Replies

1. 
   DanH | Mar 24, 2010 07:39pm | #1

   Dunno anything about their underlayment, but they're just settling a class action for the defective shingles they sold in the midwest for about a decade.  They were pretty ugly to deal with, I gather.

   You might want to check with Halunen & Associates in Minneapolis:  http://www.halunenlaw.com/

2. 
   calvin | Mar 25, 2010 06:35am | #2

   The problems you have are?

   For those that may have used this product in this application it would be good for you to provide some more information.

   thanks.

1. 
   jg | Mar 25, 2010 08:54am | #3

   I apologize for being vague.

   Here is more info:

   We installed about 800 SF of travertine tile over Certainteed FiberCement underlayment in the home of a very good customer of ours. Within weeks, the tile began to crack. Upon further investigation, all the cracks were at the joints of the underlayment below. Of course, we looked at the overall span of the joists below, made sure we were well within deflection standards, etc. verified bonding of the underlayment to the sublfoor as well as adequate fastening. All appeared to be fine.

   We took the time to "map out" with blue painters tape where all the cracking had occurred. If you back away from the floor and look at things, all the cracks are precisely at the edges of the underlayment.

   Here is the rub: previously, we had installed the exact same travertine tile to this customers downstairs bath and two upstaris bathrooms. However, for that install we used James Hardies' hardibacker, NOT Certainteed's product.

   So, obviously we filed a warranty claim with Certainteed. Upon inspection of warranty, they only cover their product with no regards to what gets installed on top of it.  Long story short, I think if you can prove the underlayment failed, they would cover the couple hundred dollars of cost of their product BUT NOT the thousands of dollars worth of tile that got ruined because of their product.

   We fought this claim for months and after going up and down the Certainteed chain-of-command we have gotten nowhere.

   End result, being a reputable contractor, we replaced our customer's floor with new tile over HARDI BACKER at our expense...yes, thousands and thousand of dollars out of pocket to make things right with the client...its been a while now, guess what...SHOCKER...no cracking!

   Im going to dig out the pics and post

1. 
   calvin | Mar 25, 2010 10:43am | #4

   Thank You

   Since this sounds like something like I would have written had I had a problem, investigated my install as best I could, and felt sure like you that operator error did not contribute to the failure...........

   It is good of you to post this so that I for one will never use the product.

   It also might possibly turn up others who could join with you in seeking retribution.

   Doing the right thing is not easy and often costly-you should be commended in standing by your work.

1. 
   jg | Mar 25, 2010 03:08pm | #5

   Thanks Calvin. It was the right thing to do. As we all know, many hiccups can happend during a remodel project. How you handle them is what people remember.

   That was my hope in posting in providing fair warning to all. Im still shocked that a major corporation such as CertainTeed would turn a blind eye to this. We have installed Certainteed products for 15 + yrs. They have always stood behind their shingle warranties with us also. Heck, my own personal house has Certainteed Weatherboards siding installed on it and was used by Certainteed as an ad in a few remodeling trade magazines (either professional remodeler or qualified remodeler). Either way, its a shame.

   Im hopeing by posting on here, as well as twitter, facebook and our blog I may find others in the same situation.

   Ive posted a pic below....as you can see, the painter tape indicates the cracks, which is exactly where the edges of the underlayment are. This is the eating nook, one of many areas we re-tiled. All had the same thing happen.

   Thanks to all who have replied and thanks in advance to those who will

   -Jason

   
1. 
   JohnCujie | Mar 25, 2010 08:00pm | #7

   Do you have a theory as to why the underlayment caused the cracking?  I've only used hardibacker which seems like a pretty benign product.  Are the joints compressing? 

   John

2. 
   DanH | Mar 25, 2010 08:11pm | #8

   Presumably it would be due to insufficient stiffness.

2. 
   DanH | Mar 25, 2010 07:52pm | #6

   Yeah, that's about like their shingle warranty.

3. 
   Clewless1 | Mar 27, 2010 11:52am | #9

   bump