# Got a new roof, still finding roofing nails on my driveway. Normal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 26, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-new-roof-still-finding-roofing-nails-on-my-driveway-normal/792199 "2017-07-26T21:36:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-new-roof-still-finding-roofing-nails-on-my-driveway-normal/792199/21 "2017-07-28T02:13:40Z")
I use a large magnet on a rope to pick up nails. I filled a coffee can from nails in the yard after a remodel job. There’s a real risk of puncturing a tire. Watch your driveway closely and the street. They can wash into the gutter after a hard rain. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-new-roof-still-finding-roofing-nails-on-my-driveway-normal/792199/22 "2017-07-28T14:15:52Z")
I always made an explicit point to clean up after myself every day before I left a job site … neat and orderly when I wasn’t there … this was cited often enough as to why new customers asked me to do work for them that it became something of my trademark in a variety of neighborhoods … that and always having a chessboard set up … Funny thing is that I did this clean up for my own personal safety … and to protect my own tires in the case of the occasional roofing jobs I did … I guess the theory is that if a worker looks sloppy, they are sloppy … I can only hope the OP’s roof doesn’t give out in ten years … ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-new-roof-still-finding-roofing-nails-on-my-driveway-normal/792199/23 "2017-07-28T15:31:32Z")
I’d just push broom the driveway daily; can’t hurt, right? ---
**Author:** ![Emergency911](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/43a26b/32.png) [@Emergency911](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emergency911)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-new-roof-still-finding-roofing-nails-on-my-driveway-normal/792199/24 "2017-07-28T16:50:44Z")
Mine was done just over a year ago. The roofers spent an hour running 2 magnetic brooms and one magnet on a stick before they left. They even left one of the brooms and encouraged us to use it daily for a week, go in various directions etc, which we did. I found a couple of nails in the driveway a couple weeks ago. My driveway is gravel, so I figured some of them managed to get under some of the gravel and finally worked themselves up. No flat tires to date. My roofer didn’t offer to fix any either, but he did say I could keep all the nails I find! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-new-roof-still-finding-roofing-nails-on-my-driveway-normal/792199/25 "2017-07-28T16:53:05Z")
I had a roof tear off and replace two years ago. Still see a nail or piece of roof show up from time to time. They like to appear under the down spouts especially. I assume the gutters still have a few in them and they work their way down after rain and snows. It happens. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-new-roof-still-finding-roofing-nails-on-my-driveway-normal/792199/26 "2017-07-28T22:12:08Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > … I can only hope the OP’s roof doesn’t give out in ten years … I will let you know. **setting my resurrect-the-zombie alarm for 2027** mmm ---
**Author:** ![Nightfall1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@Nightfall1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightfall1)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-new-roof-still-finding-roofing-nails-on-my-driveway-normal/792199/27 "2017-07-29T00:36:14Z")
We have gardens all around our house up to the foundation. I would find one or two nails in the gardens each spring as I turned the dirt over to plant flowers. With the thousands of nails they use a few are bound to fall to the ground. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-new-roof-still-finding-roofing-nails-on-my-driveway-normal/792199.md?page=1)