Installing Asphalt Shingles

Standard three-tab asphalt shingles are the easiest of all roofing materials to install. They are a manageable weight to carry and a breeze to cut and nail. In addition, the 12-by-36­inch shingles, when given a standard weather exposure of 5-inches, cover large areas very quickly. Asphalt roof shingles are also affordable, long lasting, and readily available at home centers and lumberyards.

Cutting Cut asphalt shingles face down on a fiat surface with a sharp utility knife. Hold a carpenter’s square or straightedge on the cut line and score the back of the shingle with the knife. Then bend the shingle to break it on the scored line.

Fastening Secure asphalt shingles with 12-gauge galvanized roofing nails. Use 1¼-inch-long nails for new roofs, 1½-inch nails when reroofing over an old asphalt roof.

Begin nailing the starter shingles at the rake and continue along the eaves. Allow a ½-inch overhang along the eaves and at both rakes, and 1/16-inch spacing between shingles. Use four nails each, nailed 3-inches above the eaves. Nail the first course over the starter course, using four nails per shingle.

When laying the successive courses, your main concern is proper alignment of the shingles-both horizontally and vertically. To horizontally align shingles that will be nailed over roofing felt snap chalk lines; if you’re reroofing without adding felt just butt the new shingles against the old ones.

When working with standard three-tab shingles, you can produce centered, diagonal, or random roof patterns by adjusting the length of the shingle that begins each course. Centered alignment creates the most uniform appearance, but is also the most difficult pattern to achieve. Diagonal alignment is a little more forgiving since the joints of four courses in a row are offset. Random alignment produces a more rustic appearance and is the easiest of the three patterns to lay: Just offset the joints of three courses in a row by at least 3-inches.

If you haven’t purchased ready-made hip and ridge shingles, you can cut and bend 12-inch squares from standard shingles. Snap chalk lines along each side of the ridge and along each hip, 6- inches from the center.

Laying Asphalt Shingling

1. Lay the starter course

A narrow starter course of shingles runs along the eaves to form a base for the first full course. When reroofing, cut the starter course 5-inches wide to match the exposure of the existing first course. For a new roof, cut a 9-inch-wide starter course. Trim 6-inches off the length of the first starter shingle to offset the cutouts in the starter course with the cutouts in the first full course.

1. Lay the first course

On a new roof, use full-width shingles for the first course. When reroofing, use a 10-inch-wide course to cover the two 5-inch exposures of the existing first two courses. Allow the same ½-inch overhang at the rakes and eaves and 1/16-inch between shingles.

1. Lay successive courses

If you’re using chalk lines, snap one every 10 inches from the bottom of the first course up to the ridge. Before you start the second row of shingles, also snap vertical chalk lines from the roof ridge to one end of every shingle along the first course, or every 36-inches.

1. Install hip And ridge shingles

If your roof has hips, shingle them before the ridge, beginning with a double layer of shingles at the bottom of one hip. Work toward the ridge, applying shingles with a 5-inch exposure. Align the edge of each shingle with the chalk line. To shingle the ridge, start at the end opposite the direction from which the wind most often blows. Use nails long enough to penetrate the ridge board securely(about 2 inches long).