What roofing materials do you need?

Roofing supplies include a wide range of materials and items required for the construction and maintenance of a roof. This means not only shingles, but also moldings, lumber, pipes and vents, roof cements, ladders and all the necessary tools, including roofing nails.

One of the most important roofing materials is of course the top cover material. This is considered the roof itself and includes wood shingles, ceramic tiles, asbestos shingles, metal roofing and roofing sheets, rubber roofing sheets and shingles, etc. The roofing material should be chosen based on the location, so that the roof is resistant to local elements and problems affecting the roof.

Lumber is used in a roof mainly as a support structure or frame. This usually consists of a triangular farm and a network of beams. The roof itself is then placed on the frame. Other wood elements include the cornice, a part of the frame hanging above the wall, the fascia, which is the underside of the cornice, the eaves, the beam ends of the wooden frame that allow the water to drain from the roof, and the soffit, which is the underside of the eave.

Hoses and vents come out of the roof. They help the house to breathe and are also emergency exits for the smoke from a chimney or a range hood, as well as for the hot air of the attic. The bottoms of pipes and vents are usually sealed with a sheath, or strip of metal, which includes a lead-based or plastic sealant. These pipes and vents have unidirectional protectors sealed with rubber so that air or smoke can escape, but water does not flow into the pipe or vent.

Roofing tools include the ladder to access the roof, as well as other items necessary for installation and removal, as well as regular maintenance. These include simple items such as a broom and bucket to hold the shingles, a slater hammer with a hammer, an ax and a blade, a slate cutter to cut the shingles, a crimping pliers to grab the shingles and a hip runner  to install   the ridge, part of the roof above the seams.

For roofing nails, they must be long enough to pass through the shingles and reach about 3/8 inch below the bottom of the shingle. Anything that keeps nails from biting into the wood could cause nail removal and possibly loss of shingles. This includes shingles with ridges, some under shingle materials, and of course nails too short. A good roofer can drive a roof nail in one shot. An owner who does this himself will find that he can drive the nails in one blow after only a few minutes.