QA

How To Lay Roof Shingles

How do you shingle a roof step by step?

Roll out the self-stick underlayment. Stick on the underlayment. Cover the roof with felt paper. Roll on the felt paper. Overlap the ridge. Waterproof your valleys. Fold flashing over the peak. Install the shingles. Working around vents and stacks. Shingle over the vent flashing.

How do you install shingles on a roof?

Do you put anything under roof shingles?

Next it’s time for the roof underlayment, which can either be an asphalt-saturated felt or a synthetic roof underlayment. Both offer you peace-of-mind protection beneath the shingles. While the asphalt shingles will be the primary water-shedding roof layer, there are many benefits to installing a roof underlayment.

How many nails do you need for shingles?

General Guidelines for Nailing Shingles Install the recommended number of nails per shingle. For Duration® Series shingles, Owens Corning recommends using either a 4- or 6-nail fastening pattern depending on the roof’s slope and building code requirements. In most cases, 4 nails are adequate.

Do you install drip edge before tar paper?

Installing roof drip edge flashing properly The best way is to install the roof drip edge only along the eaves first, then place ice-and-water barrier (in the snowbelt) or felt paper (underlayment) over the drip edge. This lets any water that gets on the roof run down the underlayment and over the drip edge.

How much should shingles overhang?

Shingles should not extend more than 3/4” (19 mm) past the drip edge. If shingles overhang the edge of the roof by more than 3/4” (19 mm), then they are not supported and may crack and break off. In addition, the wind resistance at the roof edge may be compromised.

How many layers of shingles can you put on a roof?

In most states, you’re only allowed to have 2 layers of shingles on a roof for fire safety reasons. However, you’ll still see roofs that have 3 or 4 layers today. If you already have 2 or more layers, a contractor will recommend a full replacement.

How do you keep shingles straight?

Keeping the Roofing Line Straight e shingles aligned vertically and horizontally. A chalk line can keep your line straight over long distances and large areas. A chalk line can help eliminate short exposures, waviness and additional antithetical issues.

What underlayment to use for shingles?

What Is Roofing Underlayment? Roofing underlayment is what lies between the shingles and the roof sheathing, or roof deck, which is typically either plywood or OSB. It’s installed directly on the roof deck and provides a secondary layer of protection from the elements, including rain, snow, and wind.

Do you need paper under shingles?

Answer: Roofing felt is a layer of tar paper installed beneath the shingles to provide a backup waterproof membrane in case of leakage. Felt, otherwise known as underpayment, is required when asphalt shingles are installed as a first layer of roofing or when they are applied over wood shingles or a built-up roof.

Is tar paper needed under shingles?

Roofing felt or felt paper, also called underlayment or roofing tar paper, goes between the roof deck and the shingles, which adds another layer of protection to your roof. It serves as a water repellent when heavy rain and storms can cause moisture to get trapped between the shingle and wood of your roof decking.

Do I need a membrane under shingles?

The underlayment on a roof is a membrane that is applied to the plywood or ‘deck’ of your roof as an extra layer of water penetration protection before your shingles are installed. Underlayment isn’t always necessary, but should be applied to low-sloped roofs, as well as specific high water risk areas of your home.

Is it better to hand nail shingles?

While air gun nailing might seem faster, a well-trained hand nailer can do it almost as fast. The key difference between the two is accuracy. Hand driving nails into shingles allows for the roofer to place the nail on the proper nail line and then drive the nail in.

How long should your nails be for shingles?

If you’re using typical architectural shingles and 3/8-inch-thick sheathing, you’ll need 1‐inch nails. If your building codes require thicker sheathing, you’ll need 1 ¼-inch nails. When installing thicker shingles, you may need to use a longer nail in order to penetrate the OSB beneath fully.

Can roofing nails be too long?

Yes, they can. If they are too long, they will protrude through the sheathing at the roof overhang and be visible.

How long should nails be for 2 layers of shingles?

Layers. If you are putting a layer of asphalt shingles over an existing layer of asphalt shingles on to a 3/4-inch deck or a plank deck then you should be using 1 1/2-inch nails. If your decking is less than 3/4 inch then a 1 1/2-inch nail will suffice.

How long should ridge cap nails be?

You need to use at least 2-inch-long nails for roof cap shingles installation. Why? The standard 1 and 1/4-inch nails are not long enough to penetrate through all the roofing material up near the ridge.