Nail pops are an annoying feature of asphalt shingle roofs. Left unchecked, they can lead to interior damage as well as leakage issues on your roof.
Nail pops can result from improper installation or environmental conditions, making addressing these issues imperative to preserving and maintaining your roof system for longevity and health.
Remove the Nail
Nail pops are an immediate roof maintenance concern that must be dealt with promptly to prevent any leakage of water into the attic space. If left ignored, they can lead to expensive water leakage repairs.
Roof nail pops can be caused by improper installation and environmental conditions, as well as incorrect attachment to joists. When wood roof sheathing is improperly attached to its support joists, its expansion and contraction response to changing temperatures during day and night may loosen nails over time and work them back out of their positions on roof sheathing and shingle layers causing nail pops.
As well, nails driven directly into shingle without using a ring shank are likely to back out from their holes quickly and without properly sealing, leading to leakage during heavy rainfall. Crooked nails don’t provide enough seal, leading to leakage during rainstorms.
Replace the Nail
Each asphalt roof shingle needs multiple nails to securely fasten it to your roof decking. Professional roofing contractors typically use long, ring-shanked nails that grip wood while keeping water out during installation process.
Over time, moisture seeping into wood sheathing can cause it to expand and cause nails to pop upward, forcing them outward and leading to nail pops. Improper nailing or damage in roof sheathing are other frequent causes.
Nail pops expose your roof’s sheathing and underlayers to moisture, potentially leading to leakage or damage. Therefore it is imperative that any nail pops are addressed quickly as leaving them unattended can cause surrounding shingles to lift, providing wind-driven rain with access to enter your home as roof leakage or cause premature wear down and rot of shingles resulting in premature roof leakage or prematurely wearing down and rotting of the shingle itself.
Re-seal the Shingles
Unattended nail pops allow rainwater to seep into their holes in your roof sheathing, leading to leakage or even rot over time. Therefore, it is crucial that they be addressed as quickly as possible for optimal roof maintenance.
Nail pops are often caused by improper installation. This is especially prevalent if the roof was fastened to OSB sheathing (Oriented Strand Board), as OSB expands and contracts depending on temperature fluctuations, loosening nails over time resulting in their popping out of their holes.
To address this issue, a skilled roofing contractor should use long ring shank nails with double withdrawal resistance compared to smooth shank nails, significantly decreasing the likelihood of weather-induced nail pops. Furthermore, proper ventilation helps regulate attic space/roof temperatures to help avoid nail pops caused by temperature differences or wind agitation of shingles causing nail pops.
Call a Roofing Contractor
Roof nail pops are an telltale sign of poor roof installation, yet most errors cannot be avoided completely during an installation project. There are, however, best practices which may help limit such errors from occurring – for instance roofing nails should be driven flat against the shingle for seal creation rather than being driven hard into it with a hammer.
Roof nail pops can be both unsightly and an early indicator that your roof may be vulnerable to water leakage. This occurs because nails used to support your shingles may back out, forcing them upwards, creating an opening through which wind-driven rain may enter through the decking into your home and seep in through any leaks in the roofing material.
Nail pops can be caused by any number of factors, including sheathing that has been damaged or improperly ventilated in your attic. Without sufficient attic ventilation, wood sheathing expands during hot and humid weather and forces out nails from roof shingles or smooth sheathing that weren’t driven in correctly, leading to nail pops on roofs that should have been driven in correctly – thus forcing out nails that need replacing immediately to avoid extensive damages and costly repairs. Addressing roof nail pops promptly may save significant repairs by avoiding extensive damages that lead to extensive repairs in future repairs down the line.