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I have a roof leak, Tesla says rotten wood

Gixx1300R

Member
Dec 30, 2017
664
1,165
orlando
Here are more pics, couldn't get more due to the tight space in the attic
20191110_120033.jpg
20191110_110016.jpg
20191110_110025.jpg
20191110_110049.jpg
20191110_120019.jpg
20191110_120033.jpg
 
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wwhitney

Member
Nov 2, 2017
748
905
Berkeley, CA
Those last pictures are places where they were just a little off on their first try to hit the rafter. Assuming they adjusted their hole and hit the rafter on the second try, and they installed a proper flashing, they aren't really cause for concern. Although the frequency of the near misses does suggest sloppiness.

The other holes you've shown are, of course, ridiculously poor work.

Cheers, Wayne
 

charlesj

Active Member
Oct 22, 2019
1,013
208
Monterey, CA
My concern here is that if they drilled as shown, why would they have properly flashed afterwards, especially the wholes in the wrong place.
The black compound could give way and leak in the future if not properly fixed.
 

Shadious

Member
Jan 11, 2018
374
241
Florida
I had a similar issue with my installation (the installers missed the rafters). They installed cross braces in all the areas the were not directly under the area that the panels were being placed. In the end, they limit in a total of 93 cross braces and drilled 0 “extra” holes in the roof. To me that is a much better solution than trying to make it work by drilling more holes. I am very happy with the job they did.
 

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Gixx1300R

Member
Dec 30, 2017
664
1,165
orlando
My concern here is that if they drilled as shown, why would they have properly flashed afterwards, especially the wholes in the wrong place.
The black compound could give way and leak in the future if not properly fixed.
That is what I stated in my arbitration complaint. The same mounting points for the panels could have been used for the fall protection. No need for extra holes in the roof. My roof is a 4/12 pitch, it is not steep
 

wwhitney

Member
Nov 2, 2017
748
905
Berkeley, CA
My concern here is that if they drilled as shown, why would they have properly flashed afterwards, especially the holes in the wrong place.
I should clarify my earlier comment.

If the holes shown from the attic side actually have support brackets above them, then the fact that the first attempt to get the fastener in the rafter missed doesn't matter. The black goop dripping out isn't the primary water seal, the support bracket flashing is. People like to squirt the black goop in the fastener hole, but with a properly designed support bracket flashing, it doesn't do much and isn't necessary.

But if those are holes that are currently abandoned, and the only water proofing is the black goop, that's unacceptable.

Cheers,
Wayne
 
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Patrick66

Member
Oct 27, 2019
56
35
Honolulu
I might not be an expert, but it does look like that rafter at least has some water damage, and the plywood is significantly compromised. It is nails causing it, not the big holes.

While Tesla may have caused the leaks to manifest, the compromised wood looks like the root cause.

You might want to get a moisture detector to see where the most waterlogged wood is.
 

charlesj

Active Member
Oct 22, 2019
1,013
208
Monterey, CA
I might not be an expert, but it does look like that rafter at least has some water damage, and the plywood is significantly compromised. It is nails causing it, not the big holes.

While Tesla may have caused the leaks to manifest, the compromised wood looks like the root cause.

You might want to get a moisture detector to see where the most waterlogged wood is.
The nails you see are the plywood fasteners that missed the rafters. They are covered with roofing paper, then the shingles. So, no, that is not the cause most likely. Even if the nails are from the shingle nails, that too is covered by the overlapping shingle.
And, if he didn't have a leaking roof until panel installation, I highly suspect an installation caused leak.
The discolored wood could have been there when built.
Yes, a moisture meter might show something.

I have some experience from building that house in my picture;)
 
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wwhitney

Member
Nov 2, 2017
748
905
Berkeley, CA
That's what it looks like to me. He had several pictures of the roof where they did just that, filled holes when they missed.
Sure, there are plenty of those. But if those are near misses with a fastener actually in the rafter, they would look exactly the same underneath. It could be either, you can't tell from the attic. You need to correlate the locations with what you see on the outside.

Cheers, Wayne
 

charlesj

Active Member
Oct 22, 2019
1,013
208
Monterey, CA
How often and likely are these missed rafter drills? I'm looking to get my panels installed above a vaulted ceiling with exposed rafters. It would be awful if they missed like this
How often by installers or on the poster's roof?
His 1 st post has a number of pictures that shows the grey mastic filler used, one area a large grey patch.
Hard to say what other installations missed rafters unless reported.
This seems to be the only one at this forum but the number of posters are small compared to all Tesla installations.
I think only the hard core posters come here;) :D
 

TheTalkingMule

Distributed Energy Enthusiast
Oct 20, 2012
6,363
21,835
Philadelphia, PA
The problem here seems to be less the fact that they missed rafters, but rather the drilling directly through the shingle. I'm not an installer and not a roofer, but that CAN'T be how your supposed to do this. Wouldn't you lift the shingles and drill underneath them when necessary?

Looks to me like a guy got trained to do installs on a flat commercial roof and just applied that skill to a shingled sloped roof. None of this should be too hard to fix. Just flash the hell out of it, no?
 

charlesj

Active Member
Oct 22, 2019
1,013
208
Monterey, CA
The problem here seems to be less the fact that they missed rafters, but rather the drilling directly through the shingle. I'm not an installer and not a roofer, but that CAN'T be how your supposed to do this. Wouldn't you lift the shingles and drill underneath them when necessary?

Looks to me like a guy got trained to do installs on a flat commercial roof and just applied that skill to a shingled sloped roof. None of this should be too hard to fix. Just flash the hell out of it, no?
Yep, you are correct. Shingles should have been lifted but that takes time. ;)
 

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