Asphalt Shingle Roof Repair in Gilbert: What Gets Fixed and How We Fix It

An asphalt shingle roof is one of the most repairable roofs there is. A damaged shingle can be taken out and a new one put in without disturbing the rest of the slope, and a leak at a vent pipe or a wall can usually be fixed at that spot. This page explains each repair we carry out on shingle roofs in Gilbert, how it is done, and where a repair stops being the right answer.

We are Circle G Roofing, a family run roofing company with more than 20 years of work on roofs across the Phoenix valley. We repair shingle roofs with our own crew, and every repair starts the same way: a free roof inspection, photographs of what we find, and a fixed price in writing before any work begins.

The methods described here follow the building code the Town of Gilbert enforces and the published guidance of the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA), the shingle makers’ trade body. Where a figure comes from one of those sources, the page says so.

What a shingle is made of, and what gives out first

An asphalt shingle is a mat saturated with asphalt and topped with mineral granules. The granules are the sunscreen: they keep ultraviolet light off the asphalt underneath. Most shingles also carry a strip of heat-activated sealant, which bonds each one to the shingle below once the roof has had enough sun. That bond is what holds the bottom edge down in wind.

Each of those parts fails in its own way, and each failure has its own repair. Desert sun and deck temperatures of about 160 degrees drive the lighter compounds out of the asphalt, so the mat stiffens with age. Granules come loose and wash down into the gutters. A sealant bond broken by wind may have to be sealed down again by hand. And the metal and rubber parts around the shingles, the flashing and the vent boots, can fail while the shingles are still sound.

The repairs we carry out on shingle roofs

What you notice	A common cause	The repair
A shingle in the yard, or a dark rectangle on the roof	A shingle torn off by wind, often one that was nailed too high or with too few nails	New shingles fitted into the gap, nailed in the nailing strip and sealed by hand
Bottom edges that lift or flap in wind	A sealant bond that has let go	Each lifted shingle checked for a crease, then sealed back down by hand or replaced
A small bump in a shingle, or a nail head showing	A nail that has backed out of the deck	The nail removed, a new nail driven beside the old hole, the shingle above sealed back down
A stain on the ceiling below a vent pipe	A cracked or torn rubber boot around the pipe	The boot replaced and the shingles around it relaid over the new flange
A stain where a roof meets a wall or a chimney	Flashing that has rusted, lifted or was caulked where it should have been formed	The shingles lifted, new flashing formed and fitted, the shingles relaid
A leak that shows up in heavy rain only	A valley that has worn or filled with debris	The valley opened, relined and reshingled
A dip or a sag in the roof surface	Decking that has been wet for some time	The section opened, the wet wood cut out and replaced, new underlayment and shingles over it

Replacing damaged or missing shingles

A shingle is typically held by its own nails and by the nails of the course above it, which pass through its top edge. To take one out we first separate the sealant bonds around it. ARMA’s guidance states that asphalt shingles can be carefully separated even once they are sealed, and that is the step that takes patience on a hot roof. The nails are then lifted, the damaged shingle slides out, and the new one slides into its place.

The new shingle is nailed in its nailing strip, not above it. Gilbert enforces the 2018 International Residential Code, which calls for at least four fasteners in each strip shingle and for the number the manufacturer’s instructions require where that is higher. The new shingle and the ones we lifted are then sealed down by hand, so that they bond again.

Resealing shingles lifted by wind

Wind gets under the edge of a shingle and lifts it. If the shingle has only come unstuck, it can be sealed back down by hand. ARMA lists the resealing of shingles damaged by high winds among the repairs a qualified roofer can make quickly. If the shingle has been folded back far enough to crease, we replace it, because sealing it down does not undo the crease.

We check the nailing while the shingles are lifted. Most of the wind damage we are called to traces back to nails placed too high, nails driven too deep through the mat, or too few nails. ARMA’s nailing bulletin says nails that are badly placed or badly driven can lead to sealing failures, raised tabs and blow-offs. Its remedy for an overdriven or crooked nail is to remove it, repair the hole with asphalt roof cement and place another nail nearby, and that is done before the row is sealed.

Backed-out and badly seated nails

A nail that works its way up lifts the shingle above it, so that shingle no longer lies flat and sealed. ARMA sets out the repair in four steps: unseal the shingle directly upslope, remove the backed-out fastener, install a new fastener in an adjacent location, and hand-seal the upslope shingle so it bonds to the one below. Note where the new fastener goes: beside the old hole, not back into it.

Flashing, vent boots and valleys

Many shingle roof leaks start where the shingles stop: at a wall, a chimney, a skylight curb, a pipe or a valley. Every opening through a roof is a weak point in the layer that sheds water, so these places depend on flashing. Flashing that was sealed with caulk instead of being formed and lapped is a leak waiting for the sealant to give out. We check flashing, valleys and penetrations on every repair, whatever we were called for.

• Sidewalls. The residential code calls for continuous or step flashing against a vertical wall, at least 4 inches high and 4 inches wide, directing water away from the wall and onto the roof.
• Valleys. Under the code a valley lining goes in before the shingles, and an open metal lining must be at least 24 inches wide. A valley is where two slopes send their water, so it is checked on every repair.
• Vent pipes. The rubber collar of a pipe boot can rot, crack or tear while the shingles around it are still sound, and water then follows the pipe into the house. The fix is a new boot, which is a small repair.
• Roof edges. The code requires a drip edge at the eaves and rakes of a shingle roof, with the underlayment laid over it at the eaves and under it at the rakes.

Underlayment and decking under the leak

When water has been getting in for a while, the damage is under the shingles as well as in them. We open the area up, cut out wet underlayment and any soft decking, and rebuild from the wood upward: new decking where it is needed, new underlayment lapped into the old, then shingles. Closing a roof over wet wood only hides the problem until the next storm.

Finding where the water gets in

The stain on the ceiling is rarely under the hole in the roof. Water travels along the deck and the framing before it drops, so we work back from the stain to the point of entry, on the roof and in the attic where there is access. You see photographs of that point before we give a price. Patching above the stain and not at the source is why so many roofs are repaired more than once and still leak.

How Gilbert heat changes shingle repair

Gilbert’s average daily high is 104 degrees in June, 106 in July and 104 in August, and the record is 119. Heat that high changes how a shingle roof has to be handled, and ARMA publishes recommendations for working in it.

• Bonds are at full strength. On an existing roof in hot weather the sealant bonds are likely fully activated, so pulling shingles apart can tear them. ARMA’s advice is that waiting until the shingles are cooler may be best.
• Early starts. On hot, sunny days the recommendation is to work early, before temperatures peak, and to work around the sun: south and west slopes in the morning, east and north slopes later.
• Soft surfaces. Asphalt coatings soften in heat. Soft-soled footwear and care in valleys and other high-traffic areas limit scuffing of the granule surface.
• Nail depth. Nail gun pressure has to be adjusted as the roof temperature changes, so that nails are neither overdriven nor underdriven.

This is why a repair on a July afternoon is not the same job as a repair on a January morning, and why we may schedule the permanent work for early in the day. It is also why an old, brittle roof is hard to repair at all: every shingle a boot touches can crack.

Matching new shingles to an older roof

A repair is easier to live with when it does not show. If spare shingles were kept from the original installation, ARMA calls using them one of the best ways to get a match. If not, its advice is to note the color name and the year the roof was installed, because manufacturers, contractors and distributors can help find a current product close to a discontinued color.

Even a correct match looks different at first. The surrounding shingles have years of sun on them and the new ones do not, and the patch blends in as it ages. We match the repair to what is already on the roof. If the slope faces the street, ask us at the inspection how visible the repair is likely to be.

What roofing cement can and cannot do

Roofing cement has a place: sealing a lifted tab, bedding a flashing edge, covering a nail head. It is not a roof repair in itself. ARMA warns against mistaking temporary fixes for long-term repairs, and notes that cement over a puncture may stop a leak for a time without being permanent. A thick smear of black cement on a shingle roof often marks a leak that was covered and not traced.

The same caution applies to spray-on products sold to restore old shingles. ARMA advises checking with the shingle manufacturer before any coating or rejuvenator is applied after installation, because the product may not be compatible with the shingles.

When a repair is the wrong answer

A repair is the right call when the shingles are still flexible, most of the granules are in place and the damage is in one area. It is the wrong call when the roof is brittle across its whole surface, because patching then only moves the leak. A roof is at the end of its life when the failure is everywhere at once.

Our inspection sorts a roof into one of three outcomes: a lasting repair, a section that needs rebuilding, or a roof that is finished. Most are repairs. If yours is not, our page on asphalt roofing in Gilbert, AZ covers what a new shingle roof involves.

How a repair visit runs

1. Inspection. We walk the roof, find the point of entry and photograph it. The inspection is free, whether or not any work follows.
2. Written price. You get a fixed price in writing that says what will be repaired and with what materials.
3. Opening up. We lift or pull the shingles around the damage and look at the underlayment and the deck.
4. Rebuild and reseal. Wet or failed material comes out. Flashing and penetrations in the area are renewed, and new shingles go on to match the surface.
5. Close up. We check the rest of the roof, clear the debris and walk the finished repair with you.

What moves the cost of a shingle repair

• How far the water has gone. Shingles alone are a small job. Wet underlayment and soft decking add work.
• Where the damage is. A valley, a wall or a chimney takes more time than open roof.
• The pitch and height of the roof. Steeper and higher roofs need more setup to work on safely.
• The condition of the shingles around the repair. Flexible shingles lift and reseal. Brittle ones break and widen the repair.
• The time of the call. Making a roof safe in the middle of a storm is priced differently from booked daytime work.

Looking after a shingle roof between repairs

ARMA’s maintenance list is short: keep gutters and downspouts clean, trim trees back from the roof, clear debris off the surface, and replace damaged or missing caulk. A yearly check of the flashing, the valleys and the gutter line catches lifted shingles and granule loss while the problem is still a repair. In this climate the useful time for that check is before the monsoon, which runs from June 15 to September 30.

Stay off the roof yourself. ARMA states plainly that it is dangerous to walk, climb or work on a roof, and on an aged shingle roof foot traffic also does damage. Most wear shows from the ground and in the gutters long before water gets inside.

Other pages on this site

This page covers the repair methods. For local conditions, storms, permits and HOA rules, see shingle roof repair in Gilbert, AZ. If you have water coming in now or are choosing a roofer, see shingle roof repair near me. Our company website, Circle G Roofing, covers the tile, foam and flat roof work we also do.

Common questions