White Castle replaced our roof in October, 2022. As a part of their service, they offered a "free upgrade" to 45 feet of ridge vent, which I accepted with the belief that this would provide better attic ventilation. In December we began to notice water stains on the ceilings in nearly every room in our home. We discovered that our attic insulation was wet and beginning to mold, and ended up having to remove and replace it. White Castle then advised that they should not have installed much of the ridge vent and should have installed two turbine vents instead. They did remove the excess ridge vent and install the turbine vents, and they covered the cost of covering and painting the ceilings. However, with regard to the attic insulation, they refused to cover that cost or contribute anything toward the cost, which I believe was caused at least in part by the improper ventilation initially installed on our roof.
UPDATE: Further discussions with White Castle's representatives have resulted in a satisfactory disposition of this matter and I would now recommend them as a roofing contractor.
REVISED UPDATE: It was premature of me to indicate that a satisfactory disposition of this matter had been made and or that I would recommend White Castle as a roofing contractor.
We recently once again experienced excessive attic moisture resulting in stains on our ceilings. White Castle continues to deny any responsibility for the wet insulation that had to be replaced and which we will once again need to get tested for excessive moisture content and possible mold and mildew that would require replacement once again. White Castle has claimed that the attic ventilation is insufficient in that the soffit vents are clogged with the insulation that was installed in early 2023. However, when the attic was examined by the insulation company and White Castle, it was then decided that the soffits are covered by some mysterious styrofoam, blocking any air intake into the attic. White Castle has given me a proposal to open up the soffit vents - at my expense.
I have conducted a considerable amount of research to determine why this problem began within a short time after White Castle re-roofed our home in 2022. It has become obvious to me, and most certainly was obvious to White Castle from the first indication that our attic was not being properly ventilated - which resulted in water stains on our ceilings in early 2023. In fact, when a White Castle representative initially inspected our attic after those stains appeared he told us the problem was that they had used a new underlayment in place of felt paper. My recent research, which I admit I should have done earlier, has convinced me that he was correct. I found that what White Castle used as an underlayment was a synthetic roofing felt. The installation instructions for the product that was used states in part that this product "is considered an air, vapor and water barrier and therefore must be installed above properly vented attic space(s)". White Castle made no assessment of our attic ventilation to see if it was "properly vented" and they in fact have contended all along that it isn't and now they think we should pay them to correct it so that it conforms to the synthetic underlayment they used. Really?
Do an internet search of synthetic underlayments and you will find information such as "the underlayment does not allow moisture to pass through, leading to condensation and trapped moisture in the attic" and "it creates the perfect environment for mold and mildew to thrive". Sounds exactly like what we're experiencing, doesn't it?
If you are in the market for a roofing company, please consider this update as well as my initial review. Homeowner beware!
Response to the owner's response.
You are correct, our attic did not have proper ventilation when you replaced our roof. See the underlayment manufacturer's installation instructions that state it is to be used ONLY if the attic is properly ventilated. It was YOUR responsibility to determine this and you failed.