How to Install Shingles on a Low-Pitched Roof

Shingles help protect a house's framing from moisture. They are also essential to a home's curb appeal. Installing shingles requires climbing onto and walking around the roof, a task that increases in difficulty as the pitch of the roof increases. Shingling low-pitched roofs puts less strain on workers, because they can expend less energy leaning into the roof to avoid falling off. It's also easier to move bundles of shingles as well as your other tools and materials around the roof.

Ladder
Circular saw
Roofing felt
Utility knife
Nail gun or hammer
Roofing nails
Ridge vent
Shingles

Instructions

- 1
  Snap a chalk line along the length of the roof, 1-inch from the peak on each side. Cut along the chalkline with a circular saw, beginning 6-inches from one end of the roof and ending 6-inches from the other end, and remove and discard the cutout.
- 2
  Roll felt over the length of the roof; drive in three nails in a row every 3-feet. Cut the felt from the roll with a utility knife when you reach the opposite end of the roof. Continue unrolling strips of felt over the roof until it completely covers the roof.
- 3
  Nail aluminum flashing around the border of all valleys and any protrusions, such as pipes, vents or chimneys.
- 4
  Start at one end and lay shingles, side-by-side, the length of the roof, with the first and last shingle of each row extending 2-inches beyond the edge of the decking. Drive three nails into each shingle. Lap each subsequent row halfway over the previous one, always leaving a 2-inch overhang at each end. Continue until you reach the bottom edge of the roof, again leaving a 2-inch overhang. Repeat on each side of the roof.
- 5
  Center the ridge vent over the opening at the peak. Press the vent flat so the end is flush with the edge of the roof. Unroll the ridge vent along the peak and drive nails through the marked nail holes. Connect the tabs according the manufacturer's instructions for vents with interlocking tabs. Cut the vent with a utility knife so the end is flush with the end of the roof.

How to Insulate a New Corrugated Metal Roof

Bracing House Trusses

Home Building