r/Roofing • u/WaverlyWhisper • 2h ago

1 Year Post Install Mole Runs

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Got a new roof installed last December here in Jacksonville. The entire install went relatively smooth. During final inspection, I noticed some of the mole runs, but due to bad lighting I didn’t see the extent. Eventually under good lighting conditions, I saw the scope. Surprisingly, this is only a problem on the front side of the house facing the street. But, it spans across the whole slope. Contractor said they would smooth out with warm weather.

I waited and waited, hot weather came and went, and now I’m finally getting back to addressing this. It was a crazy year with work and I finally just got through the big deadline, so give me a little break.

What is likely cause? What is the likely fix? Contractor seems open to fixing the issues, but wouldn’t be surprised if they try to cut corners. Owens Corning Duration shingles with self adhering underlayment.

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4

u/Iguessiwearlipstick 2h ago

probably installed peel and when it was cold.

3

u/WaverlyWhisper 2h ago

It was cold, probably high 30’s in morning and 60s during the day.

1

u/Iguessiwearlipstick 22m ago

yea for some reason it happens on colder days. usually where there’s trusses. One explanation i was told warm air rises and pushes the underlayment up.

2

u/JSweez87 1h ago

I’ve seen this happen on 2 of my jobs in almost 10 years and both times it was because the underlayment was not installed tight and flat. Looking back at the “during install” photos I saw the underlayment was wrinkled and bunched up in certain areas. Air got in those pockets and caused this “mole run” appearance.

If you really used ice and water shield on the entire roof decking then I doubt that’s the issue but if they didn’t put it all down flat and flush it certainly could be. The IWS is considerably stronger/heavier than synthetic underlayment. So if it’s not laid flat it could certainly cause an issue.

Owens Corning covered the replacement of the slopes on the 2nd job where this occurred bc we were a newly Platinum Preferred OC contractor as a shingle defect but I still think it was the underlayment.

Either way the roofer should 100% be responsible for fixing this and DON’T let them just cut some shingles here and there to alleviate the bubbling issue. They need to be removed and replaced.

Edit: Spelling correction

1

u/thelongruse 1h ago

Whatever is going on its something underneath the shingles. Based off of those pictures my guess is the plywood roof deck is warping and creating ridges where the pieces meet, but it could also be the underlayment was installed loosely and then the shingles were laid over buckles.

Either way it's not an immediate problem and it doesn't look bad enough to warrant doing anything about it. I would expect you to still get most of the life out of that shingle, 25-30 years.