Replacing Roof Shingles On Your Home
There are a number of reasons why replacing roof shingles may become necessary on your home. Understanding when to start the process, however, has more to do with recognizing problems that may be occurring than waiting for the actual leak to take place. Not only do you need to know how to replace the shingles themselves, you also need to understand how to repair any other roof leak problems that may have occurred in the mean time. Here are some basic steps for replacing roof shingles that will help you to get started on this project.
The first thing that is generally necessary is to understand why the problem is occurring in the first place. This has more to do with understanding when to do the replacement project then why to do it. For example, if you are missing a few shingles, this could be an indicator that you have a much larger problem than just some kind of localized issue. Getting up on the roof and looking underneath some of the shingles in order to see the nailing patterns will typically result in you figuring out that the issue has to do with the original installation.
If there is a problem area, such as a leak that has occurred, here is how to repair it. The first thing that you need to do is to find the leak and to make sure where it is coming from. Many times, the leak will not be localized but it will actually be running from somewhere else down into a lower spot. Begin removing the shingles carefully, taking care not to harm them in the process while you are removing the nails. Set them off to the side, and it remove a large enough area that you will be replacing some good wood along with the bad.
After the wood has been replaced properly, you can begin replacing roof shingles one at a time. It is necessary for you to work from the lower shingles to the upper shingles, keeping them aligned properly. Check with your local regulations in order to figure out what type of nailing patterns you're going to need to follow. Many times, you will either have four or six nails that go in the each individual shingle, and they must be nailed closed to the groove so that you do not get any lift during high winds. There is no reason why these older shingles should not be fine, and last for as long as the rest of the roof lasts.
Replacing roof shingles is something that many individuals would like to be able to tackle on their own. Understanding how to repair the roof underneath the shingles, however, may be a little bit out of your league. If that is the case, you need to know when to call a contractor in order to help you. While it may be possible for you to do some of the project yourself, especially if you know how to repair things fairly well, having a roof contractor on standby is a good idea so that you can get the job done quickly, should the weather turn bad.
