I got a new roof on the house nearly 2 weeks ago. The roofer did a great job, was very conscientious, etc. He also warned me that I was likely to find roofing nails on my property for the next several days. I thought that was unusual, but whatever.
So I just now found two more nails on the driveway. This makes 7 or 8 nails that seem to appear randomly. The two I found today were not there previously.
Is this normal? What’s going on, are they coming out of the gutters/downspout (doesn’t seem likely)? Being blown off from the wind?
The last thing I want is a flat tire as I’m backing down the driveway.
Any thoughts?
ETA: They have some rust but appear to not have been used.
mmm
Roofing nails are galvanized and magnetic. You can get a roofers magnet pretty cheap if you happen to be near a Harbor Freight (US). I still find a nail or two and I had a roof done over a year ago. Lawnmowers tend to blow them onto the driveway.
There’s pull cart thingies we can buy at roofing contractor stores, magnets on lil’ wheels for fifty bucks or so … work great just stay away from manhole covers … unprofessional for the contractor to not have done this himself …
Have kids or any in the neighborhood? … buy some magnets and offer 10¢ a nail … cheaper than a new tire …
ETA: Yes, nails fly every which way during the roofing operation … especially if the crew is moving fast …
It is expected for a roofing crew to do a thorough sweep with the magnet when they are done. Roofing nails tend to flip upright so get embedded in tires shoes and feet more easily than other types; sovit is particularly important.
This doesn’t mean they didn’t do this though, there are always a few that do not get picked up by the sweep. I have seen handfuls of nails left on the roof at times, missed for whatever reason by whoever did the final check that the roof was clean. These will get blown off occasionally but the pile can remain up there for a long time occasionally.
We had our roof done 3 years ago. I just found a nail this week, albeit under some shrubs and not in the driveway. I still find pieces of the old roof they removed a few times a month.
They were not the tidiest roofers, although maybe that’s normal (the finding of nails / shingles for this long.)
When we had ours done, I got the impression they were pretty thorough with the cleanup/magnets (I pulled up after work, the crew was gone but the boss guy was still poking around in the shrubs) - I found a few nails over the following few days and that was it, there were definitely not any showing up 2 weeks (never mind years!) later.
You will still find some likely years later. Getting a roof done is like having a live in girlfriend… even after its done you will still be finding nails/bobby pins for quite some time. My mothers roof got done about a year ago and I still won’t walk in the grass even though the roofers were pretty fastidious with their cleanup.
I was not home when the job was done, no idea if they ran any kind of magnet around. I doubt it, seems like that would be something you would mention to the homeowner to indicate how thorough you are.
I think I am more concerned about driveway nails than lawn nails. Honestly, I’m not sure what would be worse - a nail in my tire or a nail in my foot.
mmm
Thirded (or fourthed). When I had my roof done a few years ago, one of the things that was included in the ratings and reviews of local companies was cleanup. I looked at a lot of factors when I selected companies to bid, but one of them was how well they were rated at leaving the property clean and in good condition. I found very few nails after they were finished. Maybe a handful over 3 years?
Can the contractor come back and clean up? If not, if you rate the company online anywhere, I would just add something about the clean up.
MY contractor magnet swept and offered to replace any tires for 6 months. It was my first roof replacement so I have no idea if that is a standard offer.
Think twice about that; you may find that they surreptitiously buy every roofing nail available at the local hardware store and start feeding them to you one at a time.
“Amazing work, kids, you’ve found 2000 nails in my yard in just a couple of days’ time. Here’s your $200!”
As for my guy, I’m not exactly complaining. I am very satisfied with the work, and he did warn me to watch for strays. I’m just wondering if this is a common occurrence.
mmm
I just had my roof done about a month or so ago. Haven’t found much for nails but I am finding little rubber bands on occasion. Even if I did find nails, I wouldn’t immediately assume it was from that as my yard has a lot of junk in it. I say that because it used to be the site of the barns for the original schoolhouse in this town. They built a new school at another location in 1921 and my house was built in 1956 and, apparently, in the intervening 35 years they used the land as a dumping ground of sorts or something. I’ve found a ton of junk all over the yard including glass, coal, metal and various other things.
Had roof put on an addition and redone on the old house about 2 months ago. Haven’t found a single roofing nail. Plenty of framing and finishing nails around the addition though. They did have a wide magnet on wheels they ran around the old house. I can understand a lot of old nails bouncing around and turning up later but there shouldn’t be many new nails lying around.