Roof Shingles Repair

For everyone who has their own house, roof problems is something which will haunt them at some point of time or the other. There may be a leakage on the roof, or damaged shingles or even problems with the chimney or vents on the roof. Roofing shingles are type of roof coverings which have numerous single components overlapping each other. These components are generally rectangular in shape and are placed from the bottom edge of the roofing through to the top. The various types of roofing shingles are available in materials like asphalt, ceramic, wood and cement. As shingles are constantly exposed to various weather conditions like heat, rainfall and cold, it is natural for them to get eroded over a period of time. Weak shingles can also get blown away, whenever heavy winds or a storm blows over. Damaged or broken shingles need replacement, as they cause water leakage problems and also weaken the total roof structure.

Procedure

Step 1
To start with, you will need to gather all materials required for your shingles repair job. These materials include - roofing nails, tar paper, adhesive, new roof shingles and a hammer. Keep all these at hand, so that you can go about your work smoothly.

Step 2
Go to the top of your roof and figure out which shingles need replacement. Once you know exactly which shingles need replacement, you can go about setting up the roof for the repair job. Start removing all destroyed shingles along with another few around the damaged area. You will have to loosen any adhesive present beneath the tabs around the broken shingles. Just lift them out and also remove all visible nails from beneath. In case you notice any signs of wear and tear on the tar paper, take it off as well.

Step 3
Once you have taken out the damaged shingles, the next thing to be done is to ready the roof for laying down new shingles. For this, spread new tar paper along areas where new shingles need to be installed. Use adhesive to glue down the tar paper and also close out any openings you notice. Hammer roofing nails on the tar paper to fix it permanently and apply adhesive on all nails so that you do not have to face a roof leakage problem.

Step 4
Now pick up the new shingles you are going to lay down, and start scraping it from the corners with help of a utility knife. This makes it possible to conveniently fit into the vacant areas in tandem with the already existing shingles around. Start placing the new shingles wherever necessary by simply sliding them below the existing ones. Hammer roofing nails at each of the four corners on the shingle, and apply adhesive on top of all nails to reduce chances of leakage in future.

Step 5
If your repair job involves working and replacing shingles along the ridge cap, just take out old shingles as explained above, and replace them with new ones. Hammer all new shingles and remember to apply adhesive or cement on top of nails to prevent leakage.

Tips and Warnings

• If the weather outside is extremely hot, you should spray some water on the shingles with a water hose. This will cool them down a little bit for you to work safely on top.
• In case you are staying in very cold places, try not to bend shingles while working, as they have a tendency to break easily.
• When you climb on the roof top, wear flat rubber slippers. This will eliminate chances of you slipping while working.

Repairing roof shingles is an easy task and you can easily do it yourself. However if you are not comfortable or scared while working on the roof top, you can always call for professional help and get the work done.