Virginia
Roofing Contractors
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Shingling A Roof
Shingling or roofing a house is a major undertaking for a homeowner and
extreme caution is required. This said, a Do-It-Yourselfer homeowner can
shingle or roof their own home with a little knowledge and the right tools.
Required Tools
In order to roof a house properly and safely the following tools are needed:
Ladders, Roof Jacks, Hammer, Carpenters Knife, Chalk Line, and preferably a
compressor or nail gun.
Estimating Materials
Typically the roof is measured in squares, where a “square” represents 100
square feet. There are eighty shingles in one square. However, when you go
to your local home improvement store shingles are usually sold in bundles.
Usually three bundles equal one square, however this can vary slightly
pending the shingle style.
Measure the area of your roof (length x width) and divide by 100 to get the
number of squares required. Then multiply this number by three to get the
number of bundles of shingles required for the job. Add an additional 10-15%
for spare, leaning toward the 15% if your roof has hips and valleys.
Drip edge, ice and water shield, asphalt paper, flashing, roofing nails, and
hip and ridge vents will also be required. The Drip edge comes in various
lengths. Measure the outside perimeter of the roof to calculate the drip
edge required. The ice and water shield, asphalt paper and flashing come in
roles. Use your roof square area calculation for determining your asphalt
paper requirements. Typically only one or two courses of ice and water
shield is required along the bottom/eave of the roof and in the valleys.
Calculate 2 times the length of the roof and valleys to estimate the amount
of ice and water shield required.
Typically each shingle will require 4-6 roofing nails and flashing usually
comes in 16” wide roles or 6x6 or 8x8 square inch steps. Step flashing is
typically used around chimneys, dormers and side wall junctions. Hip and
Ridge vent will vary with local building codes, however a rough estimate
would be to measure the length of your roof’s hip and ridges and take 75% of
this figure for calculating the amount of vent required.
You should now be able to fairly accurately calculate the cost of material
for roofing your home.
Installing the Drip Edge
Nail the Drip edge around the entire outside perimeter of the roof.
Apply the Ice and Water Shield Membrane and the Asphalt Paper
Apply the ice and water shield material such that it is flush with the drip
edge. If the climate in your area has harsh winters and/or significant
annual rainfall, add a second course of ice and water shield for added
protection. You should also add the ice and water shield membrane in the
valleys.
Next apply the asphalt paper to the entire roof, starting from the bottom
and working towards the ridge. Make sure each course of asphalt paper
overlaps the lower row by several inches (effectively shingling with the
asphalt paper).
Install metal flashing
Install metal flashing in all of the valleys. Step flashing around chimneys
and dormers will be added as the shingles are installed.
Installing the Shingles
Start the shingling at the bottom of the roof (or at the eaves). Lay a
starter course such that the bottom edge of the shingle lines up flush with
the drip edge. The starter strip is a “tabless” shingle that you make from
the regular shingles using your carpenter’s knife.
Lay your next course of full shingles over the first course, staggering the
starter joints from the first course to prevent water penetration.
Note: Sometimes you may want to start with a full or a partial shingle at
one end. In either case, you want to try to avoid small shingle pieces at
the far end of the roof. To prevent this, divide the length of the roof by
the length of a full shingle and assess how much of a shingle length you
want to start with. Ideally you do not want to have pieces smaller than 12”.
Use a Chalk Line
To ensure your shingle courses run straight use a chalk line. Measure the
finished reveal on your shingles. Usually this is about 5 inches. Then make
marks every 5 inches on the gable ends of the roof. Snap a chalk line
between the gable ends at each pair of marks all the way up the roof. This
will ensure that you shingles run true and straight as you progress up the
roof with the courses.
Vertical lines should also be snapped every 3 to 6 feet to ensure your tabs
maintain alignment.
Use of Roof Jacks
After 3 or 4 courses of shingles have been installed using ladders, roof
jacks may be necessary to access the upper courses. Roof jacks are steel
brackets that hold planks in position for you to stand on. The roof jacks
should be securely nailed through the decking and into rafters to ensure
that they will support your weight.
Shingling Valleys, Chimneys, Skylights and Dormers, and Step Flashing
Shingling the valleys and installing flashing requires extra care. The
shingles, typically coming from two intersecting courses when entering a
valley, need to overlap each other such that no water penetration occurs.
Skylights, chimneys and dormers must be step flashed (step flashing is
interleaved with each course of shingles) to ensure water is kept from
penetrating the roof.
Adding the Ridge Vent and Caps
To complete the roofing project, ridge vents need to be installed. These are
nailed to the top of the ridge and then capped.
The ridge cap prevents water from entering the home via the ridge vent,
while still allowing the house to breath. The ridge cap is constructed out
of individual shingle tabs that have their unfinished corners cut off at 45
degree angles. Each modified shingle tab, is nailed such that it overlaps
the previous piece as you work your way down the length of the ridge vent.
About the Author:
Over the past 20+ years Mr. Donovan has been involved with building homes
and additions to homes. His projects have included: building a vacation
home, building additions and garages on to existing homes, and finishing
unfinished homes. For more Home Improvement information visit:
http://www.homeadditionplus.com
and
http://www.homeaddition.blogspot.com
