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Repairing A Roof
While some roof problems need urgent attention because they cause obvious leaks, many can go undetected for years until they have caused serious damage -- surprisingly, near the foundation or inside walls where you would least suspect trouble. It is prudent to inspect your roof once a year, looking for cracked shingles, rusted flashing, open joints, or brittle mastic.
The prime areas for problems are valleys and chimneys. Other likely places are ridges, hips, vent flashing and other flashing. When you repair composition shingles, choose a warm day so the shingles will bend and lift easily.
On a cold day, heat them with a propane torch. Repair cracked and curled shingles, and replace broken ones. Split or broken wood shingles
On a cold day, heat them with a propane torch. Repair cracked and curled shingles, and replace broken ones. Split or broken wood shingles
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Shingles blew off during high winds.
Must be replaced. A bowed shingle, caused by installing it without a proper gap, can be repaired carefully splitting a thin strip down the middle with a chisel so that it will lay flat.
Make sure the new split is not directly over a joint in the underlying course. If you replace several rows of shingles, remove the top course first and work down. Then install new shingles from the bottom up, making room to insert the top row under the overlapping course by hacksawing off all the nails. Flat roofs can develop air blisters that eventually leak.
Repair them by slitting blisters down the middle, inserting roofing cement, and patching. Fix holes in a similar way. Cover new patches with gravel to shade them from damaging sunlight. Metal roofs are not prone to leakage, but if you discover a small hole you can patch it by first cleaning the area with steel wool and then filling the hole with epoxy resin.
Make sure the new split is not directly over a joint in the underlying course. If you replace several rows of shingles, remove the top course first and work down. Then install new shingles from the bottom up, making room to insert the top row under the overlapping course by hacksawing off all the nails. Flat roofs can develop air blisters that eventually leak.
Repair them by slitting blisters down the middle, inserting roofing cement, and patching. Fix holes in a similar way. Cover new patches with gravel to shade them from damaging sunlight. Metal roofs are not prone to leakage, but if you discover a small hole you can patch it by first cleaning the area with steel wool and then filling the hole with epoxy resin.
Pack larger holes firmly with steel wool, then cover with epoxy. Cover with a second coat after the first one dries.
Spotting a leak. Rarely does a leak in the ceiling come from a spot directly above it on the roof. If you have access to the attic, you can trace the leak during a rain storm. Mark with bright chalk on the rafter where the water is coming through the roof, so that you can go back during better weather and poke a long nail or straightened coat hanger up through the roof. If you
Spotting a leak. Rarely does a leak in the ceiling come from a spot directly above it on the roof. If you have access to the attic, you can trace the leak during a rain storm. Mark with bright chalk on the rafter where the water is coming through the roof, so that you can go back during better weather and poke a long nail or straightened coat hanger up through the roof. If you
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cannot search for the leak during a storm, have someone spray the roof with a water hose while you look for the leak.