I bought a house that needed a new roof last April, and had a contractor install it in May (10 months ago). I'm in Wisconsin, and now that the snow is melted my husband and I noticed that a part of the shingles are buckling in an area. My husband got up on the roof and pushed on it, and he said it's pulled away from the roof structure. I plan on contacting our contractor right away, but need some advice first. (The contractor is my sister-in-law's brother, and we already had a lot of issues with workmanship with in-home remodeling that he did at the same time as the roof, and really regret hiring almost-family) Our roof is on a loan, and he signed a contract guaranteeing workmanship for a year. Basically I want to know what the PROPER way to fix this issue is?? Should that whole side of the house be re-shingled? I don't want it "fixed" only to be a problem again when I'm not under contractor warranty. I'm pretty sure he's going to want to fix it cheaply, and I want to know what is RIGHT. (I don't want to be lied to about how to fix it--or have him say it's normal or something since I'm a female and he talks to me like I don't know anything, I think) Also, what could have caused this?? Please help!!! (I tried attaching the best pictures I could get---the sun was making the pictures not turn out)

 

Welcome to the forums! It appears his valley weave was too tightly installed, or there is no proper flashing down the valley, allowing your snow and other moisture to eke its way under the shingles. There may be decking issues as well. Before the warranty is up, I would locate one or two reputable roofers to take a look at it and have them give estimates for repairs. You will, then be able to negotiate with the original roofer with better knowledge as to what happened and what needs to be done.

 

The uneven shadow indicates to me that there are other problems besides simple shingle installation issues. Did the Klutz do any sheathing replacement work in addition to installing shingles? Can you access the underside of the problem area (in the attic) for a closer look at the details of what might be going on?

My guess is that Mr. Klutz will blame the extensive, cold winter for causing your roof problems, rather than admitting he might have screwed something up. I have friends and relatives in the Sheboygan area who've recently mentioned how severe this winter has been there.

 

I'll put my money on they skimped on the number of nails per shingle. On 3 tab, you pretty much nave to put 4 nails in, architectural shingles are a solid piece back with an overlay to provide relief and texture. Could easily have only used 3 per shingle (or at least in that area). You can lift each shingle carefully and check to see. Also, the roof was put down in May and hot shingles are very pliable when in the sun. When cold, they are stiff as a board. They probably will sit down once the weather warms up. That is when you want to attempt repairs, when the shingles are pliable and not stiff. Stiff shingles will break when you try to lift and add additional fasteners.

 

Cold shingles (installed in cold weather) will buckle when they heat up and expand. Wrinkles in the felt paper can do the same thing. That's not what has happened here if the wrinkle is "new". I am guessing that maybe it could be the nailing... kind of like czizzi was saying. Sometimes a roofer doesn't want to nail too close to the valley and so will skimp on the nails there, making a loose tail end of a shingle, or maybe one with only one nail in it when it needs more. So to me, it looks like snow or ice in the valley sliding downhill has pulled the tail end of the shingles down slightly in the valley, making a wrinkle. This would be the case if the factory end of the shingle is just to the left of the wrinkle, as shown in your picture. The tail end of the shingle to the right of the wrinkle is what has sagged, or pulled loose from it's nails- or maybe wasn't nailed at all. I know that if you're not paying attention, you might not always notice when your gun runs out of nails. (the klutz? LOL)

The solution is probably fairly simple and isn't anything you need to make a huge issue of, provided he makes it right. You just need to convince him to come fix it. Nails can also blow through the shingle if they are set too deep (air gun nails will sometimes be driven too deep and can go right through the shingle- or nearly through- if there is a void under the shingle or if it's really hot out when they are being installed. Then it doesn't take much to pull the shingle off the nail head.)