5 Tips and Tricks to Repairing Your Roof

Your roof is the single most important part of your home’s protection against the elements. Keeping it in good condition does more than keep your home dry, it also reduces temperature extremes, saving you money on utilities and enhancing your home’s resale value. If you’re seeing issues with your roof, consider these five tricks for repairing a roof to help maintain it for as long as possible.

Get Expert Help

In many cases, your roof work should be left to a professional. The repairs done by a roofing company, someone like J and K Roofing, will be completed with better tools, techniques, and materials than you will have access to. The work will also be warranted and insured, so if something goes wrong you have access to recourses to get it fixed quickly. If your roof problems are at all serious, this will be the best option to get things done quickly and efficiently.

Look for Problems While Inside

You may see water spots on your ceilings as your first indication of a roof problem. Remember that these will not necessarily appear directly under the leak. Water can follow joists or rafters and ultimately show up in a very different location by the time it reaches your ceiling. For a better idea of where a leak might be, climb into your attic and look at the underside of the roof itself to pinpoint the problem.

Use Clues

In addition to wet ceilings, roof problems can also be indicated on the outside of your home. You may find shingle tabs in your yard after windy or stormy weather. Gutters may be filling with grit at a faster rate than normal. There may also be obvious signs like missing and torn shingles, although these may be difficult to see with black shingles or flatter roofs, especially on taller houses. However, when you see this evidence, trace it back to its problem area to get an idea of where the problem might be.

Perform Spot Repairs

Sometimes it’s only a few shingles that are giving you problems. In that case, you may be able to replace them yourself. Make sure you have a sturdy ladder, good shoes, and the physical ability to climb to the roof with heavy tools and shingles. During warm weather, you can usually gently bend back a good shingle tab to get access to the broken one beneath it. Remove the complete old shingle and insert a new one. Nail it securely and be sure to press the others back into place.

Make Temporary Fixes

Sometimes the damage to your roof can’t be repaired in a timely fashion. Contractor availability, supply chain issues, and even your bank account can keep you from fixing your roof correctly right away. There are plenty of roofing tar products on the market that can keep a minor leak under control until proper repairs can be made. Use these as a Plan B only!

Taking good care of your roof is taking good care of your home. Be prepared to deal with leaks as quickly as possible to minimize damage.