Live in Sun City Hilton Head? Read this for a roof inspection update
Inspectors have ordered roof repairs in hundreds of Sun City Hilton Head homes, and some are set to receive a second round of repairs, according to an official with Pulte Homes, the developer of Sun City. Building inspectors have reviewed more than 1,270 attics since Beaufort County launched an investigation earlier this summer to check whether roof trusses in 2,600 homes were installed properly.

Live in Sun City Hilton Head? Read this for a roof inspection update

Inspectors have ordered roof repairs in hundreds of Sun City Hilton Head homes, and some are set to receive a second round of repairs, according to an official with Pulte Homes, the developer of Sun City.

Building inspectors have reviewed more than 1,270 attics since Beaufort County launched an investigation earlier this summer to check whether roof trusses in 2,600 homes were installed properly.

Many of the inspected homes received on-the-spot repairs.

"We acknowledge that there's a mistake that's been made, and we are preparing to go back and fix the mistake," said Jon Cherry, who heads Pulte's South Carolina Coastal Division.

About a quarter of the homes that have been inspected also will require additional repairs, Cherry said.

Most of the homes in need of more repairs require wooden bracing to help stabilize trusses -- triangular wooden frames that help support a roof. Starting next week, a second crew of construction workers will return to houses that inspectors and Pulte officials have identified as needing additional bracing, Cherry said.

"We're committed to fixing these situations," he said.

The review by independent inspectors began in July after questions surfaced about whether valley trusses and supporting trusses are fastened securely enough to withstand extreme winds, such as those in a hurricane. Valley trusses sit on top of supporting trusses to give roofs a gabled appearance.

The county is paying a company to provide the inspectors and Pulte is paying for repairs.

Out of 739 homes reviewed by inspectors in July, 668 required at least one repair, according to inspection records. Many of those repairs were minimal, requiring the addition of a few screws to fasten trusses together.

Other repairs were more extensive, requiring dozens of screws and additional lumber to close gaps between trusses, according to inspection reports.

Of the 668 homes repaired in July:

• Trusses in 319 homes needed between one to nine screws.

• Trusses in 266 homes needed between 10 to 29 screws.

• Trusses in 60 homes needed between 30 and 49 screws.

• Twenty-two homes needed 50 or more screws.

• 136 of the 668 homes also needed additional lumber to close gaps between trusses. The trusses are supposed to rest on top of each other.

Inspectors also made other observations. For example, they noted that several homes were missing a valley truss.

Cherry said in those cases, the missing trusses were small and wouldn't have an impact on the overall integrity of a home's roof.

Pulte officials have shared the inspection reports with their engineer and plan to make any additional repairs the engineer deems necessary, Cherry said.

Inspectors will begin returning to certain models of homes next week to inspect trusses in the rear of the attic that weren't looked at during the first round of inspections, Cherry said.

Not every resident is satisfied with the repairs. The trusses in Sun City resident Rick McCollough's home were deemed "unsatisfactory" by county building inspectors during a preliminary inspection in May because of gaps between several trusses and multiple places where nails didn't fasten trusses together properly.

When the independent inspector returned two months later, he ordered 50 screws installed to secure the trusses. The inspector also had 11 pieces of wood installed to close the gaps between trusses, according to the inspection reports.

Even after the repairs, however, a Packet reporter saw some trusses with gaps between them and some not connected securely with nails.

"It's very arbitrary," McCollough said, "and they wouldn't have put this many (screws) in here if I hadn't been up here pointing them out."

Cherry said the inspectors have been briefed by Pulte's engineer and received training on the local building codes. Therefore, if those are the only repairs the inspector ordered on McCollough's home, then they must be sufficient, Cherry said. He said residents who have concerns about their repairs should contact his office.

"We're going by the guidance of the inspectors," Cherry said.

Pulte used to fasten trusses together using metal brackets called hurricane clips, but switched to a different method after Jan. 1, 2004. Pulte's engineer said hurricane clips were not necessary and instead recommended using nails.

However, in some cases the nails didn't thoroughly penetrate the trusses or they split the wood, weakening the connection. Some connections had no nails or only one nail instead of the two ordered by the engineer.

To fix the problem, Pulte's engineer recommended switching from nails to screws. Pulte took that advice this spring and began using screws to fasten trusses in new homes.

But Pulte decided to switch back to hurricane clips this summer, Cherry said, because clips are easier for inspectors to see. Clips are attached to trusses with multiple nails, and have more holding strength than nails alone.

Homeowners whose attics were repaired with screws rather than clips shouldn't be concerned, Cherry said.

"It's not one method is better than the other -- they're all acceptable," Cherry said. "We just want to make sure this mistake does not occur ever again."

McCollough and his next door neighbor aren't convinced. They plan to hire someone to install hurricane clips in their homes, he said.

"We've put too much money into this to leave it to chance," McCollough said.