Here at Elite Roofing & Solar, we pride ourselves not only on delivering exceptional quality and craftsmanship but also on helping our customers save money and maximize the value of their roofing investments. We understand the appeal of taking a DIY approach to simple home maintenance tasks; after all, there’s unbeatable satisfaction in doing the work yourself! Replacing asphalt shingles is a task that many homeowners can handle with a bit of guidance. However, it’s important to recognize that this process isn’t without its challenges.
To ensure your project goes smoothly, we’re here to guide you through the steps of replacing asphalt shingles while highlighting the five common mistakes to avoid along the way. Check out our video below or read through the article for a full rundown on this topic.
Mistake 1: Ripping or tearing surrounding shingles
The first step in replacing loose or damaged asphalt shingles is to remove the offending shingles. In doing this, it’s important to work carefully and deliberately. If you work too quickly or roughly, you risk making the first major mistake: damaging surrounding shingles. The last thing you want to do when replacing a bad shingle is to create more work for yourself—or worse, leave your roof in worse shape than it was before.
Mistake 2: Not removing the entire shingle
Rather than working carefully to remove the damaged shingle, it may seem simpler to cut out the shingle to save time. However, this is also a mistake! Failing to remove the entire shingle will make it much more difficult to put a new shingle in its place. The replacement shingle will likely be loose or improperly fastened, leaving your roof vulnerable to water or blown off shingles. You may need to remove nails from surrounding shingles to give yourself enough room, but the extra effort will be worth it in the end.
Mistake 3: Forgetting to seal nail holes
Once you’ve removed the faulty shingle, you’re ready to put a new shingle in its place. Carefully slide the new shingle where the old one was and nail it down. In doing so, take care not to make the third major mistake: forgetting to seal nail holes. Nails will hold your shingle down, but on their own they aren’t watertight. Unsealed nail holes create an entry point for water to penetrate through your roof’s underlayment to the decking below. This can cause rot and shorten the lifespan of your roofing system.
Mistake 4: Forgetting to replace nails from surrounding shingles
As mentioned earlier, you may need to remove nails from a few surrounding shingles to give yourself enough room to work with. That’s perfectly fine—as long as you remember to replace those nails later on! Forgetting to replace nails will result in loose shingles on your roof. This leaves room for water to penetrate your roof, and it can even lead to shingles blowing off of your roof in high winds.
Mistake 5: Not sealing your roof’s shingles
Once everything is nailed down, you may think you’re done replacing your roof’s damaged asphalt shingles. But shingles need more than just nails to stay in place, and forgetting to seal new shingles will leave you with loose shingles that can catch in the wind. To avoid this problem, seal your new shingles with shingle mastic (also called roof mastic). Don’t forget to re-seal surrounding shingles as well!
Bonus Mistake: Tackling a repair too large for DIY
Before setting about replacing asphalt shingles on your roof, it’s important to honestly assess your abilities compared to the damage on your roof. Replacing a couple shingles can be simple, straightforward, and completed within an afternoon.
However, if a larger area of your roof is damaged, or if after you remove the shingles you find that the underlayment has been compromised, you’re better off taking a step back and calling a professional to schedule a roof repair.
Replacing Asphalt Shingles: An Excellent DIY Roofing Project
At Elite Roofing, we feel every homeowner should have a few DIY tricks up their sleeve. Replacing damaged asphalt shingles is a handy skill to have! It’s a simple DIY repair project that can save you money and extend the life of your roof quite significantly. Of course, if you don’t want to do it yourself, the Elite Roofing & Solar team is always standing by with a full slate of residential roofing services. Whether it’s a simple repair or a complete roof replacement, Elite Roofing & Solar is the company to call for Roofing Done Right!
For more roofing tips from the Elite team, be sure to keep up with our blog and follow us on our social media channels: Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
