New Jersey Roof Education Wanted

[HardleyWorkin]

JimAKAblue: Jim Bennette is a professional roofer on Cape Cod - not much different from New Jersey in terms of climate, exposure, or codes. His JLC article "Reroofing with Asphalt Shingles" from the 2009 JLC would be a good reference for you. Jim's for real. Thanks for getting me started on this - I'll stick a link to the story in this week's JLC Update.

http://www.jlconline.com/roofing/rer...-shingles.aspx

Ted Cushman

[jimAKAblue]

Ted, thanks for that link to that article. That is precisely what I was looking for when I started this thread. My background started me in MI, doing cold climate roofs but my recent years have been in a warm climate. I was interested to see if there are fundamental differences that I need to learn more about.

The article mentioned is from 2009, which isn't ancient history but I'm also aware that new products are coming out fast in the roofing industry. The world of underlayments can be confusing, especially when the perm ratings are considered. There was no mention of that critical element in that article, so I hope some of the scientists in this forum can weigh in.

[jimAKAblue]

Starter shingles is one of the areas that I often have to demand better techniques from my installers. They have a tendency to nail high and, because the starter is a single shingle, the nails are often driven through.

Starter Shingles.jpeg

This pic was pulled from the article. The author mentions that he doesn't use "proprietary" starter. So, I'm not sure of what I'm looking at. I don't see the all important seal strip 1" from the bottom which will prevent the first course from flapping in the breeze. The high nailing is typical for a starter course. I don't think the average roofer thinks critically enough about this element.

Also, I'm not sure how that copper piece works to prevent "galvanic reaction".

[jimAKAblue]

In the article the roofer mentions something that I had never thought about. He says that the old step flashings are typically 5" x 7" and won't work with the larger laminated sizes. He doesn't mention what size is required though.

That got me to thinking. When he pointed out that the copper flashings against a cupola, which was 35 years old, were still good, wouldn't they have to be replaced because they were undersized? I'm thinking about this from the point of view of dealing with insurers who don't want to pay for step flashings as well as their weather proofing properties.

[jimAKAblue]

Starter shingles is one of the areas that I often have to demand better techniques from my installers. They have a tendency to nail high and, because the starter is a single shingle, the nails are often driven through.

Attachment 27051

This pic was pulled from the article. The author mentions that he doesn't use "proprietary" starter. So, I'm not sure of what I'm looking at. I don't see the all important seal strip 1" from the bottom which will prevent the first course from flapping in the breeze. The high nailing is typical for a starter course. I don't think the average roofer thinks critically enough about this element.
.

After a bit more study, I figured out that the starter he is using doesn't require the seal strip on the starter, because it is on the shingle. However, I still don't understand what is holding down the first 5" on that roof if the nails are 5 and 6" up.

[jimAKAblue]

Another area that I'm interested in is the question of fastening the metal valleys. How does the expansion and contraction in cold climates affect the decision about how to fasten the metal? Do you avoid nails in both sides of the metal and just nail one side? If a copper valley is used, do you avoid all galvanized fasteners to come in contact with it?