Question about marriage line on relocated home

[JMWhitney]

Hi all,

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

We had our home relocated from one park to another in March of 2008. We recently developed a leak through a light fixture in the ceiling in our living room. Upon going up on to the roof my husband found that when the home was rejoined at the marriage line after it was moved the installer had simply smashed a hole through the roof board every 18 inches along both sides of the peak to bolt the house together. Is this common practice, or was the installer trying to take the easy way out hoping that we would never discover their short cut? We were told by the property owners and management that this is the norm and that every relocated home in the neighbor hood is assembled in the same manner. One our neighbors homes was also relocated and upon inspection of his roof he did not find these same holes, so I'm thinking that the management/owners/installers are trying to pull a fast one on us, but I'm not sure how to handle the situation without it leading to a major expense to us.

Thanks again,
JMWhitney

[David Oxhandler]

"Smashing" holes is surely no a recommended procedure for any roof activity. There are some roof systems that do require lags or bolts to "snug" the two sections of roof together at the peak. In that case it is generally accepted practice to back the lags or bolts out and reset them in the same holes when reassembling the home.

There is no common practice that includes making any holes in a roof that are not flashed and/or sealed against leaks prior to completion of the project. Ask the installer to return and install a new roof cap at the peak wide enough to cover any places where the center line was punctured. There is no excuse for leaving a leaky roof.center line was punctured. There is no excuse for leaving a leaky roof.