Ask Tom & Leslie

Nails Through Roof

Dear Tom & Leslie
I had a roof repair.  I had another repair carpenter tell me the roofer had driven a roofing nails thru the middle of approx. 40 shingles.  They said this was not acceptable.  What should I have him do?  I already paid him.
Libby H

Libby,
Roofing shingles are attached to roofs with nails.  The trick is to place those nails where the shingle above will cover them.  When you install roof from scratch, this is easy as you simply cover the nails holding the bottom shingles with the shingle above it. 

When it comes to doing a repair though, all bets are off.  In the best case scenario, it’s best to leave no nails exposed.  Sometimes, however, repairs have to leave a few nails exposed.  Placing a dab of roof cement over the heads of these nails is always a good idea.

In your case, driving nails through the middle of 40 shingles seems unusual and excessive.  I would contact the roof contractor and tell him you are concerned that the repair is not going to hold because of the way it was done.  A good contractor will make an attempt to keep his or her customer happy and either explain why the repair was done the way it was, or come back and change it. 

If you can’t reach the contractor or they refuse, your only options are legal and then it gets really messy.  You’d need an “expert” opinion from another expert as to what was wrong with the first repair and then you both have to go to court to prove the first roofer’s work was substandard.  As you might guess, by the time you so all of this, it would be cheaper just to pay somebody else to do it all over again.

Thanks for listening and we hope this helps!

Tom & Leslie

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