I was on a job recently where the boss insisted on cutting the tabs off the starter strip. Not one to argue with the boss, I did so and wasted (in my opinion) 45 minutes. In my experience, applying the whole shingle at this juncture is a better option, saving time and money with little or no change in appearance.
What do you think?
Replies
The boss is right!
This way you have the seal down strip near the bottom edge where the higher wind velocities try to uplift shingles. Also the thickness of the headlap is visible in certain kinds of light if done your way.
But logic aside, the boss is right even when he is wrong because he's the boss.
But that's why so many of us are self-employed - we can be right and wrong at the same time!
nads.. piffen and most of the shingle mfrs agree with your boss... so do i..
the upside down shingle does nothing for you because of the slots...and the adhesinve strip winds up in the wrong place by your method...
so... your method is popular.. but wrong
but hey, whadda i no ?
Mike Smith
Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I can't add anything to what mike and piffin had already said. You got paid for the 45 min., didn't you?
OK, guys. I see your point. But haven't the manufacturers caught on and made available bundled starter? What a pain (and waste) to cut all those shingles!
regards, dustmonnkey
Bundled starters? May be. I know they have bundled ridge shingles. Have you checked the price? It is no offence to your time spent but it's probably cheaper to pay you to cut shingles than paying the extra for bundled starters.
No one says you can't cut your starters from your leftover roofing from other jobs, and sometimes people need busy work.
OK Monkeynuts,
I've never seen the roof that it would take me more than ten minutes to cut the startes for. If it took you 45, even if you are twice as slow as me because of inexperience, that means you spent what, twenty five minutes bellyachin' and arguin' with the boss. Time to get productive so you can get a raise.
Excellence is its own reward!
piffen.. i went to JLC-Live yesterday .. spent some time in the Certainteed booth, mostly talking about golf...
anyways.. seems i didn't read all of the Hatteras stuff... the roof rep says the warranty is only fully validated if you use the Hatteras starter shingle.. which naturally , i didn't even know existed..
details....Mike Smith
Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Starter shingles are available for most brands of shingles (around here anyway).
They cost the same as a bundle of three tab shingles.
Here, we have to glue down the edge of the starters, the first row, and the edge shingles with roofing cement to meet wind code. Talk about taking extra time!
Lots of other stuff we gotta do too! No wonder roofing costs here got high real quick!James DuHamel
J & M Home Maintenance Service
"Southeast Texas"
nads,
Don't feel bad. There are plenty of books that say to do just what you wanted to do. There is even a FHB magazine article that says to just use upside down full shingles (August 1994 and in the Roofing book). And God knows that there are plenty of installed roofs that use the full shingle upside down! But Mike and all above are correct. Cut the tabs off.
I understood that the laminated dimensional shingles had a starter shingle available to use with it, but that the three tab shingles just used the three tab shingle with the tabs cut off.
Rich Beckman
Rich, thanks for the post. It's responses like yours i.e. civil, straight forward, informative, that keep this forum fun to visit.
Regards, dustmonkey
Dustmonkey,
Sorry if mine didn't come across as "civil, straight forward, informative," but in thirty some years of doing this and having people work for me, I've had more than my fill of beginners who have a know it all already on the first day of work attitude. I find that hard to handle and that's the way your post came across. Sorry if I misread the tone.
Excellence is its own reward!