DIY Leaking Roof

Go to the attic while it is raining and look for water dripping through the roof to locate the exact area of the leak. The area directly above the water leak is the spot you need to repair. Wait until the rain stops before repairing the leak.

Climb onto the roof using a ladder. If you have a friend available to help, have him hold the ladder steady while you are on it. Carefully walk over to the area that is above the leaking area of the attic. You will likely find some damaged shingles at the location.

Slide the edge of the pry bar underneath the edge of each damaged shingle, and lift up until the shingle pops free from the roof. Repeat until you have removed all of the damaged shingles in the area.

Pull all of the old roofing nails out of the roof. Roofing nails are used to hold the shingle in place, and some of them will not come loose when you pull the shingles free. If your pry bar has a nail puller on one end, use it to remove the nails. Use a standard claw hammer to remove the nails if your pry bar does not have a nail puller.

Wipe the area dry with a towel if it is still damp. Fill in any cracks in the roof you see with silicone caulking material. Insert the tip of the caulking tube into the cracks, and pull the trigger of the caulking gun until each crack is filled.

Position the new shingles into place, starting at the bottommost row of the areas where shingles need to be replaced. Slide the shingles into place so they align with the rows of shingles still attached to the roof. Nail the shingles into place along their top edge with roofing nails. Continue nailing the new shingles into place until you reach the topmost row.

Remove the silicone caulking material from the caulking gun and replace it with roofing tar.

Apply a line of roofing tar along the top edge of a new shingle in the topmost row. You will use tar rather than nails for any new shingles that need to slide into place beneath older shingles. Hammering nails into old shingles can cause them to split or crumble. Gently pull up the edge of the old shingle directly above, and slide the top edge of the new shingle underneath. Be careful not to pull the older shingle up too far, or it could break. Press down on the top shingle to adhere it to the tar. Repeat for all the shingles in the row. If you had to remove all of the shingles in an area, and there are no older shingles still in place, you can simply nail all of the rows into place.

Re-load the caulking gun with silicone caulking material. Go back into the attic and fill any cracks on the inside portion of the roof beneath the area you just repaired.