I got a new asphalt shingles installed on my roof last year. Against one wall of a dormer the shingles seem to be pulling back from the wall. Upon inspection it appears that the shingles were glued to the flashing and the glue is not holding well. I can post a photo if that would help.
Is it proper to glue shingles to the flashing?
It does not appear that any water is being let in. Is this a huge worry, something that requires immediate attention?
What should I do to fix this? Is there a certain type of glue I should get?
Unfortunately, the contractor seems to have gone out of business. :mad: They had been around for 20 years so I thought they were a good choice, but their phone numbers are disconnected and their website is gone. Is there any way to find out what happened to them or hold the owners accountable for this? Would it do me any good to call my insurance agent (they paid for the roof.)
Shingles shouldn’t be glued to the flashing. There is a strip of tar on the backside of shingles to help them stick together after sitting in the sun a bit. I suggest you post a picture if you want repair advice.
I don’t understand what you mean by the shingles pulling away. Is the flashing pulling away also? Are all the shingles along the dormer pulling away or just some?
It’s probably not a big deal put I’d put a picture up anyway so we can make sure.
First, IANAR, but I’ve had a little roofing experience. I’d say the shingles glued to the flashing are strictly cosmetic. The flashing itself is the water barrier here and it should have a course of shingles under it. If I had to guess (and I do), I’d wager that the roofers felt it was easier to slap a little tar onto the flashing and stick down some shingles than it was to find the right color paint for the flashing to match the roof. And they glued them because nailing through the flashing into the roof deck is a really bad idea.
OTOH, if there isn’t any shingle material under the edge of the flashing, you could have a definite problem which should be addressed right away. To try tracking down the roofing company, ask around the industry with other roofers or insurance adjusters. There’s a good possibility that the original owner is still in business under a new name.
There are nails through the flashing into the deck.
On other pieces of flashing there are nails, but they covered the nails with some kind of waterproofing. This is also the case with the turtle vents and the ridge vents.
There are roofers who can put on shingles all day at the speed of light and there are flashing guys.
You had a roofer.
Flashing guys are all proud of their ability to make metal go the way it should and every fastener is blind. You want one of those guys.
Your situation is not horrible but it needs to be cleaned up by a professional before it turns into a problem. And it shouldn’t be a whole lot of money.
The trouble is that every roofing outfit claims to have a flashing guy but very few actually do. Your best bet is to go to the local wholesale roofing supplier, and ask them who the guy is (not the company) who really knows his shit. They’ll know. He’s the employee of some roofing company that’s alway drooling over the latest Tapco brake and has every set of snips, shears and punches in perfect condition. That’s the guy.
What’s going on in the first two pictures that the shingles and flashing need to do that? I’m not a roofer or a flasher (heh!), but the only thing in the pictures that I’d be concerned about is the nails through the flashing into the deck that don’t have goop on them.
The flashing should have been nailed at the top under the vinyl siding. Nail heads should not be covered in silicone to water proof a roof. They took the easy way out for them and used improper techniques that mean you will have problems before you would have, if they’d kept all nails under an overlapping covering. For a quick fix for yourself to do you can use the Black Jack roofing cement to seal the nails and reattach the shingles to the roof. It won’t likely last any longer than there installation did, but the roof should be sealed for a while. Black Jack Roof Cement
Black Jack roof cement will work there too, but I would recommend a polyurethane bared sealant like this stuff. I believe it comes in more colors than black, but even if it doesn’t, it’s paintable after curing and when properly applied should last the life of your roof.
The fact that some of the nails are rusty tells me that you may already have some minor leakage or will soon. Getting a good quality sealant over the exposed nails should stop it and prevent recurrance for many years. For your own peace of mind, you may want to have another roofing company and/or your insurance adjuster look at the problem areas and give a professional opinion.
