Lightweight concrete (asbestos?) tile recall?

[Richard Moore]

Just got a request to do another inspection for a client from July. Evidently, the first deal fell through, in large part, due to the roof damage. 1981 home with concrete/cement/asbestos tiles, MANY of which were cracked or damaged (reported in need of repair as well as full roof evaluation).

Now I knew enough not to try to walk this particular roof but the client says the roofer said the tiles were defective and recalled. I don't know the actual name of the product and I've tried googling and searching for the recall with no sucess.

For my future information, anyone familiar with these? Thanks.

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[Jim Katen]

Cemwood?

Permatek?

http://0061d49.netsolhost.com/identify.html

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Richard Moore]

Yup, that's the puppy. Looks like more of a class action settlement than a recall.

http://www.cemwoodclaims.com/

Thanks Jim (you're the best).

[msteger]

Can't say I've ever see asbestos shingles like that in my neck of the woods. Must be a left-coast thing.

[hausdok]

Hi,

That's because they aren't asbestos and never have been. They use processed wood fiber mixed with silica sand and Portland cement, just like Hardiplank does.

Richard didn't say that they were asbestos shingles; he more or less asked in parenthesis if they were.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Richard Moore]

I'd never seen these before, but it was very obvious they had issues. It was only about a 6:12 roof, but I wasn't even slightly tempted to walk it. Frankly, I don't know how they initially installed the darn things without damaging the lower courses.

Anyway...I did get some more info from my client. They were indeed Cemwood. Seems that my client and the seller couldn't come to terms on the remedy and the deal fell through. I just looked up the county files on the place and saw that it did eventually sell (close) in late September. I hope that new buyer had an inspection.

[Dale McNutt]

Here is a photo update to this 2+ year old topic.

In fire-dangerous So Cal, Cemwood, Cal Shake, Masonite, etc. were hawked by salesmen cashing in on the wood shake/shingle roof scare. If you stand on a roof in some of the more exclusive, hillside homes, you can see that many neighbors installed the same product. Cemwood was a big seller. It is junk.

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BTW, the California wood shake hysteria was especially frustrating for me. In 1979 I built a home in a heavily forested area in CA. The HOA where my lot was located strictly enforced the CC&R's. The CC&R's only permitted medium or heavy cedar shakes. I wanted to go with comp. I tried to reason with them but their big retort was, "if we all did it, then you should too". After closely reading the CC&R's, there was also a clause in there that said you could not sell your property to a "colored person". Another lesson in life. Read the stuff you agree to. Six years after I built it, they changed the roof requirements. I moved just before that.

[hausdok]

Hi Dale,

1979? I'm pretty sure that kind of a racist clause was illegal under federal law even as far back as 1979. You probably could have sued and had the whole contract thrown out.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Dale McNutt]

Mike,

I am sure you are correct about the grounds for a lawsuit. At age 27 with a wife that was tired of the snow and two small kids, a lawsuit was the furthest thing from my mind. Besides, I had 3 jobs "shelled in" for the winter and clients that were constantly pressuring me to get done. Hell, I made mistakes back then in building that I realize now as an inspector. I would not never trade what I do now for what I did then, but the experience was invaluable.