If you are a home owner, there is no need to have to call a professional roofing contractor just to replace some damaged or missing shingles. With a few basic tips under your belt, you will have the damaged or missing shingles replaced in no time. Of course, any action you take to your roof such as cleaning, installing gutters, roof repair or shingle replacement, if you don’t feel like you are capable then by all means call a professional to get the job done right.
First off, you want to clean your roof off of any debris that may be on it like small sticks, leaves or branches. Then we want to install a starter strip which is nothing more than just a backing for the first row of shingles that you see. What the starter strip does is prevent water from going through the gaps in the shingles and then proceeds to go through the roof. These starter strips actually already come ready to go so you can just put them down. If you are cheap like me, you can just take a regular shingle and cut the flaps off and voila, starter strip. Make sure you use the same type of shingle for your starter strip as the rest of your shingles as shingles can come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Next, we are basically just going to go through and remove and replace. Loosen the old shingle by lifting up on the shingles above them, work the shingle till it’s loose. You may have to remove the roofing nail holding the shingle in place. Take the old shingle out and put the new shingle in, ensuring it lines up with the current row of shingles. Install a new roofing nail and your shingle is now replaced. Some people like to add a dab of roof cement or roof tar to the back of the shingle. I always, after replacing a shingle, put a small line of roof tar underneath. It helps to hold the shingle in place while it is curing. Now just go through and remove and replace all the damaged or missing shingles you have.
Replacing shingles is not a problem once you do a few. If you happen to have a roof that has some age on it or the home is older and you know that the roof hasn’t been replaced in a while, you may consider just replacing all the shingles or have a roofing professional put you a new roof on. The latter will be cheaper in the long run and may keep you from replacing shingles after every windy day.