Subcontractor messing up solar roof install [underlayment doesnt hold water]

[RVA GENE]

After ordering my solar roof nearly a year ago and stressing the importance of the project being complete before hurricane season it was launched in late July, Since then I have had nothing but problems with the subcontractor out of B. S. Florida. They massacred my homes exterior breaking a window, pool fencing, and having multiple leaks ongoing during tear off with water spots on the ceiling. Subsequently as the tile roof is about 10% installed there have been multiple leaks all over in a section of the house. Every time rain comes through i end up placing all my pots and pans out with towels around to catch drip drip drips. The have been out to fix three times now and the problem is either the same or moves a few feet. I am so disappointed at this point I'm looking into cancelling the project or hiring an attorney/ going to litigation/arbitration. I suspect the worksmanship from subcontractor will necessitate a complete do over of at least a 50ft section of roof. I have little confidence in the rest of the work they did as well. The Tesla crew had been wonderful. Any thoughts on how to proceed?

 

[trautmane2]

Sorry your install has had so many problems. I'm surprised the Tesla crew was willing to put any tiles on before being confident that the underlayment was properly installed. Your roof should be leak-free with just the underlayment (even if it sits exposed for 6 months). I would ask your install project advisor to have their "best" underlayment crew (or contractor) come out and inspect/repair your underlayment.

 

[jjrandorin]

(Moderator note)

OP, welcome to TMC. Sorry for the bad experience you appear to be having. I changed your thread title from "solar roof doesnt hold water" to what it is now, because from your thread description, the solar roof isnt installed as of yet.

Subsequently as the tile roof is about 10% installed there have been multiple leaks all over in a section of the house.

Hopefully you find a way to navigate the issue, it sounds very frustrating.

 

[jboy210]

I am not sure about the underlayment they used on your house, but with our SolarRoof with the Firestone underlayment we had a few weeks of good rain with the roof only partially constructed due to Covid shutdowns. There was one small leak, a drop every 5 minutes or so, in an unshingled area. This was caused by rain from a higher level of the roof gushing down onto the area because the gutters were in but the downspouts were not yet in place. This resulted in a firehose of water hitting that area of the roof. Once they put the gutters and downspouts in the leaking stopped even when though the area was unshingled.

With that said, we had a great crew containing a mixture of Tesla and Subcontractor personnel. It sounds like you were not so lucky. Perhaps you should contact Tesla, express your concerns, and have their or a different subcontractor's crew come out and inspect the original subcontractor's work.