Can you touch your nose with your elbow? Not likely. Can you repair roof shingles? No, you cannot, but a skilled roofing contractor can.
What’s a Shingle?
Fiberglass-asphalt composition shingles (the most common type today) are carefully manufactured blends of asphalt (for water resistance, flexibility, and granule adhesion) and fiberglass (for strength and durability).
The granules coating the surface provide color and additional water resistance. An adhesive strip on the back of each shingle allows it to stick (and we mean stick!) to the shingle beneath it.
Shingles are a unitized construction product, meaning this one is the same as that one. It also means they can all be fitted together to form your roof, no matter your roof’s configuration.
Bricks and concrete blocks are unitized products, too. Because shingles are uniform and conveniently human-sized, they install quickly in the hands of skilled roofers.
The better shingle brands — Owens Corning, for example — not only warrant (insure) their product, they extend coverage for homeowners to the contractors doing the roofing replacement.
Shingles Gone Wrong
Shingles can break, curl, cup, crack, and craze. They can wear out from weather, wind, and foot traffic. They can be dented or broken by hail and tree branches. As they age, they dry out, losing their flexibility and becoming brittle.
For this and many other reasons, homeowners should never walk on their shingle roofs. The foot traffic alone loosens the vital granules, leaving them to wash into your gutters. Roofs are slippery, and shingles can be fragile (especially in cold weather).
Shingle Repair
A skilled roofing contractor can remove one three-tab shingle and replace it with a similar (not necessarily identical) shingle. In nearly all cases, a contractor will not offer to “repair” a shingle or reattach it if it has any significant damage. Replacement is far better than temporary fixes like roof cement or more roofing nails.
On the other hand, a shingle that has simply dislodged from its position but is not damaged can be reattached and re-adhered using the correct chemical adhesive. Roofers have special tools for gently lifting and flexing even stubborn shingles. The roof repair is best done by a roofer, not a do-it-yourselfer or handyman service.
Please contact us today at Exteriors Plus in the Northeast Ohio - covering the Akron, Canton and Cleveland areas. We are here to help with all your roofing needs. We are known to your neighbors and friends for roofing, done right.
