Storm Cleanup Nails: Puncture Season After a Storm

The storm passed. The nails didn't.

After a storm, the wind is only the first act. Then come the roofers, the tree crews, the fence installers and weeks of debris piled at the curb. Every one of those jobs leaves something behind: roofing nails, screws, staples, bits of flashing. A lot of it ends up exactly where your tires roll.

This post covers how to spot a puncture early, what to do in the first few minutes, and which punctures can actually be repaired under industry guidance.

Where the debris collects

You can't avoid every nail, but you can avoid the places they gather:

• Driveways and swales next to a house being re-roofed. Old shingles can come off with their nails still in them.
• Curbside debris piles. Cleanup piles can sit for a while before pickup, and they spill into the lane.
• Construction entrances and work zones, where contractor trucks come and go.
• Parking lots after a cleanup crew has swept debris into the gutter lines.

Give those areas a wide berth when you can, and don't park with a tire pressed against a debris pile.

A 60-second check after driving near debris

Walk around the car and look at the tread of each tire, turning the front wheels to see the full width of the fronts. You're looking for the flat head of a roofing nail, the head of a screw, or anything shiny sticking out of the rubber.

Then check the sidewalls. A cut or gouge on the side of the tire is a different problem from a nail in the tread, and it can't be repaired.

This fits into the monthly tire check NHTSA recommends anyway: pressure with a gauge, and a look for punctures, cuts, cracks and bulges.

Found one? The first few minutes

1. Check the pressure with a gauge. Compare it to your door placard. That number tells you more than how the tire looks.
2. If it's flat or dropping fast, don't drive on it. Put the spare on, or call for help.
3. If it's holding air, note where the nail is. Center of the tread, near the edge, or in the sidewall? That's the question that decides whether it can be repaired.
4. Have it looked at soon. A nail that isn't leaking today can loosen tomorrow. Tires lose some air naturally, about 1 psi a month on average according to Bridgestone, so a tire that drops faster than that is telling you something.

If your TPMS light comes on in the days after cleanup, don't assume it's the weather. Check each tire with a gauge. One tire lower than the rest points to a leak.

Can it be repaired? It depends where it is

USTMA and the Tire Industry Association set out when a puncture can be repaired, and the location matters as much as the nail:

• Tread area only. USTMA limits repairs to the tread area.
• 1/4 inch (6 mm) or smaller. The technician measures the actual hole.
• Not the sidewall or shoulder. Punctures or cuts there can't be repaired.
• Not at an angle into the shoulder. TIA says a repair can't be made where the injury extends into the shoulder or belt edge, or runs at an angle into the shoulder.
• Inside inspection required. The tire has to come off the wheel so the technician can check the inside, including the inner liner.
• Plug and patch together. A rubber stem fills the hole and a patch seals the inner liner. USTMA considers only that combination a permanent repair.

Our guide to tire plug vs patch goes through each rule and why it exists.

About plug kits after a storm

Plug kits sell fast after a storm, and it's easy to see why. But USTMA calls a plug alone an unacceptable repair, and its procedures say a tire with an existing, improper repair must be scrapped, not repaired again.

So a plug you push in yourself in the driveway can turn a repairable tire into one that has to be replaced. If you have a usable spare, or can get mobile service to you, that keeps the proper repair on the table.

Getting it handled in Broward

Extreme Tires repairs punctures by dismounting the tire, inspecting it inside, installing a combination patch-plug, rebalancing and setting the pressure to your door placard. That's available at the Sunrise shop or from the mobile van in the local install area, so a tire that's holding air doesn't have to go far. If the nail turns out to be in the shoulder or sidewall, the van can fit a replacement where you park.

Storms change everyone's schedule, ours included, so we won't promise availability right after one. Call (954) 773-1896 to ask, or see mobile service.

Cleanup-season checklist

If the storm also left water in the streets, our post on a car that sat in floodwater covers what to check next.