Understanding the Pros and Cons of Stainless Steel Roofing Nails

Stainless steel roofing nails are very specific in what they are able to do. This is because wire nails, which are more commonly used in woodwork, simply do not work on roofs. This is because a great deal of pressure is needed to secure a shingle in place, and a wire nail is simply not able to deliver this. By contrast, stainless steel roofing nails have large flat heads and short points, which means they can hold shingles down even in rain or wind. However, they do have a number of challenges that you need to be aware of.

Pros and Cons of Stainless Steel Roofing Nails

Most roofing companies no longer use hand hammers in order to put their roofing nails into place. Instead, they will use pneumatic nailers that use an air compressor for power. This is a much more efficient and cost effective method of working.

However, the problem with pneumatic nailers is that you cannot guarantee the same pressure is used on each nail. Hence, some nails may not have grasped the wood of the roof as strongly as others and it is possible that some are slightly crooked or bent. This means that there is a possibility that your shingles will tear and that the roof starts to leak. This would not happen with a hand-hammered nail, as the roofer would check each individual nail.

If the nail is not positioned properly, you can guarantee that you will need someone to come and do repair work later on. If the nail is not in deep enough, it will always work its way out eventually. This leads to holes that tend to leak and the shingles will start to flap about. If you do a roof inspection and you see some of the nails getting loos, make sure you take them out and put new ones in. Furthermore, find out whether it is warping of the wood that has caused the nails to protrude.

How to Fix Problems

If water has started to leak through your roof because of protruding nails, you will need to make sure you get it fixed as soon as possible. This starts by removing the nail itself and gently taking out the shingle. Make sure you don’t break the shingle, however. Then, use some asphalt cement and loose rock mixture to fill the hole, smoothing it down. Gently put the shingle back into position and fill the hole of the broken nail on the shingle with the same mixture. Next, use a new roofing nail just outside of the original nail’s location to replace the shingle.

If you feel there are too many problems or if you are not confident about getting up on your roof (remember that this can be quite a dangerous enterprise anyway), always hire a professional roofing company. Consider hiring one different from the one who did the original roofing work, however, since they didn’t do a good job in the first place.