Replacing damaged shingles on Vancouver, WA homes

Shingle repair is spot work. It is for a roof that is mostly sound but has a handful of damaged pieces, like a few tabs blown off in a windstorm, a cracked shingle from a dropped branch, or a corner that curled up from age. The job is to remove the bad pieces, slide new ones in, nail them properly under the course above, and seal them so they lie flat and shed water.

Doing that well takes care. The shingles around the repair have to be lifted without cracking them, and the nails holding the damaged piece are hidden under the row above. On a roof that has baked through many summers, the surrounding shingles may be stiff, so we warm or work them slowly. We also look for nearby tabs that are loose but have not failed yet.

What shingle repair fixes and what it does not

Shingle repair handles damage you can point to: a missing tab, a cracked or torn piece, a corner that has curled, or a few shingles with exposed nail heads. These are small, local problems, and fixing them quickly keeps water from getting to the underlayment and decking. Most homeowners notice them after a windstorm or when a piece shows up in the yard. A two-hour repair now can prevent a much larger one in spring.

Shingle repair does not fix leaks that come from flashing, pipe boots or valleys, even if a shingle near those spots looks worn. It also does not address widespread aging, where shingles are brittle and losing granules everywhere. If we see that the real problem is somewhere else, we tell you and point you to the right repair. Replacing shingles that are not the cause just adds cost. We would rather fix the right thing once.

How we replace a shingle the right way

Each shingle is held by nails driven through the shingle and the top edge of the one below it, all hidden under the row above. To replace one, we break the seal on the upper course, lift it carefully, pull the hidden nails, and slide the damaged piece out. The new shingle goes in, gets nailed in the correct spot, and the tabs above are resealed with roofing adhesive. Done this way, the repair is hard to spot from the yard.

• Break seals on the course above
• Pull hidden nails without tearing tabs
• Slide in a matching new shingle
• Nail at the correct line and depth
• Reseal lifted tabs with roofing adhesive

Matching color and style

Composition shingles come in two main styles: flat three-tab shingles, common on older roofs, and thicker architectural or dimensional shingles, standard on most homes built or reroofed since the late 1990s. We match the style first, because mixing them looks wrong and can affect how water sheds. Then we match color as closely as current product lines allow. Some brands also make color blends that drift slightly from year to year.

Roofs fade over time, and some color lines are discontinued, so a brand-new shingle may look a little brighter than the old ones at first. On a back slope, that difference rarely matters. On the front of the house, we can sometimes pull a matching shingle from a hidden area, like behind a chimney, and use the new one there instead. We discuss the options before we start. You decide which way looks best.

When too many shingles need replacing

Shingle repair works best when the damage is limited and the rest of the roof is flexible. If we try to lift a shingle and it cracks like a cracker, or if granules wash off in heavy amounts, the roof may be past the point where spot repairs hold. In those cases, every repair risks breaking the shingles around it. We tell you what we find and give you a fair comparison between more repairs and a replacement.