How to Cut Shingles

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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When you add or replace shingles on a home, it is a great opportunity to give your place a fresh new look, provided you choose shingles that complement the color patterns of your home. When you lay shingles, you will have to cut many shingles to size to fill in various parts of the roof. With a little practice, you can cut shingles to size without any problems. If you miss a cut here and there, use the new pieces for the ridge caps.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Shingles
Utility knife
Straight edge

Step1

Lay the shingle down on the roof in the spot where it will be secured into place.

Step2

Score the shingle at the angle you intend to cut the shingle by barely cutting into the shingle with a little pressure. For a regular roof, the shingle will use a straight line. For a hip roof, the shingle will use a line following the same angle as the roof's ridge.

Step3

Hold the shingle out and away from your body. The temptation is to hold the shingle up against your body to force the cut in the shingle but doing so increases the odds of an accident.

Step4

Point the blade of the utility knife away from your body at the starting point of the line on the shingle. Cutting shingles or anything else with the blade of a knife pointing toward your body drastically increases the chances of cutting yourself.

Step5

Cut the shingle by sliding the blade along the scored line on the shingle. If you have to fight the shingle at all to cut it, you need a new blade.

Step6

Lay the shingle back in its position to see how well it fits.

Step7

Trim the shingle further to make it fit as close to perfect as possible when the shingle will not be covered by a ridge cap. The shingle should cover the entire portion of the roof where it is nailed down.

Step8

Nail the shingle in place.

Tips & Warnings

Always use sharp blades when cutting shingles to make the process easier, faster and safer.
Keep extra blades on hand to cut shingles so you don't have to climb down off the roof to get new ones.
If you don't feel you can score the shingle without causing damage to another shingle, use a carpenter's pencil to mark a line on the shingle. Another method is to make a small cut at both ends of the prospective cut line and then cut a straight line from one mark to the other.
Don't cut the shingle as it lies flat on the roof because you may slip and cause damage to another shingle or the protective felt on the roof. Cutting the felt can result in future water damage.