Novice needs help

Just got through the horrendous storms in southern Illinois and my roof has three areas that need shingle repair. I talked wth my roofer yesterday and he said it would be 10 days to 3 weeks before he can get to it. I need to put plastic up, but am unsure what all I need to do. The areas that need covering are 20 x 20, 16 x 10 and 25 x 20. Can someone help me with supplies I will need to get this done? How should I tack the plastic down and do I neeed to use wood? It has rained twice since the shingles were blown off and it has not leaked, but we are due for some more rain the rest of this week with some possibly damaging wind again so I need to get this done today. Thanks for your help!

I would get either 30 lb. felt or synthetic underlayment, slide it up underneath the topmost course of shingles and fasten it with button caps.

For the size of what you have there you might just ask your roofer if he can send a couple guys over to tarp it until he can get to it. Or see if you can get someone else to tarp it until he can get to it.

My tarping is the least of the problems here in southern Illinois so there is no way my roofer can come and do it with all he has to deal with right now. Should I use 1 x 3’s along with the tarp or do I not need the 1 x 3’s. It has rained twice since the devastating storm and there are no leaks in the house. What size nails do i need to put the tarp down and should I double it? Does it msake any difference?

IMO your best option would be to purchase 3 Tarps in the sizes (2 Ft. Larger) in which you have listed. Purchase a Pale of button caps and securely fasten the tarp directly to the existing shingles/decking allowing the 2 ft overhang. Space Button caps approximately 16" inches apart. Although if you normally experience high winds often, you may shorten the distance to 12" inches in betweens button caps.

You may also contact you roofer and ask him if he would possibly purchase the tarps and the remaining button caps from you after he has completed your repair. Although you would most likely have to make him a good deal on it, its sometimes better than nothing if you do not wish to keep the temporary supplies.

Just make sure that you pay your roofer at least double the amount that he quoted you since you are about to put hundreds of new holes through the roof that will also need to be fixed.

Reminds me of a recent story of a woman who called me to fix her leak. I couldn’t come for three days.
When i got there, i find out i could fix her leak in 5 minutes and i would have charged her around 300hundred.

But no, the day before she was very worried about forecasted rain and paid someone to tarp her house.
Now the bill is 2500 dollars to fix all the damage due to the tarping.
She might as well just get a new roof now.
Sad situation.

Don’t tarp.
Caulk the open nail heads, open seams.
use a quality underlayment and slide it under the shingles where whole entire shingles have blown off.
(not just the bottom tabs)
Hold the underlayment down with metal or plastic cap nails and Don’t nail it through the face of shingles that you want to keep.

It kind of sounds like you need a new roof.
If you are getting a new roof, then tarp away.

In agreement with “roof-lover”, no you do not want to nail through shingle that’s are going to be kept.

Assuming that your home is average size, with the dimensions you’ve stated, you are in need of 10+ squares repair, in my experience the insurance carrier will replace the entire roof. If not, then yes follow the instructions “roof-lover” made.

im amazed nobody recommended calling in an insurance claim.

tarp the roof and have insurance pay for it. they will pay for the tarp and they will pay to repair any damage that tarping the roof will do.

if you have as much damage as you are saying then i dont see any reason insurance wouldn’t replace the whole thing.

can you post pictures of the areas that are in question?

just one thing, when you do put the tarps on start from the top and nail it as you pull it down into place. Don’t try to walk on the tarp especially if there is a bit of moisture or you’ll end up on your back on the roof and at worst on the ground

[quote=“Authentic Roofer”]im amazed nobody recommended calling in an insurance claim.

tarp the roof and have insurance pay for it. they will pay for the tarp and they will pay to repair any damage that tarping the roof will do.

if you have as much damage as you are saying then i dont see any reason insurance wouldn’t replace the whole thing.

can you post pictures of the areas that are in question?[/quote]

I was amazed no body wanted photos posted until your post!

I can’t tell him what to do until I see the areas, because I don’t know the roof slope, whether the areas are in valleys or over dormers, near the ridge or along the eaves. Photos would go a long way!

Thanks for all of your comments. I got everything done yesterday afternoon. It took about 2 hours to secure everything. I have already called my insurance company and they are the ones who told me to secure the roof because roofers would not be able to get to my house for several weeks. Insurance will pay for everything that has been done so far. We are expecting more rain and wind today through the rest of the week so I am glad I got this done.

glad to hear its taken care of!

if you need any advice on dealing with insurance or have any questions please feel free to ask in the forums or PM me.

I deal with insurance jobs for 90% of my business so I would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

Good luck!

This is what the radar looked like last Friday when the storm hit southern Illiois and there are some pictures at the bottom of the page, but this is just a small sample. One of the Tree removal guys who came up from Florida says the damage throughout southern Illinois was worse than any Hurricane he has seen.

crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cm … 0&source=0

These other photos were taken in and around Southern Illinois University in Carbondale…by the way this was graduation weekend, so imagine the chaos that took place trying to get everyone taken care of.

s255.photobucket.com/albums/hh15 … /?newest=1

I was watching the weather channel during the storm and it sure did look nasty.

Im not gonna lie I was hoping it would head towards indy and drop alittle hail minus the tornadoes up here!