Roof is one of the most important structure of a house. It serves the purpose of protecting you from rain, wind, snow etc. In areas where rain and snowfall are very common, sloping rooftops are preferred over the the flat rooftops. For this purpose shingles are laid over the sloping surface. Different materials are used for making shingles including ceramic, asphalt, metal, fiberglass, wood etc. Shingles help to protect you and your house from rain, snow, hail etc. But any carelessness while laying down the shingles can culminate into complications like leakage of water from the roof, which can cause serious damage to the integrity of the house and to the other household items. Laying shingles is not a very complex issue and you can easily accomplish the task by going through the simple steps given below.
Complexity level: Moderate
Time Required: 1 – 2 days
Resources Required:
- Roofing shingles
- Starter roofing shingles
- Ice and rain shield
- Ladder
- Roofing felt
- Hammer
- Chalk string
- Galvanized roofing nails
- Drip edge
Instructions:
1. Estimate the number of shingles required
First of all measure the length and the breadth of the rooftop with the help of a measurement tape. Multiply these two quantities to obtain the area of the surface. However, shingles are sold in bundles, with one bundle covering an area of 33.3 sq ft approximately. Hence, you will require three bundles to cover an area of 100 sq ft. In this way you can easily calculate the number of shingles required by just dividing the area of your rooftop first by 100 and then by 3. The number you get is equal to the number of bundles of shingle required.
2. Roll out the roofing felt all over the surface
It is highly recommended that while laying down new layer of shingles you should first remove the older layer completely, because laying one layer on top of another one may lead to leakage of roof. Once the older layer has been removed, roll out your roofing felt over the top of your roof. With the help of a compressor nail gun fix it at its place but make sure that no nail heads are sticking out otherwise they could cause serious damages to the shingles resulting in a leaking roof.
3. Apply the ice and water strip or starter strip
Now comes the turn of ice and water strip. Once you have rolled out the felt you can apply the starter strip over it. The primary function of the starter strip is to make sure that the shingles, which will be laid over it do not shift from their place under the weight of the snow during the winter seasons. This is achieved by holding the shingles at its place.
4. Lay down the shingles on the roof
(a) This is the most important step and is done once you have applied the starter strip. Properly laid shingles ,considerably, enhance the overall appearance of your house.
(b) There are a number of ways of laying the shingles. The simplest and the most popular one is applying shingles row by row.
(c) All you have to do is to lay shingles in one row at a time. You are required to use only 3-4 nails per shingle.
(d) There is a black line on each shingle indicating where to apply the nails. The position of the next row of shingles is also represented by this line.
Following this procedure you can shingle the whole roof quickly and effectively.
Frequently asked questions:
How to lay architectural shingles?
Architectural shingles have got a longer life than most of the shingles available in the market. However, they are costlier than the other varieties of shingle. Laying architectural shingle is a very easy task and can be done in few steps:
(a) First of all you have to install the starter strip at the roof edge, which prevents the shingles from shifting and water leaking from the gap.
(b) Start the laying of shingles from the lower left corner of the roof moving toward right.
(c) Once you have completed with one row move upward to the next row.
(d) The layers of the shingles are nailed at their place so that they do not shift.
Quick tips:
- Walking on a sloppy surface is very dangerous, therefore, be very careful while laying down the shingles.
- The roof surface must be made clear of any such things which can cause you to slip from the roof.
Things to watch out for:
- Always make sure that you are not working very close to the power lines, antennas, conduits etc.
- Always try to start this work before the arrival of winter season. Also try to avoid early dew while working.
