Architectural Shingles Installation Instructions

Architectural shingles can replicate the colors and textures of older roofs.

Thicker and heavier than standard asphalt shingles, architectural shingles give roofs a three dimensional appearance. They are made of asphalt over a fiberglass, laminate or rubberized base, often with a topcoat of ceramic-coated minerals. Being layered in this way gives an appearance similar to natural slate or wood. Installed the same way as asphalt shingles, some brands have additional connective tabs. This interlocking design plus sturdy construction makes architectural shingles more robust than asphalt shingles. They are highly fire-resistant and designed to withstand winds up to 120 mph or heavy hail. Several brands come with a buyer's lifetime warranty, and most will last 30 to 50 years.

Things You'll Need

• Pitchfork
• Architectural shingles
• Drip edge strip
• Flashing
• Shingle starter strip
• Felt paper underlay
• Tape measure
• Chalk reel
• Utility knife
• Hammer tacker or staple gun
• Galvanized roofing nails, 1¼-inch
• Hammer or nail gun

Instructions

Preparation

1. Use a pitchfork to lever off existing shingles. Hammer nails into the roof sheathing boards to secure. Add more nails as necessary. Apply aluminium flashing round vents and chimneys over any large knotholes in sheathing boards.

2. Starting at the bottom edge, cover the roof with overlapping, horizontal strips of felt underlay. Staple these down at 6- to 8-inch intervals.

3. Nail metal drip strip along the lower edge of the roof using galvanized roofing nails. Overlap any joints.

4. Measure and mark the center point of the roof at both the top and bottom. Use a chalk line to snap a vertical mark down the roof at this point.

5. Install a starter strip along the bottom of the roof on top of the drip edge and hanging down ¼-inch lower. Nail through both the starter strip and the drip edge.

6. Position a shingle on top of the starter strip, protruding ¼-inch beyond it in order to shed water away from the building. Mark the top line of this shingle on the roof. Repeat further along the starter row. Use chalk line to snap a horizontal line across the roof between these points. Repeat at 5-inch increments, marking horizontal location lines for shingle rows right up the roof.

7. Go to the top of the roof. Starting from vertical center line, measure and drop chalk lines down at 6-inch intervals, creating a chalk grid.

Shingling

1. Begin laying shingles, locating position by grid lines. Start at the bottom center or the bottom left-hand corner. The first row should hang one ¼-inch further beyond the lower roof edge than the starter row. Nail through the shingles along the tar strip.

2. Stagger rows at 6-inch offsets (following vertical chalk marks) to ensure that joints in successive rows do not correlate. Work up the roof while expanding rows horizontally to obtain a pyramidal pattern of secured shingles. Check that the pyramid shows evenly spaced 6-inch offsets.

3. Continue adding to the width and height of the rows until the roof is covered. Lap shingles over the roof peak, cutting around any vents. Lay ridges of overlapping shingles over any roof hips. Secure well with nails.

Tips & Warnings

• Some states require an ice and water shield laying above the drip strip.

References

• The Roofery: Architectural Roofing Shingles
• Certain Teed San-Gobain Products: Certain Teed Learning Center: Roofing
• Home Construction Improvement: 3 Tab v Architectural Shingles
• This Old House: How to Reshingle a Roof
• Hammerzone: Reroofing Part 2: Covering the roof with felt
• Hammerzone: Reroofing Part 3: Installing Asphalt Roof Shingles

Resources

• This Old House: Choosing Roofing Materials
• This Old House: How to Repair Shingle Siding