I'm ready to put shingle on my almost completed wood shed. What is the purpose of roofing paper under the shingles and do I need to use that on my wood shed. (It is just a wood shed...) Then again, man it's my WOOD SHED!! 
roofin paper!
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jpl1nh said:I'm ready to put shingle on my almost completed wood shed. What is the purpose of roofing paper under the shingles and do I need to use that on my wood shed. (It is just a wood shed...) Then again, man it's my WOOD SHED!!
The roofing paper acts as a barrier against any water that wicks back up under the shingles. In essence it's just another layer of protection, needed on a house, but I don't know about how much it will do on a woodshed. I didn't use shingles on my sheds - the older shed relies on the repellent coating on the old road signs that I used for a roof (nothing like a day-glow orange shed...) and on the new shed I used that corrugated plastic "PEL" sheet material, and figure it saved me a bunch - The cost was less for that than just the plywood alone for a shingle roof would have been, and because the PEL sheets are lighter, I didn't need to put as much into the framing. As best I could tell from the research I did, shingles are one of the most expensive options for a roof, and this PEL stuff was the lowest cost short of going with a tarp.
IIRC, the PEL sheets were about $12/ea @ HD (not all HD's carry the stuff, only the bigger ones - I got mine at the Salem NH store) for 2' x 8' sheets, plus some more for the foam shapes you are supposed to use under it, the special gasketed screws to fasten it down with, and some caulk to seal the seams. 1/2" CDX ply was about $28 / sheet and I then would have had to get roofing on top of that.
Gooserider
jpl1nh said:I'm ready to put shingle on my almost completed wood shed. What is the purpose of roofing paper under the shingles and do I need to use that on my wood shed. (It is just a wood shed...) Then again, man it's my WOOD SHED!!
as long as you're going to put shingles on it, roofing paper is highly recommended: it's cheap, a breeze to put up and staple or adhesive in-place and it provides peace of mind in case, as Goose stated, water "wicks-up" and is drawn back up into the shingle where it can come in contact with the wood. Once water gets under the shingles, it's then hard for the moisture to escape and that could eventually rot the wood given enough water......
You'll be way ahead to get one of those impact staplers--or better yet, a power stapler--to nail that roofing felt down.
Roofing paper is spected by roofing materials manufacturers naturally they make the paper. So what are the pros and cons? Pros it allows when time to strip the roof clean separation to the plywood under neath. I have seen shingles actually melt into the plywood and it it easy to d danage the plywood when a lot of force is needed to remove the shingles.
The water proffing is over stated every 10 /10 100 sq ft or one square area has about 400 nail penetrations The tar paper will not prevent water from finding nails and wicking.
IF the p tarpaper is the last line to prevent water then the shingles above have been installed incorrectly Way too many nail holes to make a water prroof seal.
Since its on a shed and if the shed has a decent pitch over 6/12 paper is not much of an issue on a shed. IF the pitch is less than 4/12 then I suggest you use ice and water barrier to cover that shed before roofing. The ice and water barier is flexiable and has the properties to seal nail penetrations. Or use roll roofing not shingles
The water proffing is over stated every 10 /10 100 sq ft or one square area has about 400 nail penetrations The tar paper will not prevent water from finding nails and wicking.
IF the p tarpaper is the last line to prevent water then the shingles above have been installed incorrectly Way too many nail holes to make a water prroof seal.
Since its on a shed and if the shed has a decent pitch over 6/12 paper is not much of an issue on a shed. IF the pitch is less than 4/12 then I suggest you use ice and water barrier to cover that shed before roofing. The ice and water barier is flexiable and has the properties to seal nail penetrations. Or use roll roofing not shingles
I agree mostly with Elk.
Tarpaper is more or less moisture barrier. But it won't stop a leak. On a shed that does not have conditioned living space underneath, its not a must. But most folks do it as its general practice. I also agree about the pitch, if your down to a 5 or less pitch, I would ice & water shield it. A 4 or 5 pitch we used to get away with a 4" exposure on the shingles, but I personally never liked/trusted that.
As far as roll roofing, I personally think its junk. Seen too many fail with that stuff. My parents had it in their valleys when their place was built. Looked all pretty and stuff matching the shingle color. But it dries over time and shrinks & cracks. I tried to warn them, and they did find out the hard way.
For a shed you can get away roll roofing, but it does not last as long IMO. Its more or less a po mans roof.
And yes a hammer tacker is the way to go when installing tarpaper or felt as we call it. You can prolly rent one at HD or somewhere. At $40.00 new, its not worth to buy for a shed roof & never use again. My two got stolen. The were older ones, and worked like trusted companions. Its prolly just me, but the newer ones don't seem to be made as well, and jam more frequently. Of course that was putting alot of squares of felt down. So I guess its a percentage factor.
Tarpaper is more or less moisture barrier. But it won't stop a leak. On a shed that does not have conditioned living space underneath, its not a must. But most folks do it as its general practice. I also agree about the pitch, if your down to a 5 or less pitch, I would ice & water shield it. A 4 or 5 pitch we used to get away with a 4" exposure on the shingles, but I personally never liked/trusted that.
As far as roll roofing, I personally think its junk. Seen too many fail with that stuff. My parents had it in their valleys when their place was built. Looked all pretty and stuff matching the shingle color. But it dries over time and shrinks & cracks. I tried to warn them, and they did find out the hard way.
For a shed you can get away roll roofing, but it does not last as long IMO. Its more or less a po mans roof.
And yes a hammer tacker is the way to go when installing tarpaper or felt as we call it. You can prolly rent one at HD or somewhere. At $40.00 new, its not worth to buy for a shed roof & never use again. My two got stolen. The were older ones, and worked like trusted companions. Its prolly just me, but the newer ones don't seem to be made as well, and jam more frequently. Of course that was putting alot of squares of felt down. So I guess its a percentage factor.
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