You may have decided to go about repairing the roof all by yourself to save money. “DIY” is okay if there are a few small repairs. Larger repairs, however, are best undertaken by a professional Roofing Contractor.
It’s sensible to call a Roofing Contractor and have him/her do a free inspection. Then ask for a quote to see how much it would cost for the work you want done. If you think you can do it for less, and you have the time, tools, and expertise to “DIY,” then do it yourself. For most people, though, roofing is best left to professionals who do roofing work for a living.
Defective Shingles/Mass Replacement of Shingles
If a few shingles have gone missing from the rooftop, and it looks like you need to replace the shingles in similar shapes and sizes and colors but they don’t totally “match up,” then this patch work is very obvious! It just won’t look good. Oftentimes a few defective shingles leads to removing all old and worn out shingles and replacing them with new ones– and to maintain a good aesthetic look, it can be best to just replace all the shingles on the roof at once. Using a combination of adhesives and nails, new shingles can be fastened in place.
Partial Re-roofing:
Partial re-roofing involves changing all shingles in a particular area and replacing them with new ones. The only downside with partial re-roofing is that many sections have missing or worn out shingles… while the remaining roof is untouched.
Total Re-roofing:
Total re-roofing is when the damage to your roof is spread laterally or some shingles in local areas are missing and the roof gone beyond its useful lifespan… this is when you need to redo the whole roof. This means fitting the roof with all new shingles!
Flashing:
Sometimes the shingles on the roof may not need a replacement, but the flashing needs to be changed. The flashing exists around chimneys, skylights and other areas with gaps in the roof. Loose, damaged, or missing flashing could promptly reopen gaping leaks and holes in the roof– yikes!
Tips to follow in a DIY repair:
- Wear rubber-soled shoes to get good traction when undertaking DIY roof repair.
- Discard and replace old or loose shingles that come loose from the roof.
- Flatten out curving shingles and stick their edges to the roof with an adhesive.
- Soften the brittle, curled shingles with a heat gun to avoid breaking them.
- Secure the top of each new shingle with 6D galvanized roofing nails and cover the top of each roofing nail head with cement and spread cement underneath the shingle to help hold it in place.
- Fill up the joints around the flashing(s) with roof cement to seal them properly.