Temporary roof repair question

[Art M]

Wouldn't it be simpler to have some spare shingles on hand to do minor repairs? It's relatively quick and painless to slide a shingle in. Larger areas are even easier because you don't have to peel back a shingle on top for every shingle you nail down. Anything large enough to warrant using a tarp would probably be worth calling your insurance company. They'd get someone out there quickly to avoid any costlier repairs due to water damage.

Tarp Kind: any? Size: how big an area do you want to protect? It either needs to go over the peak or under the shingles above it to keep water from running under it. Nailed: sure

--Art

[Jim-Poncin]

Sooner or later I'm going to lose some shingling due to winds, and I want to be ready to do a temporary repair with a tarp. I've got a regular asphalt shingle roof with moderate pitch on a one story house. What kind and size of tarp is usually used? Is it nailed down into the roofing? Are there any online guides for how to do a temporary repair?

thanks

[Doug Kanter]

I just had a roofer look at mine because I've got some shingles that are bent upward. He said that because there was another layer underneath, I didn't need to deal with the issue for another year, unless it was giving me nightmares. He said that if I wanted to do something, pick a warm day, flatten the shingles gently, staple them, then cover the staples with some of that black roofing goop.

So, it all depends, I guess....

[Joseph Meehan]

Sounds like overkill to me. I sure would not want to be up there in a storm trying to handle a tarp in the wind and rain. If the rain has stopped, then I should be able to stop by the store and pick up whatever I might need to make a proper repair.

Of course the first thing I would do is to call my insurance company and have them take care of the whole thing.

[gfretwell]

There are still Poly Tarps in Punta Gorda (from last year's Charley storm). Sometimes the "insurance company/roofer" solution is slow coming. Roofers were just starting to catch up when this tear's storms came. New constructrion is still the 800# goriilla with lucerative long term contracts and a lone homeowner has a hard time getting in the rotation.

They use a tarp like the ones truckers use, not the garden variety thing you get at Home Depot. You nail them down with the plastic washer "tin tab". I bet FEMA can give you a manufacturer recomendation.

[Joseph Meehan]

I agree this can happen, but then you can buy a tarp the size needed after the damage if needed. You don't need to store one for years and then it may never been needed.