How to Replace Damaged Roof Shingles

1. Use the proper safety precautions. Any time you're getting up on the roof you need to practice roof safety. Wear protective eyewear, heavy-duty gloves, and gripping boots appropriate for walking on the roof. Preferably, you'll also install roof jacks to have something to stand on, and harnesses to protect yourself. Never do roof work alone.

2. Assess the damage. Find the damaged area of shingles and determine how many new shingles you'll need and the extent of the damage underneath. Look at the corners on the shingles surrounding the damage. Are they curled and pulled up from the roof?

3. Remove shingles in cool weather. Asphalt and asphalt sealant will heat up in hot weather, making it moldable and much more difficult to remove. It's a lot easier to remove shingles that are cooled down and slightly more brittle than the moldable, so do the work of removing them first thing in the morning, before the sun has beaten down upon them considerably.

4. Loosen the adhesive under the tabs two rows above the damage. Removing all the shingles on the roof is usually done with a large hayfork , or rake-sized scraper used for removing shingles. Since you're only removing a portion of shingles, though, it's usually better to use a smaller tool. A pry bar, crow-bar, or the claw of a hammer works perfectly at getting under and carefully prying up shingles, separating the adhesive and revealing the nails of the shingles underneath.

5. Loosen the exposed nails. Slide your flat pry-bar under the shingles around the damaged portion. Work around the nail, pulling it up. Carefully lift each surrounding tab about 45 to 60 degrees. Go very slowly, but pry firmly, and try not to crack or break them. If the surrounding shingles are in good shape, you can reattach them when you're finished replacing the damaged shingles, saving you money and effort.

6. Continue loosening the adhesive and nails closer to the damaged shingles. Work your way progressively closer to the damage. Lift the tabs in the first row above the damaged shingle and withdraw the loosened nails from that shingle with the pry-bar by using the same process.

7. Loosen and remove the damaged shingles. Loosen the adhesive underneath the tabs of the damaged shingle, then pull them free and discard. If the shingles are severely damaged, don't try to salvage them. Just remove them and replace them with new shingles of a similar style to the rest of the shingles on the roof.

Source: wikihow