How to fix a leaky roof

The hardest part about fixing a leaking roof is finding where the damage has occurred. Generally, with a shingled roof you can find cracked or missing shingles, thus your culprit. Once, you find the leak, you are in the home stretch. In most cases, you will only have to fix the area that has the leak instead of replacing the entire roof, since most leaks are brought on by some type of damage such as high winds.

To repair a leaky roof you will need a few items, which include:

•  6d galvanized roofing nails

•  asphalt roof cement

•  hammer

•  pry bar

•  replacement shingles

•  scraper

•  trowel

•  utility knife

Now, that you have supplies, you are ready to start searching for that leak so you can fix the leak. In the majority of cases, you will find that to repair a leaking roof you only have to fix curled shingles, broken shingles, or missing shingles.

The ways to fix a leaking roof with these problems include:

Curled shingles:

These can easily be put back into place with asphalt roof cement; however, you need to be careful if the shingle is brittle.

1. During warm months, the shingle should be pliable and easy to put back into place.

1. In cold weather, the shingle may be brittle and you will have to soften it up before putting it back into place. In order to soften the shingle, you should use a propane torch with a flame spreader nozzle. Just allow the flame to gently touch the curled edges; this will soften the edges enough for the shingle to become flexible. Do not leave the flame there long enough to catch the shingle on fire. When the shingle has softened, you can easily apply asphalt cement and press the shingle back in place.

Replace broken or missing shingles:

1. remove the broken shingles by using the pry bar to remove the nails from other shingles that are attached to the one you need to replace
2. slide out the broken shingle
3. scrape away any old cement
4. slide the new shingle into place
5. lift the corners of the shingles that are now overlapping
6. Line up the new shingle with the shingles on each side
7. fasten the top of the new shingle on every side with roofing nails
8. Lift the shingles that are overlapping again and fasten with the roofing nails into each corner.
9. Place roofing cement on the nail heads and smooth the shingles edges