Roof Shingles Are Not Laying Flat

Acclimation

• Before attempting to install shingles to a roof, the shingles should be placed in the environment in which they will be installed. Since the installation environment is outside, you should leave the shingles sitting outside of your home in dry weather for two to three days. By leaving the shingles sitting in the area in which they will be installed, the shingles acclimate to the temperature and humidity, which allows them to straighten out prior to application.

Remove Old Roofing

• Shingles should never be installed over any other type of roofing, including other shingles, even if the shingles appear to sit perfectly flat on the roof. Take up old shingles by prying the nails from the tops of the shingles with the claw of a hammer starting at the peak of the roof and working your way down each side to the final rows along the eaves. Pull up the roofing felt beneath the shingles by hand and remove any staples left in the roof surface with pliers.

Clean the Roof

• Once you remove old roofing from a roof, you should also clean the roof well before attempting to install new shingles. First check the surface of the roof for any roofing cement that may have been left behind by the former roofing, especially near the roof peak and at valleys. Use sandpaper to remove roofing cement. Then use the hardest spray setting on a garden hose to wash the surface of a roof.

Installing Roofing Felt

• Most shingle manufacturers recommend lining the roof below shingles with roofing felt to add an extra layer of protection to the roof and to increase the insulating properties of the shingles. When installing roofing felt, you should cut the roofing felt into strips that stretch all the way across the roof and smooth the strips out as you install each one to ensure that no bubbles form in the felt. When stapling the roofing felt to the roof, make sure the staples go all the way into the roof until they sit flat. If they fail to sit flat on the roof, use a hammer to gently tap them down to the roof’s surface.