How To Shingle An Out Of Square Roof

How to measure for roof shingles.

How to shingle an out of square roof.

Place the first shingle end flush to the edge of the roof. By severe i mean that on a roof that measures 17 feet from eave to ridge and a little over 29 ft wide i snapped my lines for starting out square using multiples of the 3 4 5 method and found out that the roof was basically a trapezoid being 5 inches out of square at the top left of the roof and approximately the same on the right hand lower. A square of shingles is the number of shingles needed to cover 100 sq feet of roof area. As a rule of thumb there are 3 bundles to a square assuming that you are using three tab strip shingles.

Out of square roof here s what i ll do. Prep the roof for shingles including the starter and first course. Snap a vertical chalk line from the inside edge of the first shingle on the second row to the top of the roof and from the inside edge of the first shingle to the top of the roof. If the roof shingles and all accessory roof components are arranged and overlapped with this in mind the roof should successfully shed water.

Mark these points on the rafter. Understand the physics of how a sloped shingle roof works. Applying the roof cap is the next step. Determine which side of the roof is the tallest as measured to the headlap of the first course tall side 120 short side 118 for example.

Multiply the width and length measurements together to determine the area. You have the choice of purchasing cap shingles or cutting your own out of standard shingles. However shingles are packaged in a way that they are light enough for the average person to carry around. Place the square on the rafter s end.

Although ceramic tile roofs are expensive they can have a life span of over 100 years. In the dictionary to shingle is. Roll out 3 feet of the roof starter roll at one corner of the lower edge of the roof. It generally takes three packs of shingles to cover 100 square feet 9 29 square meters.

Measure the width and length of each section of your roof. For a roof with 8 12 pitch find 8 inches on the shorter arm of the square the tongue and 12 inches on the longer end the blade. Measure your roof so you can be sure you buy the right amount of shingles. Align the lower edge and end with the corresponding lower edge and end of the roof.

Cut the shingles so that both edges of the upper overlap part have an inward angle. These chalk lines will serve as a guide for subsequent even numbered rows of shingles and odd numbered rows respectively. Asphalt roofing shingles simply rely on the force of gravity to shed water from rain or snow melt. To cut your own just cut down multi flap shingles into individual shingles.

Shingle roofs typically have a life span of 15 30 years while membrane roofs usually last 5 15 years.