Limbs can be trouble for your roof if they get too close. That seems to be what happened at today’s project where there were lots of unruly tree branches covered with angry vines rubbing against a client’s roof. 
Over time, the moisture has rotted the bottom few inches of the sheathing as you can see in the picture.
It’s not a complicated repair, except I couldn’t even get to the roof without first spending more than an hour trimming trees and pulling out vines. With that finished, I could get my ladder in there and proceed.
I started by removing the bottom two rows of shingles across the entire eave. A small pry bar, or flat bar, is great for getting those roofing nails or staples out carefully without damaging the above courses of shingles. If you’re attempting a roof repair, make sure you get all the fasteners out that are holding the shingles or they will be in your way later when you try to slide the new shingles up underneath to make the patch.
With the decking exposed I used my circular saw to remove the lower 8 inches or so. I replaced it with enough sheathing to extend around an inch over the eave. That will further help prevent any future water issues in case the trees and vines grow back…
I added new 15 pound roof paper and then three courses of shingles. I had an extra row because I extended the sheathing a little bit and two rows wouldn’t cut it. The picture below shows the layers in process.
Again, the roofing nailer came in super-handy to let me nail these down while holding on to my ladder with the other hand. Yes, mom, I was being careful.. :).
It turned out well. I just wish it didn’t have to be so hot when I do roofing repairs.
-Peter
