Dear Gary,
My roof looks relatively new—no cracks, no blisters, the color looks good with no stones missing etc. My trouble is I have two valleys that have long splits, and a lot of the stones are missing. Can I fix these without plastering them with tar and making them look nasty?
Leaky

Dear Leaky,
Start by removing the existing valley. Remove the cap shingles at the top of the valley. Pull the nails from the top shingles and remove the shingles. Work your way down the valley removing the shingles in a step method. If the shingles were installed properly, they should come off with pieces gaining six inches in length every course until you get to a full shingle. Then begin removing just the six- or twelve- inch piece and work your way down, repeating the same order to the bottom. You will have to remove the nails from the center of the valley in each direction for about 20 inches. Once the valley shingles are removed, you should be able to remove the rolled roofing or tin liner or whatever the valley is made from. Clean down to the roof sheeting, then add a width of ice and snow guard self stick roofing, rolling it down the valley from the top down. Then add a 20-inch-wide piece of 90 # rolled roofing, nailing just the edges. (You should let the roofing lie in the valley and push it so it bottoms out in the valley.) You can then close the valley by laying shingles into and over the valley to the other side, weaving them over and under, alternating all the way to the top. (Do not nail within six inches of the center of the valley.) Then cap off with a 12” x 12” cap shingle.
If you want to have an open valley: after you run the ice and snow guard from the top ridge to the bottom eave, measure from the center of the valley at the top, over each direction, three inches. (This makes the valley shingles six inches apart.) Then measure the bottom of the valley from the center in each direction about five inches. (This makes the valley shingles ten inches apart.) Snap a chalk line between the top and bottom marks, making a tapered water way. Run the shingles from the last existing shingle toward the center of the valley. Mark the shingle where it lays across the chalk line, take the shingle away and lay on a piece of plywood and cut the shingle between the marks you made on the shingle. When you lay the shingle back down, it should line up with the chalk line. Glue under the shingle where it meets the valley with plastic roof cement (gluing it to the valley). Work your way from the eave to the ridge on both sides of the valley, being careful not to step into the valley. Once at the top, cap off with new ridge cap. Nice Job.
Hint of the Day: Do this job on a fairly cool, preferably overcast, day. Wear sneakers to protect the roof. The existing shingles will come off easier when it’s colder. Then when the sun comes out, the sun will melt the plastic roof cement and cause the shingles to adhere to the valley. This makes a leak-proof valley.

Carpenter Gary Ranck is a sales representative for Brookside Homes. Contact him at or submit a question to askgary@mountainhomemag.com.