Find Out What Roofing Shingles Are
ShinglesRoofing shingles are something that most every homeowner has, but few spend enough time thinking about them. They provide a single layer solution to a leak resistant roof. They are generally laid from the bottom of the roof, with each subsequent row overlapping the row below it . Traditionally shingles were made of wood and were capped at the top with a row of copper or lead sheeting. In modern roofs this cap is replaced by a row of shingles that includes a plastic underlay.
Back to the make up of roofing shingles, wood was considered good. But eventually asphalt and asbestos cement replaced wood as common materials. Fiberglass asphalt shingles are currently the most popular used in the United States. The obvious issue with wood is fire, and fire is the reason wood and paper backed types are used infrequently in modern construction.
Most people have seen a special type of wood shingle, but wouldn't be able to identify it. It is named a shake, a wooden shingle made from split logs. Shake roofs were common with log cabins, and with many wood frame homes. They're still in use today, most commonly transported by helicopters, but it wasn't always done that way. Shakes were tied into packs and transported by pack animals, or even people, before helicopters were invented. Often cut in hilly areas, they were carried down the slope with the help of a long line run from the bottom to the top. This line served as a kind of hand hold so people carrying the shake packs wouldn't fall.
The main difference between a shingle and a tile is flexibility. Tiles are generally made from ceramic. They're brittle and ill suited to locations where tree limbs might fall on a roof. Shingles are flexible and therefor better able to stand up to tree limbs. Wood rot, while ceramic tiles don't, but modern materials such as the asbestos base don't rot. Another difference is the shape. Ceramic tiles have an "S" profile to allow them to interlock for strength while roofing shingles are flat.
One of the more unique materials is slate. Because of both cleavage and grain slate can be easily split into thin sheets. Such sheets, the slate shingles, make for an worn look for a roof. Slaters, tradesmen trained to work with slate, cut and install them. Because slate is fireproof and an electric insulators, qualities that make it excellent for roofing shingles, slate was used for early 2th century switchboards and relay controls for large electric motors . Imagine that, making a phone call on your shingles.
Chokyi Ooi runs a Home Improvement and Family Resources site and hopes this site can help us to improve our home and family lives. To learn more about Roofing Shingles [http://home-and-family.chokyi.com] and lots of other guides, feel free to drop by [http://home-and-family.chokyi.com].