4 Important Things To Know About Repairing Residential Roofing

If you have an asphalt shingle roof, you'll probably be doing repairs on it at some time, or you might hire a residential roofing contractor to do repairs for you. A shingle roof lasts many years, but individual shingles can be damaged by animals or storms. Here's a look at things to know about repairing a shingle roof.

1. Shingles Are Attached With Roofing Nails

A roofing contractor uses roofing nails when installing a new shingle on your roof. These differ from regular nails in that they have a larger head and some have ridges on the length of the nail. A problem that can develop with roofing nails is that they back out and damage the shingles.

The risk of this happening is reduced when the roofer uses nails with ridges that grip the roof. The ridges help hold the nail in place so it can't pop out. If you ever need to replace an asphalt shingle yourself, be sure to buy the right type of roofing nails.

2. Flashing Can Be Made Or Bought

If your roof develops a leak due to bad flashing, the roofer will need to replace the flashing or at least repair it. Some types of flashing come in kits that provide metal pieces already shaped as you need them. The roofer can also use sheet metal and bend it into the needed shape. If you want to replace the flashing yourself, buy aluminum sheet metal because it is light and easy to bend and work with.

3. Underlayment May Need To Be Patched In

If your roof has a roof leak long enough, the underlayment underneath it might be damaged, especially if it was exposed to the sun. When the roofer tears off the bad shingles, they may also tear off the old underlayment. This allows them to check the deck for water damage too.

Before the new shingles are put on, the roofer can cut a patch of underlayment of the size needed from a roll of new underlayment and place it on the deck to protect the deck from water damage. If you need to patch in a piece of underlayment yourself, you may want to buy a roll of peel-and-stick underlayment since this sticks to the deck by itself and is easy to work with.

4. The Deck Might Need To Be Repaired

When your roof leaks, the roofing contractor makes sure the deck under the damaged shingles doesn't have water damage before the new shingles are put on. If the roofer finds the deck has water damage, the rotted portion has to be removed. This involves cutting out the wet area to get rid of it and then patching in new plywood and nailing it to the rafters to keep it in place.

While replacing shingles is a common residential roofing repair you might want to do on your own, repairing a rotted deck can be more difficult and something you prefer to let a roofing contractor do.