Why a gust leaves the edges open
The air is fastest at the edge, so the pressure underneath is highest there.
Wind pressure on a roof is not even. It is highest at the windward edge and at the corners, where the air is forced up and over the surface. A shingle that is nailed correctly will hold that pressure, but a nail that was driven slightly high or into a soft spot can pull through when the load comes.
The result is a line of lifted tabs along the edge that looks like random damage. It is not random. It follows the pressure, and the repair follows it too. The crew reads the pattern on the roof before deciding which pieces to lift and which to leave.
- Pressure is highest at the windward edge
- Nails set high or in soft deck pull through
- The damage follows the pressure pattern
What a repair must match
A repair has to match the fixings and the shingle, not just the color.
The county wind figure of 110 miles per hour is the standard the repair must meet. A new shingle nailed with fewer nails, or with nails too short to grip the deck, will not meet it, even if it looks identical from the ground. The nail count and length are recorded on the job.
Matching shingles are the second concern. A repair in a different shingle line can look right on the day and fail to seal against its neighbours, because the tab size and the sealant strip differ. Where a match cannot be found, the crew says so and does not mix styles without telling the owner.
- Nail count and length recorded
- Sealant strip checked against the neighbours
- Mismatch stated to the owner in writing
When the deck itself has moved
If the nails have been pulled through the deck, the deck is checked before it is re-nailed.
A nail that pulls through the shingle can also pull through a soft or swollen deck, and a new nail driven into the same hole will hold no better. The crew checks the deck around the failed nails with a probe for softness and for any sign of water staining from below.
Where the deck is sound, the nail is replaced one size up or moved a short distance into solid wood. Where the deck is soft, the section is cut out and replaced before the shingle work goes on. The owner is shown the section and told what was replaced.
- Deck probed around failed nails
- Soft sections cut out and replaced
- Owner shown the removed section
Insurance and the wind record
The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner takes homeowner complaints online.
A wind claim is decided on the record of what the roof looked like before and after the storm. Photographs of the edges, the fasteners and the underside are the most useful part of that record. The crew provides them on the job sheet.
For a question about how a claim is handled, the Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner runs a Consumer Complaint Center, which takes homeowner complaints through its online portal. The crew does not decide a claim and does not promise how one will come out.
- Photographs taken before any work
- Job sheet kept with the fasteners listed
- Insurer decides the claim, not the roofer
Gable ends and the rake edge
The gable is where the wind meets the roof at its widest, so the rake edge is checked on its own.
A gable end takes the wind on its face and lifts the rake edge from the wall side. The first course of shingles at the rake is checked for lift along the whole length, because a single lifted course at the gable often has more lifted courses below it that cannot be seen from the ground.
The verge trim and the fascia at the gable are checked for the same movement. Trim that has pulled away from the rake lets the wind in under the first course, and the repair re-fixes the trim before the shingles are laid.
- Full rake length checked for lift
- Verge trim re-fixed before shingles
- Lower courses checked under the lift
What the owner should watch after a gust
Lifted tabs can change in the days after a gust as the wet shingles dry and settle.
After a strong wind, the owner can look at the edges from the ground the next morning and again a few days later. A tab that was only lifted at first can crack or come away once the sealant has been stressed, and a new gap is worth reporting while the edge is still easy to reach.
The owner should not lift a tab by hand to test it, because a tab that has lost its seal can tear as it is lifted. The crew checks it with the right tools on the visit.
- Look at the edges the next morning
- Report a new gap early
- Do not lift tabs by hand
