Customer Reviews

For Pros by Pros Roofing W/ASP

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have a hip roof, get some other text: This one will cause you real problems with a hip roof. If you have a simple gable roof, this book can be helpful. For all roofing tasks, this book seems geared mostly towards helping pros speed up production. It lacks the theory and specific "tricks of the trade" that a "do it yourselfer" needs.

This text offers very little that pertains to hip roofs--basically, there's only a few paragraphs mentioning hip roofs and there are no diagrams nor photographs that tell you how to manage the juncture of the "hip ridges" and the "main roof ridge." Those few portions that do mention hip roofs are riddled with errors.

In addition, the information pertaining to the juncture at a hip ridge of two flat roof planes will cause you severe problems--especially if you are applying "laminated" (sometimes called "architectural" or "dimensional") shingles.

The author states that you should overlap shingles where two flat roof planes meet at a hip ridge in order to avoid leaks should the hip ridge caps fly off in a storm. He mentions that this can cause a severe "lump" so he then says you could overlap only one side on the other as a tradeoff which would reduce the size of the "lump" but still provide protection.

Well, maybe if you use the lowest priced thinnest shingles available then an overlap of some sort might be a viable solution. However, as the quality of your chosen single improves, so does its thickness. The 3-dimensional laminated shingles are the thickest.

I tried the single overlap of 4 inches as he recommended. Even that created a huge lump that the ridge caps would never accomodate properly without sagging into the recesses of the created lump. Also, the higher that lump is, the less coverage the caps can provide for the hip ridge junctures.

The shingles I chose were Owens Corning. Seeing the huge lump that even a single overlap caused at a hip ridge, I phoned Owens Corning. They absolutely recommend that the shingles of a flat plane be cut off even and flush with the hip ridge. They provide the warranty and they still recommend cutting flush with the ridge because of the high lump that would otherwise be created. I phoned a friend who owns a roofing company and he recommended the same treatment.

You will notice when scanning through this text, nearly all photographs depict thin 3-tabbed shingles on a gabled roof. So, if you're installing the cheapest, thinnest, 3-tab shingles on a gable style roof with maybe a valley and maybe a dormer, this book can help you discover some short cuts to speed up the job.

If you have a hip roof, get some other text. If you are installing laminated "dimensional" shingles, get some other text.

In any case, if you are an intelligent DIY'er, you'll do as I did and get, at least, 3 or 4 texts to combine theories.

The only text I found that actually shows photographs and describes some sort of detailed information regarding the hip ridge/roof ridge juncture is: "Roof Construction and Estimating" by Daniel Benn Atcheson (yes, there are 2-n's in Benn). However, even that text only depicts plain 3-tabbed shingles.

If you plan to install dimensional laminated shingles, you will be off in a world apart. I haven't found a text that gives a detailed approach to the differences between 3-tab shingle application and dimensional shingle applications.

The text I'm reviewing doesn't tell you much at all about laminated dimensional shingles. You will do well by reading the package wrapper of your purchased shingles thoroughly for instructions pertaining to nailing patterns, offset requirements, and allowable distances between gaps and fasteners of adjacent courses. Owens Corning has downloadable PDF's for their products and I'd surely recommend that you read those as well if you choose OC products.

So, the title of this text says it's for pros by pros. Believe it! No matter how smart you are, if you are an inexperienced do it yourselfer, don't head into a roofing project with only this text in hand. If you're a pro roofer looking to speed up the work performed by your crew on the roof--this book can help you some.

I hadn't done a roof in over a year so I purchased this book as a refresher to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything.
I thought the book was a very good book that took me step by step.
I'd highly recommend this book for people looking to get a good understanding of roofing.

If you are a capable home repair person, and thinking about doing your own roof, but lack the experience to know how to complete the job successfully, this book has it all, and then some. It would also be beneficial, I would imagine, for a pro roofer, but practical target audience would be toward the amateur.

I ended up reading a lot of it, and then skimming the areas that I didn't feel applied (my shop roof has no valleys), and found the concepts and advise to be excellent which saved a lot of time and energy when I began my first tear off and re-roof project.

Best idea from the book: use old foam couch cushions on the roof! They are anti-slip, protect the new shingles, and saves your knees. This simple information alone was worth the price of the book for me.

I also got a refurbished Bostitch roofing nailer from Amazon for $100+ less than new one for the job. Had a few scratches, but worked flawlessly. Factory-Reconditioned Bostitch U/RN46-1 3/4-Inch to 1-3/4-Inch Coil Roofing Nailer

One other thing for the amateur: Get a Laddermax (Google it) ladder support. It will keep the ladder away from the guttering or drip edge and adds much stabilization, as it is the only roof-touching ladder support I could find.

Good general instructions and background. I would have liked it to focus more on popular laminate (architectual) shingles, but it still provides adequate instruction to do both.

I've shingled quite a few roofs over the years-mostly with Habitat for Humanity. Working with that diverse group and in a number of areas around the U.S. I have seen many ways to get the work done. Some of the techniques I've seen don't work or are inefficient. Guertin explains the best ways. Pictures are great. This is the only book you will need if you want to be proficient with your next shingle job.

For me, the layered diagram and instructions on page 221 for how to shingle a hip and ridge intersection were worth the price of this book. There are also a lot of other helpful tips in this book that I did not see on the internet in my many hours of researching how to re-roof my home (1st timer). There is also a lot of other information in this book that confirms and reinforces much of what I've been reading elsewhere, which gives me confidence that I will at least have the knowledge to be able to do a good job and not make any serious mistakes. The book is filled with effective pictures and diagrams.

I am trying to do my own roof and this is a great book. I return another book purchased from HD. This book cover every detail about shingle.

My husband read this and then roofed our house. It came out perfectly. Very easy to read and use. I noticed the other day a contractor buying supplies at Home Depot also had a copy of this in his hand! Made me laugh. :)

Good book to refresh an old mans memory,although i really shouldn't be on a roof!