b'Covering Home:Roofing Residential Dramatic Changes Seen in Asphalt Roofing Shingles John Reese A ttheshing co h~ve changed dr ically over the last few sphal roofi~glesamatyears asrndustryntinues tolidate. Celotex, Globe, conso and ELK,popularglehave all been acquired or are no longer onceshin brands, manufactured. Meanwhile, manyds are significantly Although familiar bran lighter inht,the warrantiesall asphalt s gles haveergone weig andforhin und weights have dropped, a to transformation overet 3Also, m m turers talth las years.anyanufachave stopped publishingweights ofshingles, and almost everythe prices for all thetheir architectural shingle warranty starts with the wordetime. C ng for a lif alli260-pound shinglea 3 warranty is pretty meaningless and prob asphalt products have or0-year ably\'tyou theyouhoping for. won getproductwererisen significantly. Rising Prices Although weights have dropped, the prices for all asphalt products haveandIfutestedwalkability of some of the newer risen significantly. Thekers installed by m refiners allow them todry.yo haven\'tthe co anyunderlayments, you\'re missing an opportunity to provide a refine oil in ways that have changed the oWasphalt dynamicver.much fore safer rooffor your workers. Asphalt flux is acomponentasphalt,the useenvironment majorofshingles andof Theshingles ma ess likely to sealAll manufaccokers means there\'s less flux left at theofo refininglightery be l down. endtheilprocess,tures have responded by engineering aaggressive sealant,t resultinghigherto the shinglemorebuincostsmanufacturer.itmore important than ever tothe shingle correctly. This In response, manyppliers have created asphalt shingles that relyisnail su means placing the nail below theal strip onree tab s , on creativeand color blends toe an architectural lookse th hinglesdesignsachiev and through the common bond area of instead of adding layers and weight. The new shingles look great andall laminates.Oneconfusing developments has been the coevolution are moret-effective, and the lowerare easier to fl.ash. Theseof the more cos profilesof two similar-lookingvery differentthe head.shingles use less asphalt and less fuelr shipping, making them abutstrips located on fo laps of some shingles. Someshingles have ailing tape "greener"laminatenaalternative.onheadlap, while others have replaced the course granules with E entntractors have respondedthecreased cost of asphaltthe ffici co toin fineles on aju above the exposedofshingle. shingles by using te that"scrap" shingles throughout thegranu stripstareathe chniquesuseAlthough the strips look similar, the tape helps the shingles lie roof.loss is p icularlyto minimize w h laminate shingles.flat Cuttingart easyit andbe usedaenailing, whileegranule New construction and existing home s es are rebounding, but theycanastarget lin forth fine al strips were designed to help the shingles liein theand remainll below peak levels of 2005. D retionary reroo remainsflatbundles we isc fingon the roof, and should not be useda nailing g eom flat. As a result, storm-related reroofingrepresents arasuide. Th bottnowgreate percent lineto always nail through both layers of a laminate shingle, age of the roofinget. The unpredictablere of e emeheris mark natu xtr weat throughcommonarea. events makes it much harder for manufacturers to anticipate demand,thebond often resultingsevereional shortages ofshingles.Flashing Tapes inreg asphalt Another area ofprovement is the availability and effectiveness of the Installation Tipsimvarious flashing tapes now on theet. Ice dam products are designed Innovative mat technologies have inspiredme suppliers to markso dramati to be repositionable. Thissat they won\'tlyk cally re ce theof their shingles. Althoughlds are backedmean th aggressive stic to du weightal bran wallsskylightwithout theeadhesives. by s warranties issued byre manufacturers, thereorcurbsus of imilarhighlyputableThe newer flashingare veryr ive, even inld are athings toer whenstallinglighter shingles.tapesagg ess co and fewconsid in theslightly damp conditions.installed before theandThe thinner shingles will telegraph deck and underlaymentWhenmetal flashing integrated with theerlayment, they provide superiorection ate imperfections moree heavier s gles. It is important tound prot ththan th hin critical roof and wall interfollow best practices by leaving agap between all edges offaces. 1/8-in.Some suppliers have do ammendableofloping Ice plywooded strand board.(An8-pennyplacedneco jobdeveor orient nailbetweenDam produc superior traction,orIlythat thewhen decking will provide the gap Don\'t simplyonts withdrywet.strong suggest sheets).relyevery contractorrimentwalking onles of several s etic plywood clips to provide the spacing.expe bysamp ynthunderlayments and ice dam products, and thenones for.Underlayment must lie flat or the buckles w telegraph throughchoosesafetyillTh~_rulefallevention"don\'t slip," and thisone simple theghter shingles. Syntheticare more forgi , firstofpr isisway li underlaymentsvingtoengm r oute"nkingsteep roofs! than traditionalsaturatedNot only will syntheticsee th hazard whe wor on asphaltfelt. lie flatter, theyll resist tearing and blow-offs.of the new wi SomeJohn Reese, CEO, Reese Wholesale,,can be reached synthetics have incredible walking traction when they\'rewetIndianapolis IN,at bothjreese777@aol.com. 18www.mrca.org- MidwestRoofer'