So you’re sitting inside and all of a sudden during a heavy storm, and a drop of water lands on your head. Well, that usually means the worst of course, that your roof is leaking and needs repair. Surprisingly though, you may not need to actually need to hire a contractor. In these cases, however, you may just need to do a little bit of roofing repair yourself. In this guide, we’ll give you a few roof repair tips from a roofing company that can help you do minor repairs yourself.

When you have water leaking and dripping onto your ceiling, the first thought is that you have a leak directly above it. Contrary to this concept though, it’s rarely the case. Often, the leak is above the attic, or in another location near but not directly over your leak. You need to figure out exactly where the leak is coming from so you can fix it properly.

Sometimes you can have curled shingles that can cause water to seep in and leak. You can use asphalt roofing cement or other things for roofing by using a caulking gun. All you have to do is hold the edges and corners down and seal the curled shingles up so they won’t curl up again.

Many times, it’s only a few shingles that may need replaced. Sure, it’s always a best general practice to treat your roof like you’re supposed to do with car tires (replace them all at once), but really, you may only need to replace the damaged, broken, missing shingles, or the ones that are rotting. Just use a pry bar or hammer and remove the nails around the shingles that are damaged, slip the new shingle after taking the old one out, then use new galvanized roofing nails in each corner of the shingle and the ones around it too to secure it.

If you’re going to hire professional roofers, you can actually cut a little bit of time (and the money cost, not to mention future maintenance or repairs) out of their job, as well as eliminate the need for them to remove or just add new roofing on top of the old roofing (this is a common, but generally not recommended practice because it just adds more and more weight onto your actual roof). By not having the shingles on, your contractor can see anything like damage to your actual roof boards so they can help you prevent future needed repair.

By getting some of the work done yourself, you can definitely save yourself the time and money from hiring a professional roofer. If you have the tools necessary, it’s recommended that you assess something like a leak yourself first, then if it’s not a big job, you may not need a professional licensed roofer. But don’t ever hesitate to get a free consultation, which many of them will do for you without charging you anything (or they’ll tell you how to assess the damage yourself if they’re a good contractor) so you don’t have to pay anything out of pocket unless absolutely necessary.

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