Shingling a Roof Peak for Dummies

roof peak shingles

Our staffers at the Antisocial Network aren't in the habit of asking random strangers for help with do-it-yourself projects. We might ask someone at the local hardware store – assuming that the person in the plumbing section has actually done some work as a plumber instead of as a minimum-wage stock clerk – but freelancing law students? Naaahhh... The reason for that should be obvious, but if you don't get it right off the bat, here's an example: law student and freelance writer Martin Adamovic writing at HomeSteady.com, and her post "How to Shingle a Roof Peak."¹

We somehow doubt that Adamovic worked as a roofer on her way to a Spanish degree and brief career as a "sports journalist for a variety of mobile sports applications," and it shows from her introduction:

"After countless hours of laying shingle after shingle, you have reached the peak of the roof on both sides. Shingling a roof peak is simple All you have to do is put the finishing touches on the job by shingling the pinnacle of the roof."

Her misuse of the word "pinnacle" notwithstanding, Martin's flowery prose tripped a staffer's bullshit detector. Sure enough, her step-by-step "instructions" were a dead giveaway that she was just attempting to reword a source written by someone who might have once shingled a roof. Here's some of what she says to do:

• "Cut several shingles length-wise into thirds": Ummm, no, Martin, you cut them crosswise into thirds (and that's assuming you have three-tab shingles), and professional roofers cut them so that both sides of the tar strip are cut at a slight angle.
• "Place the shingle with the tab facing outward at the edge of the ridge of the roof peak.": We aren't sure what "with the tab facing outward" means... probably because Adamovic wasn't sure, either
• "Hammer two nails into the top edge of the shingle. Repeat this process to cover one side of the of the peak of the roof and then do the same on the other side of the peak of the roof.": No, that's not how you cover the peak, moron. The entire idea is to get a single row of shingle pieces that wrap over the peak. How does "do the same on the other side of the peak" accomplish that?!

Adamovic never mentioned wrapping the last course of shingles on both sides over the ridgeline, and she never mentioned roofing tar. Any poor schmuck who managed to decipher these half-assed instructions and follow them would end up with a leaky roof. What may be worst is that our Dumbass of the Day managed to omit critical information contained in one of her references, and use another "reference" that isn't even on point. Yeah: a Dumbass.

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/how_6216730_shingle-roof-peak.html

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