Robert in Calgary

We contracted to have a Shane Home built in Aug. 2006. The house was "completed" in April 2007. We were not living in Alberta at the time. Took possession of the house end of April 2007. Rented out the house for 2 yrs. before we moved in. Had numerous issues with the house under warranty period which were fixed, but the landing at the back door was not installed until Nov. 2007 and so the back step was disabled causing a fire hazard for our renters. When we moved in August 2009, we noticed that the shingles were covered with cracks and "spydering" over most of the roof, and the first good rain we had, we experienced a wet area on the ceiling of our ensuite. Shane said that there was too much moisture in the house and this was causing the problem in the ensuite. Renaissance Roofing who installed shingles sent out a "crew"? to check out the roof and carry out "repairs". They used a 1/4 tube of caulk to do around some of the flashing and the chimney and "installed" a vent (NO HOLE CUT IN ROOF)&left. Cost: $100 for the service call. Next time it rained, moisture began to come through the ceiling causing stipple to fall off the ceiling and drops of water came through the ceiling and onto the floor. Called a reputable roofing co. had an inspection done and was told that the shingles were almost worn out, had only a year to 1 1/2 years of life left. Filed a claim with IKO (Renaissance XL shingles)and had a sample sent to their "lab" in Brampton Ont. for anaylsis. In the meantime tried to have Shane come out to look at the roof. They stalled citing that they were waiting for results from IKO. Shane rep never did come out to look at roof. Had our insurance adjuster look at roof for a possible claim and he also said that shingles were almost worn out. It is now into Oct 2009, and we have been in continuous contact with Shane's area rep for home construction since early Sept. Necessary to re-roof: our cost $6000. Proceeded to contract with an established roofing co. to re-roof the house. When shingles were torn off, the sheathing underneath was wet over a large portion of the roof. Roofing job completed Nov 16. Waterproof membrane put on roof as well as tarpaper; no bare sheathing this time under the shingles. Have had no more problems to date. Received IKO analysis re: shingles Letter stated that "weathering appearance was normal" and no explanation for seepage on roof & nothing was wrong with integrity of shingles, altho' everyone in the industry (except IKO and Shane)say the shingles were never any good from the first time they were used on the market, they are made from organic materials which deteriorate, and should never have been used. IKO has several pending lawsuits one in Alberta and 1 in Ontario, as well as many in the U.S. Filed a complaint with the BBB in Calgary but once Shane got a copy of letter from IKO stating shingles were still fine, Shane stated in a reply to BBB that they had no obligation to compensate us for the re-roof and that was the end of the matter. A one year warranty on a house is just about useless unless you have serious structural problems. After one year, the roof is your problem. As I've said, if anything goes wrong with the roof or the inside of your house you'd better hope it happens in the 1st yr. or you could be SOL. Our next step could be suing Shane for installing a defective product or trying to get the media to listen to our story. No one should have to have a roof replaced in just over 3 years. If you own a Shane home,BEWARE!! and you have IKO Renaissance shingles on your roof, have your roof inspected, b/c its not going to last very long and if your sheathing remains wet long enough, you will have a huge bill for repairs; and you know what: SHANE DOES NOT CARE!! Its your problem now. Also, if you do receive a settlement from IKO for their defective shingles the warranty is hardly worth the paper its written on b/c the smallest part of the bill will be the cost of new shingles, and IKO will NOT COVER THE COST OF REINSTALLING A NEW ROOF AND SHANE PROBABLY WON'T EITHER!!.