Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How can I tell if my roofing is pine or cedar?
A. Contact your builder, a roofer, or go to the "Resources/Links" page and call up a reference link to see the photos there. (If you have visible damage already, your roofing will look like the pictures!)

Q. "Who Ya Gonna Call"?
A. Our recommendation is that you contact the ARCA: Alberta Roofing Contractors Association, and obtain qualified inspections and repairs.

Q. What can be done about this problem?
A. Following an inspection by a roofing company, you will be given a choice of: replacing just the damaged shakes; replacing damaged shakes and spraying the rooftop with a "fungus killing" spray; or replacing the whole roof with something else.

Q. Is the spray tested and proven? What is the warranty on it? Is it going to be effective?
A. Before May '98, the spray (PQ57) had never been tested in Alberta. It was supposed to be applied at high pressure, but we have learned that an ordinary garden-type hand sprayer is being employed. The advertised warranty is five years. The instructions from the manufacturer of PQ57 state: "all surfaces must be thoroughly saturated". We wonder how the spray can penetrate to those areas affected by the rot which are on the bottom of the shakes . . . One must question why a homeowner would throw away good money after bad (we make a mistake chosing untreated pine shakes over cedar).
Read for yourself the information we received from the manufacturer. And then, link off to Moe Madsen's impression of the spraying procedure for some good insights.

Q. How old are the rooftops with damage, and what is the extent of the damage?
A. There is some obvious damage on some rooftops as "young" as six years old. Some homes in certain areas appear to be affected more than others; and some areas appear to be suffering more than other areas. We have even seen visible damage on the roof of a "new" showhome in Cochrane, AB (GlenEagles) - it has untreated pine shakes!

Q. Is TPS (Treated Pine Spruce) a good replacement to go to?
A. We don't know; the building code was changed on June 1st, 1998 to specify pressure treatment for any pine shakes used for roofing . . . However, TPS is a "mixed species" nature, meaning it has other woods besides pine, such as spruce. TPS has not been CSA approved! [See our concerns about TPS on the "What's New" page of our web site.]

Q. Who is responsible for this problem?
A. We're not sure, but we believe that the Government of Alberta is primarily responsible. We've been told that the government pressured the builders into using the pine shakes in order to stimulate the Alberta Forestry industry. We know that the government had not adequately tested the untreated pine shakes. (Other people suggest that the manufacturer(s) of the shakes should cover the premature replacement - including removal, dumping fees, "builders felt", and labour costs for installation. However, most of them have gone out of business, and most homeowners cannot prove who manufactured their rotting shakes.)

We believe that the Government of Alberta went above and beyond their mandate as a provincial government in many ways, but failed to protect consumers in other ways. Alberta Labour claims that "health and safety is their only concern", but they got involved in marketing strategy and lost about 1/4 billion dollars of the taxpayers' money to support a product that they have recently claimed they knew to be sub-standard! As well, the government made many mistakes in the testing (and lack of proper testing) of the untreated pine product; and ignored the warnings and cautions given to them by credible sources.

Q. Why should taxpayers throughout Alberta end up covering some of the costs for dealing with this problem?
A. If our Provincial Government accepts responsibility for the problem of untreated pine shakes rotting over our heads, it will be based on their review of the documentation we have referred them to - which has led us to believe that the government of the day failed to protect us from what has been termed "consumer fraud".

The issue of durability has to be taken into account in the Alberta Building Code, and Alberta Labour is in the best position to enforce that criteria. If the status quo is maintained, more consumers will be "stung" by using other building materials which won't be adequately tested, and the potential exists that all Albertans will at some time or other be adversely affected by this fundamental flaw in our governing body.

Compensating Albertans for the mistakes made by their government in this issue is the right thing to do.

Q. How are we approaching the issue?
A. Our preference is to negotiate with the government we have elected. If negotiations are not possible, or if they break down, or if after the negotiations are over there is no offer of compensation, we would be forced to take our government to court.

Q. Are we collecting money for the legal battle now?
A. No. Hopefully we won't have to go to court to obtain compensation.

Q. What about the 25 year warranty certificates some of us received when we took possession of our houses from the builder?
A. The fine print on most warranty certificates indicates that replacement is covered, but not labour. The estimate of labour charges for some homes has been anywhere from $400 to $5,500, just to replace the damanged shakes!

Q. Is the damage to my rooftop limited to what I can see (dark spots/split shakes)? A. No! We have documentation which indicates that the damage you see is really only the "tip of the iceberg"!

[Some folks have decided to replace their whole rooftops, despite a "conservative" estimate of damage by the inspector for the shake manufacturing company's "offshoot" company . . . They found that there was "considerably more damage" than was evident from a visual inspection of the top surfaces.]

Q. Does the provincial government know about this issue, and if so, what are they doing about it?
A. The Official Opposition brought it to their attention during Question Period on March 5 & 6, 1998. Read it for yourself, the Minister of Labour didn't even know his department gave approval for the use of building materials! Unfortunately, the Liberals didn't get answers to their questions, including whether there may be compensation forthcoming for the homeowners who are affected. CONTACT YOUR LOCAL MLA, THE PREMIER, AND THE TREASURER OF ALBERTA FOR THEIR INPUT, and let us know the results, please!

Q. What can I do to minimize the effect of this problem on my home and my wallet?
A. Join us in seeking a fair solution to the problem. On your own, you will probably not do as well.

Q. What if my roof is already leaking, or needs to be fixed/replaced soon so that it does not leak.
A. Make sure you keep your receipts and try to establish in writing (from either the roofers or inspectors) that you have a failed untreated pine roof. That way, you will be in a position to collect money from the government down the road. Perhaps taking pictures or a video of the replacement job as it is happening, and keeping some shakes as evidence that the roof had failed will assist you in obtaining compensation.

We have provided a draft document for you to consider - which has the roofer or inspector sign certifying the extent of the damage found during replacement. [See our "Repair" page, a link off of the "What's New" page on this site.]

Q. What are we seeking by way of compensation?
A. We are not looking for a "free ride", or a free roof. Based on the input of many people who have called us on this issue, and have signed our petition, we are supported by the majority of folks in asking for a pro-rated compensation package: e.g. for a roof that is 8 years old, roughly one-third of the advertised warranty has been used up, therefore the owner would pay for one-third of the total price of installing a new roof, and the government would be expected to pay for the other two-thirds.

Q. What if the government decides not to provide compensation after our negotiations with them?
A. If that is the case, we will be forced to take the Government of Alberta to Court of Queen's Bench. At that time, we would be contacting the (over 4,000) people who have signed our petition in order to obtain financing for the legal battle. We have met with a law firm with offices in Edmonton and Calgary, and they would represent our case in a court of law.

Q. How is the money going to be collected? When will we 'get on with it'?
A. We are forming a "not-for-profit" society - and have filed the necessary paperwork to do so already (December '98). The media blitz and membership drive will commence in January '99.

Q. What will this society be called?
A. We will be called the Alberta Pine Shake Homeowners Association (APSHA).

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