Roof It Forward Case Study: Starter Shingles

The Challenge

In today's roofing system many things have been design to make our system last long and protect our entire home. On of the issues older roofs face is with the first shingle that is ever placed on your roof - the Stater Shingle. Starter strips "are" a key component to your new roofing system. A starter strip is an asphalt based shingle utilized to waterproof the eave and rake edges of your home during a re-roof.

a close up of a building — Notice where the tar strip is right at the bottom where it should be.

a close up of a shingle — The starter strips come in a split style so each bundle will cover around 100 running feet of your eaves or rakes.

The Solution

ARAC Roof it Forward utilizes the Starter Strip Plus Shingle from Owens Corning which puts the tar strip right in the location for the best performance in sealing. Taking this one step further we place this shingle up the rakes as well as the eaves. This ensures we have an entire seal around the perimeter of the roofing system.

The reason you need starter shingles is because laying a course of shingles on the perimeter edge will creates a channel where the shingles butt up against each other which is in direct contact with the roof deck. By applying a starter course and then applying an additional course of field shingles on top of them you are effectively covering those water channels and waterproofing your roof deck appropriately. Starter strips prevent shingle blow off by adhering the field course and the starter course together with a strong adhesive. For years contractors have been placing a 3 tab shingle upside down as a starter that is fine but what you are lacking is the tar strip being in the wrong place or not there at all.

Here is the video of the Owens Corning Starter Strip Plus shingle in action. Call or contact us today for a free estimate on your roofing system!

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