Missing roof shingles? Or, have you noticed a few damaged shingles that have become an eyesore? The bad news is that damaged shingles can signify something much worse—a roof leak—may be coming soon. But the good news is that roof shingles repairs are straightforward and affordable. It’s not uncommon for homes to need a few shingles repaired after enduring a year of bad weather.

Hiring a Pro for Roof Shingles Repairs

Hiring a trusted roofer like Powell’s Roofing and Siding is your best option for roof shingles repairs. A professional can remove and replace all loose or damaged shingles with new ones. While shingles could be reattached, it’s hard to know how long they’ll hold up. So we usually recommend replacing damaged shingles.

Standard shingles such as asphalt shingles can be compromised in two ways. If you have damaged asphalt shingles, you can apply roofing cement under the crack and then put pressure over that shingle. You can then spread another layer of sealant on the top of the shingle using a putty knife.

Shingles that have been blown off, leaving behind fragments. You need to remove those fragments before replacing them with new shingles. Often, we will need to lift the shingle above to make sure the leftover fragments are removed. We use pry bars to detach the sealant strip and nail pullers to remove nails from the damaged shingle and surrounding ones. This makes it easier to insert new shingles where needed.

An essential step at this point of the roof shingles repair process is to check the roofing felt and decking beneath the shingle that fell off. This can say whether your roof has more significant issues than shingle damage. Shingles should always be fastened to roof decking. They can loosen and blow off if the decking has problems such as wood rot or warping.

If there are no problems, we put the new shingles in place from the bottom of the roof up. We lift the shingle above the damaged shingle spot, exposing the tar line. We hammer in two to three nails to keep the new shingle in place. The surrounding shingles can next be refastened by replacing the nails that were removed earlier. We use about four to six nails to secure each shingle to the roof.

Know Your Roof’s Problems Before Making a Repair

Before addressing any shingle damage, you should know how your shingles have been installed and how they were damaged.

The best way to know how your roof’s shingles fell off or were cracked is to enlist the help of a professional roofing team. We can thoroughly check things out. To learn more about roof shingles and how to repair shingles on your roof, contact Powell’s Roofing & Siding today.