Shingling (Putting Shingles) On My New Shed

[snpower]

Hello!

Back in September my parents helped me add a lean to onto the side of my small shed. It was covered in felt paper and now I am attempting to shingle it. A good guy down the street gave me 5-6 (one was open already) bundles of Timberline Grand Canyon shingles. I've never attempted anything like this before and, seem to be doing fairly well except for this: At the start of each row, I can't get a nice straight cut on the shingle using my hook blade. According to the instructions, I need to cut 5", then 10", then 15", and so on until course #9 at which point I start over. Looking for technique on this aspect of laying shingles please so the job looks as neat as possible.

Thanks.

 

[johnrex62]

I don't roof for a living, but the few times I shingled I always used a carpenter's square and a retractable razor blade to make my cuts. I popped lines on the felt paper to keep my shingle tops straight. As long as your cuts are square and your lines are square to the edges of your roofline things will stay neat.

I have seen roofers run the shingles off the end of the roof and trim later, I just made sure my starter row was the overhang I wanted and marked and cut each finish shingle before nailing it down. On a small job this was much easier for me.

 

[hr3]

Use a utility knife and cut from the back side.. We set up a piece of plywood on sawhorses with a piece of strapping screwed to it,, Use a square off the strapping on your marked cuts.. If you want to keep it straight snap chalk likes where the top of the next shingle is going to be,,

 

[moeh1]

Build a little "table" out of a scrap piece of plywood or waferboard. Attach a 1 by strip on the bottom. You can set the shingle on the board and slide it down to the strip, then set your square on top of it and easily score the cut with a regular utility knife. If you want to use the hook balde , you have a deep groove to ride along, or you can just use the regular knife. Usually if you get 1/2 way thru you can break it along the line with a quick bend. Make sure you cut from the backside to save your blade.

 

[snpower]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Gordon Gould]

If you don't get along good with the utility knife then try a pair of old fashioned tin snips. Mark on the back with a square and a nail as suggested and cut with the snips.

 

[cropdusting]

This was last year. I am not a roofer either. I had nailed my 2,200 sqft roof.

 

[forgeblast]

I wish i could sit on my roof, with it being an a-frame its more of a ski slope!

 

[JDgreen227]

Thanks everyone!

Have always used a square and a utility knife to cut shingles from the back, the quick change type of knife works best as you will be swapping blades a lot. BTW, my brother and I did four mid sized (16 squares) gable roofs over the summer, we used standard 3 tab shingles and simply cut a few dozen in half, then we would use a full shingle for the first row, a half shingle for the second, then another full shingle....may not look too good but WHO CARES?

Not sure if anybody else does this but we also nailed a row of starter shingles to the sides of the roof as well as at the bottom.

 

[EddieWalker]

I use tin snips to cut shingles. Fast, easy and the blade never goes dull.

As for worrying abou the edge being straight, when you overlap them, that cleans it all up. Also the flashing does more to make everything look nice then anything you can do with the shingles.

What is important is to pay attention to the nailing instructions and use nails the proper length. The nail head must not damage the shingle. Don't over drive them, or hit them too hard. Be sure that the nail goes all the way through the decking so that you can see all of the point and some of the shaft. If the nail is too short, it will come out!!!!

Get good quality roofing sealant. Make sure it is for roofs!!!!! I've seen amatures use silicone and caulking. Those will dry up, curl up on you and leak. Spread out the sealant with your finger and make sure you use enough to get the job done. It's too cheap to cut corners and not use enough

What is the pitch of the roof?

Do you get snow?

If it is a shallow pitch, like 1:12 to 3:12, then shingles are not your best choice.

Eddie