Ridge Caps for the Dummy Roofer

Many people are knowledgeable about some subject or other, be it NBA statistics, string theory, or theater makeup. We'd like to think that, withing their area of expertise, they could answer many questions. On the other hand, there are freelancers who "answered" many questions at the former eHow.com even though they knew little or nothing about the topic. We've found Alexander Callos to be one such drone, contributing multiple posts about roofing including today's nominee, "How to Install Owens Corning Hip and Ridge Caps"¹ at Homesteady.com.

This is Callos' third nomination for misinforming us about roofs, shingles, and roof construction; and the second this week for the would-be sports reporter. The other two were for woefully misguided "information," this one is for simple misfeasance in research.
We took a look at Alexander's reference using the Wayback machine at archive.org, and found ourselves a bit confused. We expect that's because Alex was, himself, confused. That's probably why his first instruction referenced 33 ft² bundles of shingles, which is not how these are packaged: they're packaged by the linear foot. Callos then proceeded to dumb down the instructions for installation, reducing them to little more than a general primer on nailing shingles. Heck, the boy didn't even explain the difference between hip/ridge shingles and conventional shingles... probably because he didn't know. Well, Alex, the difference is that hip and ridge shingles don't have tabs.

O-C's instructions are quite clear, including specifications such as

"Begin hip application at the eave working toward the ridge... Begin ridge application opposite the prevailing wind direction."

Callos, on the other hand, just says,

"Lay the first hip and ridge cap shingle at the top of the roof..."

Ummm, yeah, but what about the hips? Does he not know that you start at the bottom to keep water from getting between successive shingles? Apparently not. O-C also laid out very specific nailing instructions: nine inches from the exposed end, one inch from the edge². Callos' version?

"Insert another nail into each side of the hip and ridge cap, on both sides of the roof."

That's not just redundant, it's also sloppy. Alexander finishes his bogus instructions by telling the readers to,

"Slide a tube of plastic roofing cement into a caulking gun... Squeeze a bead of roofing cement over all of the nails..."

If the roofer follows the manufacturer's instructions, there will only be two nails to cover with a dab of asphalt plastic cement. Why anyone would believe that our Dumbass of the Day has ever been on a roof, much less shingled a roof, is beyond comprehension.

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_12006881_install-owens-corning-hip-ridge-caps.html
² The current (as of 2019) instructions for the shingles call for a six-inch overlap (instead of eight) and nails placed 7½" from the end instead of nine. Check the instruction sheet that comes with the bundle instead of asking eHow!

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