Installing Wood or Composite Roofing
It’s a dream for many homeowners to have wood shake roofing, and for quite good reason: wood shake looks great. It offers the best insulation properties, and when it weathers, the shakes will appear blotched and variegated, which is appealing. On the downside, wood shake is quite costly, both to install and maintain. Composite is fairly easy to install and maintain, but doesn’t have the visual appeal of wood and can weaken in hot weather.
Tools and Materials
- Felt underlayment
- Chalk line
- Galvanised nails (3d, 4d or 7d depending on whether you will use shakes or shingles)
- Circular saw
- Knife
- Hammer
- Wood composite or wood (shakes)
- Pencil (for markings)
How to Apply the Shingles
- Check local building codes to get size of felt underlayment that you need for your particular style of roof and shakes you are using (15 pound or 30 pound).
- Tear up any roofing materials that already exist on the home and be sure to patch any spots that may be prone to water damage.
- Lay the felt underlayment roll. Underlayment is required between each course when installing shakes, unlike shingles, to guard from water and rain.
- Apply the shakes, starting with a 2-starter course, overhanging eaves by 2 inches, the rakes by 1-½ inches. Shakes come in lengths of 18 and 24 inches; gauge your desired exposure for each course.
- Affix two shakes at either end of eaves to get a straight line. Align each shake to protrude 2-inches farther from the drip edge.
- Insert a nail into the edge and make a neat line between the two shakes. When the starter course is being laid each shake should just touch the line.
- Align valley bordering shakes (for roofs with valleys). To mark the valley shakes, place a shake parallel to the valley and over a shake that has been laid along the eaves edge.
- Mark the intersection line, then cut the shake along the line and use as template for valley shakes.
- Lay the subsequent courses upwards to the ridge.
- Fasten chalk line at height of ridge then trim shakes with circular saw. Complete the ridge with ridge shakes.