Due to the recent wind storm that swept through Toronto and the GTA, Luso Roofing has been receiving higher the normal call volume regarding missing roof shingles. This write-up is long overdue because Luso Roofing services 80-100 missing shingle repairs per year! The following are the top reasons why roof shingles fly off your roof. These tips come from our experiences dealing with missing shingle repairs.
- Shingle high-nailing. The shingle manufacturer provides the shingle installer with specific areas of where the nails should be fastened to the roof shingles. A common practice that we witness when we find the blown shingles that are missing is that the nail holes are high. What does this mean? It means that the shingle installer nailed too high on the shingle causing less wind resistance and did not catch the roof shingle under as well!
- Over or Under driving roof nails. Through our experience, ninety-nine percent of the time this occurs with the nail gun. This is the main reason why Luso Roofing hand nails! Hand nailing allows for the proper amount of nail penetration and nail depth that can be applied to make sure that the roof shingles are perfectly fastened, hence, making a professional tight seal of your asphalt shingles. This is not the case when we find the missing or blown-off shingles! For more information on this topic visit our shingle roofing section on the Luso Roofing website.
- Quality of Shingles. If the homeowner does his/her research he or she will know that different shingles have different resistances to wind, hence, some shingles are higher than others. For example, an architectural shingle majority of the time has a higher wind resistance than a 3-tab shingle.
- The roof shingles are old. With time shingle will age, just like we do! Usually around the 15-year mark homeowners will notice a couple of tabs and/or small pieces of shingles on their lawn. The majority of the time the homeowner will need a roof replacement or in some instances a temporary roof repair.
In conclusion, there can be several reasons for shingles missing on your roof. The cause can be workmanship, quality of the material and/or history of your roof. The best practice is to inspect your roof from time to time to make sure your roof is in good and safe condition.