Grounded Home Inspectors Raise Concerns

We had a saying in my aviation squadron that “there is always enough time to do it right the second time.” Cutting corners was not
option with lives at stake. Unfortunately, some roofers don’t have this mentality and a quick job may be prioritized over a quality job. A common problem we have been finding with new roofs, is over driven nails. Luckily, for these hasty roofers, there is an equal number of hurried home inspectors who briskly scan the roof from the ground, and won’t be able to observe the defects.

Over driven roof nails

So what is the problem with over driven nails?

An over driven nail is when the nail head sinks into the shingle, instead of being flush with the surface of the shingle. The problem is that shingles will have less wind resistance and will be more prone to blowing off. In worst case scenarios, the nail will go all the way through the shingle greatly diminishing its wind resistance. The photo on the right is from a recent inspection. The roof already had three repairs. If no repairs are made to correct this condition, my client would most likely have his own repairs to pay for down the road.

There is no easy repair that I know of. The man hours involved in correcting this would make the cost very high. Home inspectors who refuse to walk any roof are missing this defect. Anytime its safe to do so, we inspect the roof from on the roof and find these conditions for our clients.