shingles Blister?

Learn more about blistering roof shingles. How to identify, why they happen, what to do. Created by Roofpedia

www.roofpedia.com

Trapped Moisture in the Shingles
Poorly Ventilated Roofs

 

[Sinatra]

The whole roof doesn’t look right to me. Normally, seams on consecutive courses aren’t supposed to line up like they are in the lower left corner of your photo. And then there’s some random small pieces that look like fill-ins. Are these standard three-tab shingles? There isn’t a pattern to the installation.

 

[The Cobbler]

^^^ good catch, I agree with your post

 

[PCustoms]

The whole roof doesn’t look right to me. Normally, seams on consecutive courses aren’t supposed to line up like they are in the lower left corner of your photo. And then there’s some random small pieces that look like fill-ins. Are these standard three-tab shingles? There isn’t a pattern to the installation.

There's something off, thought it was the picture at first but you pointed out some other things.

Do the shingles look super thick too?

 

[kngelv]

I am not seeing ridge vents. I hope you don't have the thick black piece of nylon that some roofing companies use instead of an actual ridge vent. You also need to make sure they did not block the soffits with mis-installed baffles.

James

 

[manwithtools]

Yes, something is whack-a-doodle with that installation. The "bubbling" is likely do to the sheathing being installed with no gaps between sheets. When it get's hot, everything expands and there is no gaps to allow for that expansion. I would consult another roofing company before you contact the crew that did this work so you have an educated opinion on what to do to correct your issues.

 

[pcmeiners]

"Normally, seams on consecutive courses aren’t supposed to line up like they are in the lower left corner of your photo."

Wow, I did not notice that at first. There is no repair to that issue.

 

[wrenchguy]

shingle rain gutters not staggered correctly, maybe leaking in the area that looks like the sheeting boiling up. what about other roof areas?

 

[Firebrick43]

If they would only read the wrapper on the shingles.

 

[ordpete944]

The whole roof doesn’t look right to me. Normally, seams on consecutive courses aren’t supposed to line up like they are in the lower left corner of your photo. And then there’s some random small pieces that look like fill-ins. Are these standard three-tab shingles? There isn’t a pattern to the installation.

They are architectural shingles.

 

[ordpete944]

The plywood sheathing had very few areas replaced. The House is 24 years old.

There is plastic ridge venting. The problem is the entire roof is a hip roof so the actual ridge is only 25 feet wide for 2600 ft. Vented soffit runs the entire house including 2 gables.

The roofing company is a major player in my area so I'm interested to see what they say. Obviously the foreman wasn't paying attention.

 

[58Yeoman]

What? Wait a minute. You have cool weather in Florida?

 

[The Cobbler]

there doesn't seem to be a flashing / wasn't cut in right ... on the plumbing vent to the right of the picture either

 

[egdede]

Those don't look right, almost as if someone installed 3-tab shingles but cut them down in a random pattern and over lapped them in an attempt to make them look like 'architectural' shingles. Maybe it's because I haven't had my reading glass prescription filled in a couple of years : )

 

[mm08822]

I've seen wet #15 tar paper wrinkle and cause rolling surfaces for 3 tab shingles applied on top of it. More subtle but noticable just the same.
Also a bulge can be created when correcting the roll out path of "Ice & Water" barrier can do that same thing as pictured.

But this entire roof is really odd. As others have stated:

• Those shingles are not any architectural grade product I've ever seem. The cost difference can be as much as 33% greater than 3 tab.
• 3 tab product trimmed for random pattern. Creative, but f'd up. Even if end cuts of shingles aren't overlapping, roofing nails still require minimum coverage to prevent rusting.
• No vent stack flashing (or trimmed out in a strange way)
• High wind areas really do need architectural grade shingles for more durability.
• Roofing nails on 3 tab shingles in high wind areas need to be 6 per shingle. Don't use staples.
• 3 tab shingle exposure should be reduced to ~4.5"/course for additional durability. 5 - 5.5" is trouble.

You should go up on roof and take pics of the vent stack flashing, shingle pattern/end-cut alignment, nailing practices, nail offset from tabs.
Was there any drip edge used, starter course material?

 

[mm08822]

If they would only read the wrapper on the shingles.

That would require time and probably more $$ than was ever planned for materials.

This job just looks like someone pulled a fast one - max $$$, least amount of time and materials.

 

[PCustoms]

Those don't look right, almost as if someone installed 3-tab shingles but cut them down in a random pattern and over lapped them in an attempt to use up all th leftovers from previous jobs

FIFY

 

[Evilunclegrimace]

Those are most definitely NOT architectural shingles. They are 3 tab that are not properly installed. This is what Architectural shingles look like'

 

[mike93lx]

All I see in those pics is a tear off and redo. That looks terrible. Sorry

 

[BillK]

How difficult is it to get into the attic and see if you can tell if the sheathing is pulling up from the framing ? That would give you some idea as to the solution.

 

[mepstein]

I’m not a roofer and even to me it looks wrong.

 

[cgrutt]

As others have said those look like 3-tab shingles to me and they definitely don't appear to have been laid correctly. Even if they are architectural (which I don't think they are) you shouldn't have any stacked seams. Hard to tell from pic but it looks to me like there are about six courses directly above the problem area where the seams are almost directly in a line. My guess is you're getting water under the shingles (possibly trapped between the shingle and underlayment) and its heating up and gassing under the problem area and lifting shingles. Glue down underlayment such as ice & water can also do that if it wasn't laid properly but I don't think that's the issue here. It almost looks like they started laying courses from both sides of the roof and had to cut shingles in the middle to fit. There are a few sections that look like a third or less of a tab. Seams should definitely not be stacked in a vertical line. In my opinion that needs to be torn off and put down again following standard pattern. Good luck.

 

[pcmeiners]

"They are architectural shingles."

Look at the pictures again, notice there are multiple pattern changes in different areas of the roof, nothing to do with architectural singles, just completely inept roofing.

 

[dcg9381]

How difficult is it to get into the attic and see if you can tell if the sheathing is pulling up from the framing ? That would give you some idea as to the solution.

This. Can you get a picture from the underside (attic side) of that area?

 

[ybnormal]

As others have said those look like 3-tab shingles to me and they definitely don't appear to have been laid correctly. Even if they are architectural (which I don't think they are) you shouldn't have any stacked seams. Hard to tell from pic but it looks to me like there are about six courses directly above the problem area where the seams are almost directly in a line. My guess is you're getting water under the shingles (possibly trapped between the shingle and underlayment) and its heating up and gassing under the problem area and lifting shingles. Glue down underlayment such as ice & water can also do that if it wasn't laid properly but I don't think that's the issue here. It almost looks like they started laying courses from both sides of the roof and had to cut shingles in the middle to fit. There are a few sections that look like a third or less of a tab. Seams should definitely not be stacked in a vertical line. In my opinion that needs to be torn off and put down again following standard pattern. Good luck.

after you pointed this out I went back and looked. perspective can change depending on angle, but to me it's almost like "ok, we're going to change the way the pattern flows now" they seem to have 2 different directions going here. the bottom half is vertical seams where the top half is angled overlap

 

[cgrutt]

In general you want the diagonal overlap. The exposed seam on bottom half of shingle should always fall on solid surface on top half of the shingle below it. Otherwise there is potential for exposed seam to be sitting directly on top of the seam on shingle below it (every third "tab" on a three tab shingle). That leads to a direct path for water to get under the shingles and onto roof decking. Underlayment could be preventing water from reaching inside but that really is a second lime of defense. The hip angle on sides of OPs roof introduces another complication in getting the roofing to line up where it needs to be. The entire roof just looks off to me unfortunately I think it's a candidate for complete tearoff and redo based on pics.

 

[Walkers]

That is the worst roof job with the cheapest material I have ever seen! Call another roofing company to come and inspect and offer their quote to fix it.

 

[egdede]

.....,The roofing company is a major player in my area so I'm interested to see what they say. Obviously the foreman wasn't paying attention.

Then hopefully they will be appalled that a crew tried to pass 3-tabs as architectural shingles. I thought even the rural areas in FL had tough codes (HZ rated sheathing nails etc)? As someone noted above those fabled up 3-tabs will leak. That installation would void the manufacturer warranty. I would definitely start griping to them about my 'fake architectural shingles installed to fail'.

 

[yardiron]

My neighbor had some guy do the roof on his garage a few years ago, after a couple hot summers he had huge swells like that in the roof. It turns out they used a nail gun and most likely had the pressure turned up too high and punched all the nails nearly completely through several patches of shingles in a few spots, and they used some 'too short' nails in a few others. After four attempt to get the guy to fix it, he just made it worse. It was just as well because when they ripped it all off, they found out they didn't even overlap the felt paper, they butted up the joints and shingled over it.
I'm betting you will either find that all those shingles in that area have the nail heads punched right through, or the nails are just too short to get a good bite on the sheathing.