How To Lay A Wooden Shingle Roof

Ask this old house general contractor tom silva reveals the best ways to secure shingles to a roof.

How to lay a wooden shingle roof.

Cover the roof with roofing felt. Starting at the bottom of the roof map out a guideline with chalk. How to install a cedar shingle roof on a garden shed. Cut six inches off the length of the first starter shingle nailed on then use the rest of them full size.

This will be the first row of your roof and is crucial to the rest of your build. Position the first shingle so its end overhangs the edge of the roof by 1 1 4 to 1 1 2 inches. Spend some time selecting the best face of the shingles and then nail a double starter course. Then with a nail gun nail in each wood shingle piece by piece for the first row.

It is best to use timber roofing battens and counter battens with a membrane to allow adequate air flow if necessary. Snap a horizontal chalk line over the starting row to use as a guide. Lay the first row of shingles directly covering the narrow starter row. Check with the manufacturer of your wood shingles to know the exact measurement.

Many pros shingle in a vertical line up the roof because it s much faster. Use sticky back ice and water shield as underlayment where ice dams or leaf and twig dams are likely to build up and at. Secure it to the. Use a hammer stapler to fasten it down applying a staple every 12 to 14 inches.

Nail metal flashing called drip edge along the bottom edge of the roof deck near the gutters. Measure out with the use of the chalk line and tape measure a few inches of overhang. Separate shingles approximately 6mm apart. Step 8 the complete shingle roof.

Continue to chalk additional guidelines based on the width of the shingle through at least four courses rows across.