What can you do about shingles falling off your roof? Well, it depends on the cause. If your shingles are falling off the roof due to:
● Occasional wind damage: Just replace the lost shingles.
● Damage from walking on them: Walk on them less or not at all.
● A roofer installing them wrong: Ask them to redo the job or call DMG Exteriors to fix them.
● Age: Replace all of them.
● Hail damage: Have a roofer inspect the damage, then file a claim with your insurance.
Your roof shingles protect your home’s interior from potentially costly water damage. They also help insulate your home, holding down your heating and cooling bills. Plus, if you want to sell your home, good shingles enhance curb appeal.
If your roof shingles are falling off, bent, or otherwise seriously damaged, you should figure out the cause and fix it as soon as possible.
Why Do Roof Shingles Fall Off?
The most common causes of shingles falling off include high winds, owners walking on their roofs, a poor shingle installation job, shingles getting too told, and hail.
1. High Winds
Shingles are designed to stay on your roof during normal winds. But in extreme winds, sometimes even high-quality shingles can be damaged or torn off. If they’re on your eaves or the ridge of your roof, they’re even more vulnerable to wind getting under them and pulling them away.
2. Walking on the Roof
If you or a family member walks on the roof, there’s always the risk that you could damage a shingle or two. On a hot day, asphalt shingles are more flexible and even more vulnerable to being pulled from their nails. Of course, clay tile shingles are always vulnerable to being cracked if you walk on them.
3. Installation Problems
Were your shingles installed recently? Has there been no extreme weather lately or other causes of damage? Are shingles still falling off? Then the installation might have gone wrong in some way. Maybe the installers didn’t follow the shingle manufacturer’s instructions.
4. Aging Shingles
How many years has it been since your shingles were installed? You can expect asphalt shingles to last about 12–15 years. Eventually, the asphalt dries out and cracks, surface granules fall off, and shingles begin to curl, no longer lying flat.
5. Hail Damage
Hail does not usually knock shingles off directly, but a severe hail storm can leave bruises and cracks in shingles. These can weaken shingles until they become ineffective at protecting you from future precipitation.
How Can You Tell You Have a Shingle Problem?
There are a few tell-tale signs of shingle problems. Watch for these clues:
● Loose or missing shingles
● Exposed shingle nail heads
● Asphalt shingles that are drying out, curling, or cracking
● Dark patches on your roof
● Shingle granules in your gutters or on the ground around your house
● New water leaks in your home
● Higher heating and cooling expenses
Loose or Missing Shingles
If more than one shingle is loose or actually missing, that could be a sign of a general shingle problem. Maybe it was caused by extreme weather, but your shingles also might be improperly installed or getting too old. Either way, your attic and other interior areas could be vulnerable to water damage.
That’s why you must replace loose shingles quickly. We recommend hiring a professional since this is a dangerous and complicated job. You don’t need to put yourself in a potentially hazardous environment when roofers are trained for it. You don’t want to apply it incorrectly and create more problems!
If you are located in Northwest Indiana, contact DMG Exteriors to fix your loose shingles. We will install shingles that can withstand 130 mile-per-hour winds and include an inflation-adjusted lifetime warranty and advanced protection technology.
Exposed Nails
Asphalt shingles are installed using metal nails. If weather or age has pulled some nails partially out of the roof, that can cause small cracks or holes where water can get through, causing rot or other damage to your roof.
Drying, Curling, or Cracking Shingles
Drying asphalt shingles can curl or crack. These are signs that they are at least close to the end of their lives and not going to keep water out of your home for much longer.
Dark Roof Patches
Areas of your roof that suddenly look darker can mean two things. First, the protective surface granules from the shingles could be falling off, leaving the dark asphalt under them exposed. Or second, the dark areas could be moss or algae, which should be cleaned.
Falling Shingle Granules
Look in your gutters and on the ground around your house. If you find small granules like fine gravel, they could be falling off of your asphalt shingles as they age. That can leave your shingles more exposed to sun, snow, and hail, and can expose your home to water damage.
Leaks
If new leaks develop in your attic or other parts of your home during rain, snow, or hail, you could be missing shingles or have several that are significantly damaged. Leaks can lead to mold and other serious problems.
Higher Heating and Cooling Expenses
Have your heating or cooling bills gone up more than seasonal changes should cause? You might have so many damaged or missing shingles that they are letting significant amounts of hot or cold air out of your home.
What Can You Do About Shingles Falling Off Your Roof?
Fit the solution to the type of shingle problem you have. If you’ve lost just a few shingles to wind, get those replaced. If they’re broken because you walked on them, walk on them less. If a shoddy installation is the problem, ask your roofer to redo the work and get it right. If your shingles are just too old, replace them. Finally, if your shingles are hail damaged, file an insurance claim.
1. Replace Wind-Damaged Shingles
Wind damage is one of the most common causes of falling shingles and one of the simplest to fix. If extreme weather knocks off a few shingles, there probably isn’t a systemic problem with your shingle installation. You can just ask a roofer to replace those shingles.
Give your roof a good visual inspection after each major weather event, looking out of certain windows or up from the ground using binoculars. Search for empty spots where shingles should be and for seriously bent or loose shingles.
In the short-term, replacing a lost shingle now and then is okay, but your roof might end up looking like a patchwork quilt. Are you thinking of listing your house for sale soon? Then you might need more extensive repairs to make your roof look new and appealing.
2. Limit Walking on Your Roof
If you’ve damaged shingles or tiles from walking on them, you can simply walk on them less—or not at all. It’s a hassle to get them fixed, and whatever benefit you get from walking on them probably doesn’t make up for that inconvenience. Plus, walking on the roof can be a safety risk for you and for any children that might imitate you.
3. Correct Poor Shingle Installation
If your roof shingles are falling off for no apparent reason, you can call whoever installed them for you and ask them to redo the job. You might have a warranty with them, or they might want to protect their reputation by making you satisfied with their work.
Your roofer can also perform an inspection to discover if there are causes of the problem which were unnoticed before. For example, there might be a structural issue, which they will consider when redoing the work.
If your warranty period is expired, any high-quality roofer can still give you a free inspection to discover what the problem is and then write you an estimate for repairs.
4. Replace Aging Shingles
Check your records to find out when your asphalt shingles were installed. If it was around 12 to 15 years ago, they might just be worn out. They don’t last forever because the oil in the asphalt eventually dries out.
If their lives are basically over, shingles are going to keep falling off your roof and will start exposing the interior of your home to water damage and also letting out your conditioned air. You should start planning for a full shingle replacement before the underlying structure of your roof gets damaged, which would be even more costly.
5. Claim Hail Damage
When you go through a major hailstorm, there is usually damage all over your whole neighborhood or even your town. You’re going to notice the event.
But, we can’t recommend that you try to assess the damage yourself. It’s safer to call a professional roofer or insurance adjuster to check for damage. From there, you can file an insurance claim to pay for repairs.
Contact DMG Exteriors for Shingle Repair
Your roof needs to stay in good repair in order to keep out rain, snow, and hail. It also has to help insulate your home from temperature changes. Plus, your roof and shingles should survive occasional high winds. If your roof shingles are falling off, we can fix the problem.
At DMG Exteriors, we perform every roof service that you need. We offer professional inspections to assess any problems, and we can install and replace roofs, and much more!
Compare us to our competitors in Northwest Indiana to see why DMG is your best choice for a roof you can trust. And, if you need flexible ways to pay for roof services, we have several excellent financing options for various customer situations.
Contact DMG Exteriors today and find out how we can take care of all your roofing needs.
