Roofing shingles

Roofing shingles are something that most every homeowner has, but few spend enough time thinking about them. The purpose of roofing shingles are to provide a single layer solution to a leak proof top for a home or structure. Roofing shingles are laid from the bottom edge of the roof upward, with each higher row overlapping the lower row . Early shingles were made of wood and were capped at the top with a row of copper or lead sheeting. In modern shingle roofs this cap has been replaced by a row of roofing shingles that includes a plastic underlay.

In the old days wood roofing shingles were considered good. But eventually asphalt and asbestos cement replaced wood as common materials. Fiberglass based asphalt shingles are currently the most popular shingle used in the United States. The obvious issue with wood is fire, and fire is the reason wood and paper backed shingles are used infrequently in modern construction.

There’s another type of roofing shingle that many people have seen but few would be able to name. It’s called a shake, which is a wooden shingle made from split logs. Shake roofs were commonly used in building log cabins, and with many wood frame homes. They’re still in use today, most commonly transported by helicopters, but it wasn’t always done that way. Shakes were tied into packs and transported by pack animals, or even people, before helicopters were invented. Often cut in hilly areas, they were carried down the slope with the help of a long line run from the bottom to the top. This line served as a kind of hand hold so people carrying the shake packs wouldn’t fall.

The main difference between a shingle and a tile is flexibility. Tiles are generally made from ceramic. They’re brittle and ill suited to locations where tree limbs might impact a roof. Shingles are flexible and therefor better able to resist damage from tree limbs. Wood shingles rot, while ceramic tiles don’t., but modern materials such as the asbestos base for most shingles don’t rot. Another difference is the shape. Ceramic tiles have an “S” profile to allow them to interlock for strength while roofing shingles are flat.

One of the more unique materials for roofing shingles is slate. Slate can be easily split into thin sheets. Such sheets, the slate roofing shingles, make for an rustic look for a roof. Slate roofing shingles are installed by a slater, a tradesman trained to work with slate. Because slate is fireproof and an electric insulators, qualities that make it excellent for roofing shingles, slate was used for early 20th century switchboards and relay controls for large electric motors . Imagine that, making a phone call on your roofing shingles.

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