Roofing Exposed Nail Heads

Have someone hold the ladder steady for you as you climb onto the roof.

Roofing exposed nail heads.

A defect that i often find during my home inspections is exposed nail heads on the roof. Recently gotten a new roof only to find the roofer made some mistakes. Purchase a tub of roof cement at your local hardware store. Ok this is probably on here somewhere but i couldnt find it.

Most often the exposed nails are on the ridge the flashing an improper roof repair or the result of a nail pop. Apply a glob of roofing cement to the spatula or putty knife. I just got my roof done and have seen exposed nail heads. Roofing cement such as henry s is then placed below this final cap where the four nails will penetrate and then the four exposed nailheads are also coated with the cement.

The nail heads are not covered by. Just make sure that you don t damage the shingles lifting them up. Generally accepted building practices and most shingle manufacturer s instructions call for exposed nails and the ridge end location is inevitably exposed to be covered with an asphalt plastic cement to prevent water leakage. I ve seen over 8 so far and i haven t really looked too close.

You ll also need a hammer and a small spatula or putty knife. Fill small nail holes with silicone caulk or roof cement. Remove nail lift shingle and apply a small dab where nail penetrated shingle then push the overlapping shingle down and your done. Use the hammer to pound on the exposed nail head until it is flush with the shingle.

Michael has a simple solution to cover and seal exposed nail heads that may be present after a new roofing job. Exposed nails visible at ridge ends are not covered with asphalt plastic cement. When the roof is installed exposed nails should be kept to a minimum but it is unavoidable in certain situations. I do quite a bit of repair work on multiple types of roofing.

The photo below shows to exposed nail heads.