Hard-to-Miss Roof Shingles
A step-up from three-tab shingles, these architectural shingles offer superior wind resistance and long-lasting performance.
When I shingled roofs full time, I could dance a roofing nailer along the unmarked 5/8-in.-wide fastening area without leaving a single exposed nailhead. Now that I shingle roofs on only the houses and remodels I build, I need five squares of shingles just to get myself back up to pace.
The last batch of shingles I installed was the Owens Corning Oakridge Pro Series, which had a feature called SureNail. Basically an extrawide nailing band on the face of the shingles, SureNail offers a hard-to-miss 1 1/2-in.-wide target for the nose of my nail gun and also helps to reinforce the fasteners once in place.
SureNail offers installers a 1 1/2-in.-wide, highly visible nailing target much easier to hit than the 5/8-in.-wide nailing area on traditional shingles.
As a bonus, shingles with SureNail also have better self-sealing strips that enable the shingles to achieve a wind-resistance rating of 110 mph to 130 mph.
No more guessing or trying to hit the gravel between two shaded lines. I was up to full speed after the second bundle and didn’t have one shiner on the entire roof. The wide strip makes it easy for carpenters like me to shingle as fast as production roofers, and also ensures that weekenders get the nails in the right spot.
Cost for bundle of Oakridge Pro Series with SureNail: about $34
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