Replacing Shingles

Chances are if you have an asphalt-shingled roof, then you know how these things are built to last for at least fifteen years, if you take proper care of them. The time comes though, that even when you have provided the best possible maintenance for your roof that you need to replace those shingles. There are, as you know, several ways that you can go about accomplishing this task. One possible way would be to hire a contractor, or you can save some serious money (and possibly time as well) by doing the project yourself. If you do decide to do this project yourself, have no fear, for this is something that you are able to accomplish this task.

Items needed:

• Ladder, extension
• Clawed hammer
• Spackle knife
• Common roofing nails
• Pry bar
• Utility knife
• Shingles
• Roofing cement
• Caulking or glue gun

Project steps:

1. Check the amount of damage to the roof. Before doing anything you are going to need to know the amount of damaged shingles that are in need of replacing. Be sure that you count the total number of shingles, and write it down to take with you to the store. After you have done that, take one of the damaged shingles with you to the store so that you can match the style and color exactly.
2. When you do your work is going to be a fairly important step as well. You want to make sure that you choose to do your work on a day when it is not going to be raining or wet. In fact, you should choose a day when it has been dry for a few days, doing this is going to ensure that your roof is dried out completely. That being said you are going to need to double check and make sure that your roof is in fact dry, prior to beginning any work.
3. Take the shingles above the damaged portion, and bend them back. Be gentle as you are doing this, since you do not want to damage those shingles as well. When that is done remove the nails and any remaining pieces of shingle with either a pry bar or the claw of a hammer.
4. Use your utility knife to trim the new shingles so that they match the size of your old shingles. Once you have matched the size of the shingles, go ahead and slide them into place, and nail it down into place.
5. After you have nailed down the shingles, use the roofing cement to help form a watertight seal. There are several ways that you can apply this, you could either apply directly from tube utilizing a caulking gun, or with the use of a Spackle knife.
6. The final step in this project is to clean up your mess. Congratulations—you have now re-shingled the roof of your house.