Home Repair – How to Repair House Roof

Many people don’t realize how easy and affordable roof repair can be. Too often, they let the damage get out of control and have to spend hundreds of dollars hiring someone to fix it.

Cracked tiles, warped or torn shingles and bent flashing are common examples of roof damage. They all have the potential to cause major damage by allowing water to leak into the house.

Many times you’ll notice a water leak before you realize that the roof is damaged. Even if you’ve already noticed a leak, it’s not too late to repair it yourself.

If your roof is easily accessible, you can visually inspect the area of the suspected damage. Look for breaks or crack if your roof is wooden shingle or tile. Often, on asphalt or composite styles, the shingles will warp or slip out of position. Warping is sometimes referred to as ‘fishmouth’ or ‘loose lap’.

The problem may not be as easily detected on a scalloped adobe roof or a single asphalt roll. For this, you may have to wet the roof and inspect it from the inside.

If you find a crack or a hole, place a flashlight on that area to see if the light will be visible from inside. On a bright sunny day, the flashlight may not be necessary.

Now for the interior inspection.

Go to the attic and look for light coming in from the outside. Make sure to only stand on support beams. Take a hammer and some four inch nails with you. If no light is visible, go back to the roof and keep looking.

Another thing to look for, while inside, is water on the beams. This could help you narrow down the location of the leak. It can also be misleading, as water can run for some distance across and down beams. If you can, try to trace it back to where it’s coming from.

If you think you have found the source of the leak, pound a nail up through the roof to mark it. Be careful not to hit any wires or cables in the process. Avoid using this technique on adobe style tile roofs, as you could end up with more damage than you had to begin with.

For this type of roof, try to squeeze an easily cleanable substance up through the opening to the outside. You could use something like silicon gel, but then you have the hassle of cleaning it off when you’re done. If the opening is small enough, though, silicon gel could take care of the problem for you by sealing it off.

You can also attempt to measure the location of the crack on the inside, if the light technique is unsuccessful. The difficulty comes with varying roof heights and crawl spaces. It’s also hard to transfer your measurements to the exterior of the roof.

Depending on the location of the crack, repair can be quite simple. It can be as easy as replacing an asphalt shingle or adobe tile or possibly re-papering from the inside.

As with any home repair, major damage should be addressed by a professional. If the problem is a single tile or shingle, just remove the damaged piece and replace. Once the new material is in place, nail it down in all four corners.

With asphalt shingles, sometimes all you need to do is nail or glue a corner back down, rather than replace the whole thing. When replacing tile, be sure to chip away all fragments of the damaged piece. Then you can simply glue down a replacement.

Some tarring may also be necessary for asphalt shingle repairs. Unless the damage is small and easily accessible, a professional should be contacted. If the job requires replacing roofing felt (a type of tar paper used for sealing), this too should be left to someone with professional experience.

If you are comfortable enough to know you can do them correctly, there are many repair jobs you can do yourself. If you’re not sure you can handle it, don’t risk doing further damage by attempting to fix it.