Tamko Heritage Shingles Defect Allows Moisture Intrusion, Class Action Lawsuit Alleges

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges that Tamko Building Products and Viera Builders have failed to disclose that Tamko Heritage Series Shingles are hampered by a design defect that can cause property-damaging water intrusion.

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The 36-page lawsuit alleges, specifically, that the Tamko shingles at issue suffer from a design defect that allows moisture intrusion and causes them to prematurely degrade, rendering them unfit for their primary purpose. The suit claims that the defendants have therefore misleadingly advertised that Tamko Heritage Series Shingles are durable, reliable, and have a useful life of 30 years on homes sold by Viera Builders.

The case explains that asphalt shingles, such as those manufactured by Tamko, are made of rolled glass fiber that is saturated and coated with asphaltic materials. The filing states that after the shingles are fully permeated, they are covered in a layer of mineral granules and must be free from visible defects to comply with industry standards and Florida building codes.

However, the class action lawsuit says Tamko’s Heritage shingles are manufactured with less asphalt than required by industry standards, leading to excessive surface and granule loss. As a result, the shingles are more susceptible to tears, cracking, splitting and blistering, per the suit.

The filing says that despite numerous consumer complaints, Tamko Building Products has not provided consumers with notice of the design defect. Moreover, Viera Builders, which uses Tamko Heritage shingles on new home builds, has “refused” to fully repair the damage. 

According to the class action suit, the Tamko Heritage shingles defect is latent and undetectable until problems begin to manifest, meaning consumers who purchased homes from Viera had no way to discern at the time of purchase that the shingles would be unable to withstand typical weather conditions in Florida and fail prematurely.

Subsequently, consumers are required to spend “large sums of money” to repair the defectively designed shingles and prevent continued damage to their homes, the complaint states.

The case says that, to bring their homes fully into compliance with building codes and standards, Viera would need to use a “wholly different” shingle or roofing material.

The Tamko Building Products class action lawsuit seeks to cover all individuals who purchased homes from Viera in Florida and currently own such homes on which Tamko shingles were installed at the time of sale and remain on the homes, within the statutory period.

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