I have to replace some dammaged wood shingles on the side of my house. I know I’ve seen explanations of how to do this without re-shingling the entire wall but can’t for the life of me remember the tricks. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story

The Titan Impact X 440 offers great coverage with minimal overspray.
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Fine Homebuilding Magazine
- Home Group
- Antique Trader
- Arts & Crafts Homes
- Bank Note Reporter
- Cabin Life
- Cuisine at Home
- Fine Gardening
- Fine Woodworking
- Green Building Advisor
- Garden Gate
- Horticulture
- Keep Craft Alive
- Log Home Living
- Military Trader/Vehicles
- Numismatic News
- Numismaster
- Old Cars Weekly
- Old House Journal
- Period Homes
- Popular Woodworking
- Script
- ShopNotes
- Sports Collectors Digest
- Threads
- Timber Home Living
- Traditional Building
- Woodsmith
- World Coin News
- Writer's Digest
Replies
I use a variety of tools, primarily pry bars and a saw with a long metal cutting blade. I have a handle that accepts sawzall blades; I slip in the longest blade I can find (that will cut nails with minimal work.) Use the prybars (long flat one) to gently pry the shingle up to allow wiggle room for saw. Slip saw under shingle, probe until finding nail/nails, saw nail, pull shingle down. If you don't need to save the shingle, you can split it and pull out the pieces, but to slip a new one in its place, you will still have to cut the nail, and as flush as possible.
It gets easier with every shingle. Good luck.
Thanks for the input, nick. Any suggestions on nailing the replacement shingle? How do I protect against water infiltration at the site of the new nails?
When you install the new shingle, leave it protruding about 3/4" below the course line. Nail at the butt of the upper couse at an upward angle. Use a block of wood and drive the new shingle into place and the nails move under the upper course with the shingle.
Thanks for the great advice. It all makes sense and I am grateful for the input.
Greencu,
Every once in awhile on of these little nuggets of knowledge comes along ........ Brilliance in it's simplest form !
Not to highjack the thread but one of my favourites was the day we were doing some reno work on an old building. You know how hard it is to pull an old rusted spike out ? A good tap in first releases the bond of rust & time allowing easy removal !On a hill by the harbour
What! No credit?
Ron
Ron,
I was thinking it was you but was not sure !
On a hill by the harbour
I've done a lot of this. I use the curved stanley "wonder bar" to create enough space for the saw blade. Bang it up underneath the shingle on the edge(where the nails are) and the curve in the bar wedges the shingle away from the sidewall enough to insert blade. I use a 12" metal cutting blade on my sawzal with the shoe removed...this makes it easier to slide it under the shingle. After the nails are cut, you may find the shingle difficult to remove because the nails from the shingle on the next course up are also nailed thru the very top of the shingle you are trying to remove. Wiggle it side to side while exerting downward pressure and it will eventually come out. Wear gloves to avoid bloody knuckles. Make notches in the new shingle to correspond with the holes at the top of the old shingle caused by the nails from the shingle on the next course up. This will make it easier to insert the new shingle; otherwise, the top of the new shingle will hit those nail(s) before it's all the way in.
thanks for your great advice as well. Pardon me but my lack of understanding of the proper e-mail procedures is second only to my ineptness at using a computer period. I just want to thank all three of the responders and don't quite know which buttons to push or which icons to click to accomplish this simple task. So please accept my appologies and my thanks.
I use a shingle ripper. That is what it is designed for. Used to be hard to find these, but the big home centers have them now.
Yeah, I think a shingle ripper would be the way to go. It's roughly like a wonder bar but the long arm is flat and it has a notch in the side. IIRC, you slide it up under the shingle to force the nail out a bit, then slide it over the shingle, catch the nail in the notch, and then pound on the hooked end to yank the nail out.
Shingle ripper looks like this. You hook the nail, and pound down on the tang above the handle with a hammer. Works very well.
View Image
uh, corey...... that would be a shingle "thief"... a ripper is for stripping shingles..
the thiefs come in various configurations... the ones they sell nowadays area little too thick..
they also have ones with longer shanks for royals.. and especially thin ones for slate work....Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore