The Santa Ana winds we just had kept us busy. We've been on appointment after appointment where shingles blew off, and a lot of them turned into full facet repairs. Here's why it keeps happening, and what keeps a roof on the deck.
Since the Santa Ana winds we just had, we've gone on appointment after appointment where shingles blew off. A lot of them have turned into full facet repairs, where we redo the whole side of the roof instead of patching a few shingles.
Rancho Cucamonga, after the winds: shingles gone, the old felt torn, the deck showing at the top.
As shingles age, they lose their granules. Lose enough of them and the shingle gets too light, and a light shingle is easy for the wind to get under and tear off the house. That's true of three tab and architectural shingles alike once they're really old.
A three tab shingle is thin. It just doesn't have enough adhesive and weight to hold onto the roof when the wind gets going. When the sealant strip lets go, the wind lifts the tab, and it doesn't take much more to flip it or rip it off.
Three tab shingles blown loose, and one flipped over: the sealant strip and the nail head that were supposed to hold it.
On one roof we inspected in Rancho Cucamonga this week, part of the roof blew off, and the reason was the nails. An earlier repair used nails that were too small. The work was done in a shoddy way, and the wind found it. We fasten and seal to the manufacturer's specifications, because that's what the shingle was tested to hold with.
The same roof from the eave: where the shingles were, the old felt is all that's left.
The edge is where the wind gets under a roof first. The first course is what holds the edge down. That's why we install Owens Corning systems with a starter strip along the eaves and up the rakes. Its continuous sealant bonds to the first course of shingles, so the edge of the roof stays stuck to the deck. A roof without one is starting the fight with its weakest spot. How the whole Owens Corning system goes on is on our Owens Corning Duration page.
An old, light shingle is easy for the wind to get under. Lock the edges down.
Call us, and call your insurance company. A lot of policies cover wind. Policies usually exclude wear and tear, and your policy and your insurance company decide what's covered after the deductible. We can be there when your adjuster comes out, to show them the damage and explain what the repair involves. More on that on our storm damage page.
If the roof is old or three tab, a repair may only hold until the next wind. I'll tell you straight whether it's a repair or a replacement. What goes into a roof that holds, and what cheap bids leave out, is in where the money goes on a roof.
Source: Owens Corning, Starter Strip Plus product page.
Free storm estimate, in writing. We'll tell you straight whether it's a repair or a replacement. We do asphalt shingle roofs, tile replacement with new tile, tile lift and relay, and flat roofs across the Inland Empire.
(909) 819-8394