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If you are looking for information on shingling an asphalt roof, you have come to the right place. The following article will tell you how to shingle an ashphalt roof.

How To Shingle An Ashphalt Roof

The average person can shingle his or her roof, if they are in good health, can comfortably climb ladders, have good balance and strong enough to carry shingles, rolls of felt paper and tools. Safe work practices are the biggest part of the job. If the roof is steep where ropes are required, consider hiring professional people to do the job.

Asphalt Roofing
The roof is the most important part of the home; it must be kept in good shape to protect the structure. The roof sheds the rain, snow and weather. Although gravity causes the water to run off, damaged shingles can allow water to enter the attic. Water entering the attic can damage the insulation and can lead to rot of the roof and ceiling joists. The water can also work its way into walls and other structures of the house, causing extreme damage. Health problems can also occur from growing mold and fungus inside walls.

Asphalt shingles is made from differant varieties of papers bathed in asphalt, which is then imbedded with small ceramic granules pressed firmly into its surface. The ceramic granules help reflect the sun’s ray; helping to cool the shingles, adding years to the shingle’s lifespan. A cooler roof makes for being cooler inside the home. The brighter the color of the shingle, the greater the reflection of heat away from the shingle. Shingles come in different colors and weights. Some shingles will last twenty years, while heavier weights can last twenty-five and thirty years. The heavier the weight, the greater the expense.
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The standard asphalt shingle comes in three feet sections, consisting of three tabs, each a foot long. On the backside a strip of black bonding agent is placed just above the two slots of the shingle. When the shingle is overlapped over another shingle, it will bond with the shingle below it, making for a water tight bond between them. The bond stops water from wicking upward and also will prevent the wind from lifting the shingles.

Fiberglass shingles are made with a fiberglass material instead of the paper material. Less asphalt is used to make the fiberglass type of shingles. They are lighter and resist tearing better than the standard asphalt type. One of the cons is less asphalt makes for a more brittle shingle over time.

For the more windy areas there is a type of shingle which goes through a lamination process to make two layers on each shingle. They are heavier than the average shingle and can stand winds up to ninety miles per hour. The shingles have no slots, because there is less expansion with fiberglass shingles. The shingles lay out better because there is less joints to work with, as each shingle is one complete unit.

How To Shingle An Asphalt Roof

1/ Extreme care must to taken when working on ladders and near the edge of roofs. If you are afraid of heights and don’t feel comfortable about doing the job, then call in the professionals.

2/ When you place a ladder up against the roof and there is an eve troughs in place; cut a piece of board about the width of the ladder and trim it so it will drop into the eve trough. This will keep the eve trough from collapsing due to the weight of the ladder placed against it as people go up and down carrying materials. To place the board in place have the ladder placed at a steeper angle and have someone hold the ladder in place, while putting the board in place. Once the board is in place, decrease the steepness of the ladder to a save working position. If the ladder is aluminum, it is a good idea to tie the ladder to the eve trough board or eve trough so the wind won't blow down the ladder.

3/ If possible choose the time of the year that is not too hot. Walking on very hot shingles will cause the edges of the shingles to crumble away. Bundles placed up on the roof in extreme heat can cause the shingles to stick together. Cover the shingle bundles with a tarp. If the shingles do get stuck together, you can un-stick them by cooling them in the shade. After cooling, pick the bundle of shingles to waist height and drop them horizontally onto a hard surface and they will become un-stuck. Check the weather report and pick a few days where you are free of rain.

4/ Wear running shoes with soft rubber soles to help prevent shingle damage as you work. Use ropes to secure yourself as you move around the roof. Do not tie off the end of the ropes to the bumper of parked vehicles; use substantial trees, iron work and secure fence poles as anchors or stays securely fixed to the roof.

5/ Start by stripping off the old shingles on one side of the house. Use a pitch fork or flat shovel to pry the shingles loose; starting at the end of the roof, work your way across the roof, doing a row at a time, place shingles as you go, in piles of about five shingles. Each pile can then be carried to the edge of the roof and thrown into a trailer, bin or directly onto the ground. If you are throwing them onto the ground, place a large tarp on the ground where you will be throwing the old shingles. The nails and small pieces will be easier to cleanup. Throw the old shingles off the roof in an organized fashion; this reduces the size of the pile, and takes up less room. After every three or four rows, clean the roof off with a push broom. The grit that comes loose from the old shingles is like a thousand tiny ball bearings and can cause you to slip. Pull up all the shingle nails that are left in the boards; they also can cause you to trip.

6/ Now that the roof is cleared off, inspect the boards for missing and loose nails, replacing where necessary. Drive in all the nails that have popped up due to the shrinkage of the boards over time. Sweep the roof clean again!

7/ On the bottom row, roll out the heavy roofing (90 weight felt) paper and staple into place. Some people only place the felt paper a row or two and others like to do the entire roof. Most roofers use a heavier paper on the first row and then a lightweight paper on the rest of the roof. If you don’t feel comfortable about rolling out the roof paper on the roof and cutting it to lenght there; then measure the length of the roof and measure and cut to length on the ground. Roll it up and carry onto the roof.

8/ Place a drip edge over the felt paper, along the entire length of the roof edge overhanging the rain gutter about ¾ of an inch; nail into place. The shingle then hangs over another 3/4 inch for a total of 1 1/2 inch over hang into the gutter. Use a chalk line to get the drip edge perfectly straight.

9/ Start your first row of shingles, by placing the shingle with the grit side up and spun around so the solid edge lines up with the drip edge. Extend the shingle 3/4 of an inch past the edge of the drip edge. All shingle will extend ¾ of an inch over the edge of the roof, bottom edge and roof edges. Use a chalk line to get your first row perfectly straight as all the other rows will follow. To cut the shingle, turn it over and score about halfway through from the underside with a carpenter knife; then bend it and snap apart; use a 2 ft. framing square to run the knife along. Do not cut diredtly over prelaid shingles or you may cut through both layers. Secure each shingle into place with four well placed shingle nails (large round head). Each nail should be place about an inch above the shingle slots and one near each end of the shingle. The next row of shingles will cover the head of the nails. The nails will also double nail the shingle below causing the shingles to be more wind proof.

10/ Start the second row with half a length of shingle, place directly on top of the first row with the shingles spaced so that the grooves of this row are off set to the shingle below (the first row will be two shingles thick). Nail in place with four nails to a shingle. Next row start with a full shingle. Alternate the start of each row with a full shingle and then a half shingle. The half shingles can either be used to start a new row or to finish a row. Some tar paper have lines printed onto them; these lines, act as guides to keep the shingles nice and straight as you lay them.

11/ The first row complete, start the second row by off setting the grooves once again. The bottom edge of the top shingle should line up with the top edge of the grooves of the lower shingle. Note there is a small tab (short cut) on the bottom of some shingle that will help you get the proper height of each shingle. Always place the nails so they are covered with the next row.

12/ Roll out the roofing felt as needed, overlapping the bottom row by two to three inches and staple into place. After three or four rows of shingles are in place, the roof will feel a lot more secure to walk on, with the non-skip grit of the shingle under your feet.

13/ Complete this side of the roof. When you need to cut around air vents and chimneys; use tin snips.(Tip) When removing the old shingle around objects, pay attention to the way the shingles were laid down, as this will help when it comes time to place the new ones.

14/ Complete both sides of the roof and cap the ridge. To make shingles to cap the ridge, cut each full shingle into three equal pieces (divide above the grooves of the shingles). When you cap the ridge, take note of the direction of the wind and start placing the capping from the opposite end of the roof that the wind comes from, and work across the roof to the other side; this will shed the rain better. Basically you just fold the shingle sections over the ridge. Place two nails, one on each side of the shingle near the bottom and that is all that is needed to hold them in place. Overlap by half each each of the following shingles. Place the nails near the bottom, so the next shingle will cover the nail of the previous roof cap. Finish up with two exposed nails. Cover the head of these two nails with silicone to prevent water from getting under the nail head, freezing and prying ther nails out. When using fiber-glass laminate shingles, most roofers will use regular ashphalt shingles to cap a roof.

15/ If you have rented a dumpster to haul the old shingles away be aware there is a charge for every dumpster hauled away. If you just throw the shingles into the dumpster unorganized, it will take three to fours loads to haul away the old shingles of the average size house. If you pile them into the dumpster neatly, the normal 6 cu yard dumpster will hold all the shingles of an average house (1200-1500 sq. ft) and only one load and one charge is necessary.

16/Because the muscles of the lower back are "worked over", you may end up with a very sore lower back. If possible have someone else help with all the clean-up, as you will really appreciate the help.

The average shingle bundle will cover 32 sq. ft. To figure the amount of bundles you will need to shingle a roof, figure the square footage of the roof and then divide by 32 and add 5-10 percent for waste. To get the sq. footage of a roof, measure the height and length of one side of the roof. Multiple the height times the length and multiple by 2. The extra bundles should cover for errors and capping.

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