Condo Media - February 2013 - 34

COVER STORY

they are the source of so many problems and because the problems can be
so costly to fix. Noblin, principal in
Noblin & Associates, a consulting
engineering firm, sees countless roofs
on which the developers have cut corners — using four nails (the standard
pattern) rather than six (hurricane
strength) to secure shingles to the
frame.
Shingling in the fall or winter, when
it isn’t warm enough to activate the
self-sealing strips that bind the shingles, is another common shortcoming,
Noblin says — producing roofs that
are not nearly as wind-resistant as they
need to be. Regular inspections
(Noblin thinks they should be annual)
will identify loose, missing or damaged
shingles so the roof can be repaired or
replaced before it begins to leak or
blows off in substantial chunks in a
major storm. You don’t have to wait
for the annual inspection to spot
potential problems, Noblin points out.

“Just look at the roof on a windy day.
If you see any fluttering at all, that’s a
ticking time bomb.”
The annual roof inspection should
focus not just on the shingles themselves, but on what is — or isn’t —
under them. “You need some secondary protection” to keep the water
out if the shingles blow off, Noblin
explains. And in cold climates like New
England, he says, the barrier should be
an ice and water shield to prevent ice
dams, as well as water leaks.
Condominium communities that
have been suffering from the results of
developer cost-cutting shouldn’t
repeat those mistakes when they
replace their roofs, Noblin advises.
Instead of choosing the least expensive
options (the default decision for many
boards), Noblin suggests a thicker leak
barrier than the building code requires
(“The code isn’t nearly strict enough,”
he says) and longer lasting, wind-resistant shingles. They only add about 10

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34

CONDO MEDIA • FEBRUARY 2013

percent to the cost, he says, but they
add significantly to the overall
strength, leak- and wind-resistance of
the roof.

The Ice Pick Test
Exterior walls, like roofs, also need
periodic inspections to identify problems hidden beneath the surface. The
rotting trim is easy to spot, but “it
takes more of a trained eye,” Noblin
says, to identify the rot that has spread
to the sheathing under it. He uses the
“ice pick test” to persuade board
members that painting or replacing
the trim won’t take care of the problem. When a six-inch ice pick sinks
through a ¾-inch piece of trim and
into what should be a solid area
behind it, Noblin says, “that makes
the point.”
The underlying rot, which some
boards prefer to ignore, is “insidious,” Noblin says. Left unchecked, it
will allow water to permeate the exte-
Condo Media - February 2013

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