Roofing Repairs That Might Be Needed For Loose, Cracked, Or Damaged Shingles
Since your roof is exposed to all kinds of weather conditions, pecking birds, and destructive rodents, your shingles will probably need to be repaired or replaced at some point. Even if you only see one or two bad shingles, you want to have them repaired promptly so rain doesn't leak down to the deck. As long as the deck doesn't have water damage, roofing repairs are often quick and easy. Here's a look at how repairs to roofing shingles can be done.
Replace Bad Shingles
If a shingle is beyond repair, the roofer will probably pull it out and put a new shingle in its place. This involves prying up the old shingle, lifting the nails holding it in place, pulling out the shingle, and putting in the new shingle. Once the old shingle is out of the way, the roofer can check the deck and underlayment for damage just to make sure the new shingle won't hide problems with the roof. Your roofer may only need to replace one shingle, but if a tree limb or raccoon damaged several shingles in a row, the roofer can replace as many as needed to make repairs.
Seal Cracks With Roofing Cement
A shingle with a crack may not need to be replaced if the crack isn't too bad and the shingle is otherwise in good shape. Instead, the crack can be filled with a sealer like roofing cement. Filling cracks rather than replacing shingles is preferable when you don't want repairs to be noticeable since new shingles will probably have a slightly different color than your old ones. To seal cracks, the roofer places the roofing cement under the crack and on top of it so rain can't seep through. The roofer can also add new granules over the shingle and repaired area to provide protection from sun damage so the repaired shingle lasts longer.
Replace Missing Nails
If a shingle is crooked, that could indicate a nail is missing and allow the shingle to move. A missing nail may not seem like a serious problem, but the missing nail leaves a hole behind that allows rain to leak through. When a roofer makes repairs to a shingle roof, they try to use the same holes if possible, and if not, they seal the old holes so they don't leak. When your roof has crooked shingles, the roofer will straighten the shingle and nail it in place with a roofing nail using the old nail hole.
Roofing repairs don't always involve expensive and disruptive work. The sooner you have repairs done, the easier the work is since roof damage gets worse over time. Even if the damage seems minor, it's a good idea to get shingle repairs done promptly so you prevent roof leaks. Reach out to a professional who provides roofing repair to learn more.