How To Shingle Roof Top

A couple of weeks ago we published a two part series showing how a local roofing contractor shingled a roof with architectural shingles.

How to shingle roof top.

The line should be an exact number of courses from the eave as defined by the shingle exposure. Starting at the bottom of the roof map out a guideline with chalk. Most asphalt shingles are 3 feet 91 4 centimeters in length. Now nail your first course of shingles with the lower edges following the line but tacked along the top only.

Understand the basic patterns. Using alternate patterns 1. Known in the trade as vertical racking or staggering this how to lay shingles method enables the roofer to install a single column of shingles all the way to the peak without the wasted back and forth motion necessary to fill several rows of stair steps. If your roof s width is not an even multiple of the shingle s length you will have a partial piece on one end of each row.

You ll get the most life out of your shingles and your roof by laying them in a smart. If your eave is one straight length then pick an end and work to the other. Apply a shingle then a piece of flashing then a shingle and so on so that each piece of flashing rests on top of the lower course and is covered by the upper course. Use a roofing nail 1 to tack the drip edge down one every 10 when placing two pieces of drip edge together overlap one end over the other by 1 and secure using two roofing nails one in the back and one in the front.

Use your chalk and tape measure to mark about 12 inches up on the roof for the first set of shingles. You ll need to pry the siding outward to slip in the flashing. Consider four and five. This will help determine how the shingles will lay on the roof width.

All the other patterns work in essentially the same way offsetting. Measure the length of a shingle as it lies across the roof. It s critical to flash around plumbing stacks and attic vents because they are the most common roof penetrations. Shingle upward from this course to the ridge in normal fashion.

Many pros shingle in a vertical line up the roof because it s much faster. In some cases you ll have to remove the siding. Stagger each course to achieve the half pattern.