Cement Fiber Roofing Cases
Birka-White Law Offices prosecuted numerous lawsuits against the cement-fiber roofing industry.
In the mid 1980s through well into the 1990s, a significant roofing industry developed around making a substitute product for wood shakes. There had been major fires in Los Angeles and Oakland which caused catastrophic damage to many homes and buildings.
Several manufactures of roofing materials came up with the idea to make light-weight, cement-fiber shakes. The basic concept was to combine cement with materials such as wood fibers, paper or Perlite to create a fire rated material that was lightweight and looked like a wood shake.
While the concept was rational, the result was a disaster for most building owners. All of the cement-fiber roofing products were given long term warranties, several as long as 50 years. In general, these cement-fiber products suffered from too much water absorption and the fact that they were too brittle. Cement is a brittle material. When cement is molded in the shape of wood shakes, these “fake shakes” crack, break, and leak, thus compromising the integrity of the basic water barrier that the roof must provide.