A Few Shingles Blew Off. Do I Need a New Roof in Columbus?

Why They Came Off Matters More Than How Many

Shingles are held down by two things: the nails, and a strip of adhesive that bonds each course to the one below once the sun warms it. Wind lifts a shingle when that seal has failed. So the useful question is why the seal let go.

• An extreme gust. Central Ohio gets storms that will take shingles off a perfectly good roof. Isolated loss in one exposed area after a severe event is bad luck, not a failing roof.
• The seal has aged out. On an older roof the adhesive gets brittle and stops bonding. When this is the cause, the shingles that came off are the first, not the last.
• They were never sealed properly. Shingles installed in cold weather without hand sealing, or nailed too high above the nailing zone, never bond correctly. This shows up as loss in random spots across the roof.
• Overdriven or underdriven nails. An installation defect that leaves shingles poorly held from day one.

How to Tell Which One You Have

Go and look at what came off, if you still have it, and look at the roof from the ground with binoculars.

• Is the loss in one exposed area, such as a rake edge, a ridge, or the windward slope? That points to a wind event on a sound roof.
• Is it scattered across several slopes? That points to a seal or installation problem across the whole roof.
• Do the shingles still on the roof lift easily at the edges when a breeze catches them? A roof where tabs flutter has lost its seal broadly.
• Look at the nail holes in the shingles that came off. Tearing through the nail line usually means extreme force. Coming away cleanly with the nails still in the deck usually means the seal failed.

Also check whether the shingle underneath the missing one has damage. If the layer below is intact, the deck is still protected and you have time. If underlayment or bare deck is showing, water is getting in now.

Do Not Wait on It

Even one missing shingle exposes the course beneath and the fastener line. Wind driven rain gets under the surrounding shingles, and the gap gives the next storm something to grab. What starts as one shingle becomes a strip. Cover it or repair it promptly.

Matching is the practical difficulty. Shingles weather, and a repair on a ten year old roof will be visible because the new material has not aged. That is cosmetic, and it beats a leak. If you have leftover bundles from the original installation in the garage, this is the moment they earn their storage.

When It Really Is Replacement Time

• Loss recurring after every wind event, in different places each time.
• Widespread lifting or curling that stops shingles lying flat.
• Bare underlayment or deck visible in more than an isolated spot.
• A roof already near the end of its expected service life.
• Repairs that will not hold because there is nothing sound to bond to.

Our guide to the signs you need a new roof covers where that line sits, and our article on repair or replace works through the decision when it is genuinely borderline.

Is It an Insurance Claim?

Wind damage is a covered peril on most Ohio homeowner policies, so it can be. Whether it is worth filing depends on the number. If replacing a handful of shingles costs less than or near your deductible, there is no claim to make and you should just repair it. If a wind event took a whole section, or exposed deck, that is a different scale.

Either way, photograph it before anything is touched, note the date of the storm, and get a written inspection. Wind damage often accompanies hail damage that is far less visible, and an inspection catches what you cannot see from the ground. Our guide to what a roof inspection should include covers what that report needs, and if you do proceed, our walkthrough on how to file a roof insurance claim sets out the order.