Common shingle problems we repair
- Wind-lifted or missing shingles: once the seal strip breaks, shingles flap and crease, and the next storm tears them off.
- Cracked or creased shingles: from wind, foot traffic or old age.
- Nail pops: nails backing out and pushing up through shingles, letting water down the shank.
- Valley leaks: valleys carry more water than any other part of the roof and collect leaves.
- Flashing failures: at chimneys, sidewalls, dormers and skylights.
- Pipe boot and vent leaks: cracked rubber collars and loose vent flanges.
- Limb damage: abrasion and punctures from branches rubbing or falling on the roof.
How we repair shingles properly
A good shingle repair is not a dab of sealant. We lift and remove the damaged shingles without breaking the seal on the ones around them, check the underlayment and deck below, install matching shingles with the correct nail pattern, and re-seal the surrounding tabs. Flashing repairs are woven into the shingle courses so each layer overlaps the one below it.
We match shingle profile and color as closely as available products allow. On older roofs an exact match is not always possible, and we will show you options before the work.
Wind and storms in Montgomery County
Shingle damage here usually follows wind. The June 29, 2012 derecho had gusts as high as 91 mph along its path, and the 2024 Montgomery County tornadoes reached EF-1 strength with peak winds estimated at 95 to 105 mph. Most storms are much smaller than those, but even an ordinary summer thunderstorm can break shingle seal strips on an aging roof. After any significant wind, look for shingles in the yard or dark gaps on the roof. A roof inspection catches the damage you cannot see from the ground. For damage from a specific storm, see storm damage roof repair.
- Heat escapes into the attic through thin insulation and air leaks around lights, hatches and ducts.
- The warm roof deck melts snow from below, even when outdoor temperatures are below freezing.
- Meltwater runs down the roof under the blanket of snow.
- It refreezes over the cold eave, which sits outside the heated house, building a ridge of ice: the ice dam.
- Water pools behind the dam and backs up under the shingles, which are designed to shed water, not hold it back.
- Water leaks into walls and ceilings, often showing up as stains along exterior walls in late winter.
- The fix: attic air sealing, insulation and ventilation stop the melting, and self-adhered ice-and-water membrane at the eaves stops backed-up water from getting in.
When repairs stop making sense
If shingles are brittle, curling or bald across whole slopes, new shingles will not bond to the old ones and repairs become a cycle. At that point a shingle roof replacement is usually the better investment. We will tell you honestly where your roof stands.
Why shingles fail here slope by slope
Shingle roofs in southern Montgomery County almost never wear out evenly, so a useful repair starts with figuring out which slope is failing and why. South and west-facing planes take the heaviest sun and heat load and age first: they go brittle, shed granules and crack along the nail line years before the rest of the roof. North-facing slopes have the opposite problem. Shaded by the mature canopy over neighborhoods like Edgemoor, Bradley Hills and Wood Acres, they stay damp, grow the dark algae streaking that is cosmetic, and grow moss that is not, because moss holds water against the shingle and lifts its edge until wind can get under it.
The sealant strip that bonds each shingle course to the one below is the other local failure point. It softens in July heat, stiffens in January cold, and after enough of that cycling it stops re-bonding. Shingles with a broken seal still lie flat and look perfectly normal from the driveway, then lift in the next thunderstorm gust and leak during an ordinary rain weeks or months later. This is the single most common reason a homeowner tells us there was no storm, and it is why we check the bond by hand across the slope rather than looking for visible gaps. If a named storm is involved, it is worth documenting through storm damage roof repair before the repair is made.
Matching is the practical constraint on repairs here, because much of the local housing stock was reroofed ten to twenty-five years ago with shingle lines that have since been discontinued, and whatever is still available has not spent two decades in the sun. On a rear or side slope that is invisible from the street, close is fine. On a prominent front slope on a colonial or a Tudor, a patch can read as a patch for the life of the roof. In that case we will often pull sound matching shingles from a hidden slope to repair the visible one, or show you the numbers for a full shingle roof replacement so you can decide with real figures. When the leak turns out to be flashing, a pipe boot or a valley rather than the shingles themselves, the work falls under general roof repair, and a roof inspection is what tells the two apart.
Shingle Roof Repair across Bethesda, North Bethesda and Chevy Chase
We provide shingle roof repair throughout southern Montgomery County, including Bethesda, MD (20814, 20816, 20817) , North Bethesda, MD (20852) , and Chevy Chase, MD (20815) . Each area page covers the housing types, permit considerations and storm history particular to that community.
Recent Montgomery County storms
These recorded events show the kinds of weather local roofs need to withstand. See the full Montgomery County storm history.
June 29, 2012 Derecho
A fast-moving line of severe thunderstorms knocked out power to 77% of Pepco customers in Montgomery County (238,000 of 309,583) at its peak.
Roof takeaway: Straight-line winds tear off shingles and peel back flashing, and they bring down mature trees, which are common in established Bethesda and Chevy Chase neighborhoods.
June 5, 2024 Montgomery County Tornadoes
The National Weather Service confirmed two EF-1 tornadoes in Montgomery County: one from Poolesville to Seneca Creek State Park, and one from Gaithersburg to Ashton.
Roof takeaway: Most of the damage came from trees and large limbs falling onto homes. A healthy roof does little against that, which is why a post-storm inspection matters even when shingles look intact from the street.
Source: National Weather Service, Baltimore/Washington (Sterling, VA)
Frequently asked questions
Can you replace just a few shingles?
Yes. Replacing a handful of damaged shingles is one of our most common repairs, as long as the surrounding shingles are still flexible enough to lift without cracking.
Why are there shingle granules in my gutters?
Some granule loss is normal on a new roof and over a roof’s life. Heavy granule loss, especially with bare patches visible on the shingles, is a sign of aging or hail damage and worth having inspected.
What causes ice dams on shingle roofs?
Heat escaping into the attic melts snow on the upper roof. The meltwater refreezes at the colder eaves, building a ridge of ice that backs water up under the shingles. The long-term fix is better attic insulation and ventilation. The roof-level protection is ice-and-water membrane at the eaves.