The next time you venture out and look at your house with a look of satisfaction and pride, give some time to look at the torn and broken shingles on the roof too. You have lived in the house for a long time and have upgraded the wall paint almost every year, made a sauna in the bathroom and kept your lawn like a golf course tee. It is now time to ensure that the roof of the house too is in fine shape. It is time that the broken and vacant shingles in the house are replaced. If you miss them now, you run the risk of causing further and serious damage to the structure of the house and of course, leaking roofs!

What does it take to replace a torn or a damaged roof? Apparently it takes nothing. In case you are confident to scale the roof height and do some help to your own roof, go ahead and do it. It is however advisable to take an opinion from an experienced roofer.

As per the doityourself.com, it is a basic operation to replace a shingle and takes approximately 5 minutes. I tried it and as it turned out, it was not so simple. First, it requires some expertise to align at the right angle on the roof to do a good job. This is a very important aspect of the repair as the person attempting the repair has to be positioned comfortably and securely. A drop from the roof is not the best of things to happen! Once the person has secured himself or herself to a respectable and comfortable position, it is time to start handling the tools. The tools required for replacing a shingle are as follows:-

Flat pry bar to lift the shingle
Hammer
Nails
Razor Knife
Adhesive

Thats it! The procedure was simple once I was positioned comfortably on the roof. It is illustrated below:-

Lift the shingle tab of the shingle two rows above the shingle I wished to replace shingle.

Remove the nails from around the shingle tab

Use the flat pry bar to lift the shingle and keep it securely at a place from where it will not slide down.

Use the hammer claw to remove all nails around the shingle such that the shingle or a part of it can be removed with ease.

Place the new shingle in place of the old one and fix the new nails at a place where there is no hole from previous fixings.

Apply adhesives to the required place.

Certain precautions to take while replacing a new shingle are as follows: Choose a shingle of a similar shade when replacing it.

When installing a new roof, keep at least 20 shingles for such conditions of replacements.

Dont replace the entire shingle when only a part is to be replaced. Cut the bad part and put a new one over it.

Dont lean on the edge of a roof while replacing a shingle close to the gutter.

In case there is a requirement to install a shingle near the edge of a roof, use a ladder or scaffolding.

Consult an experienced roofer prior to starting work. This will also ensure that you dont do more damage to the roof.

Shingle replacement is an easy operation and can be attempted by a person after taking the requisite precautions. It is however advisable to take assistance from an experienced roofer. Once you get the hang of it, its simple and easy.