Chaulking Lines on Tar Paper

Ok, so now you have the roof loaded and are ready to start shingling, right? Well, not exactly. While many roofers do just that, let me offer a suggestion. I say this is a suggestion because you don't have to do it. Lots of people don't do it. But if you want a real nice looking job that you can be proud of, you'll do it. Snap some lines on the roof that you will use as a guide. Here's what you'll need:

• Tape measure that is long enough to measure the rake (peak to eave)
• Chaulk box & chaulk (red preferred, but blue will do)
• A Construction Marker (yellow crayon)

Here's the way to mark the lines.
Take your shingles and figure how much exposure you'll have. Exposure is how much of the bottom half of the shingle will be 'exposed' to the weather and sun. Most shingles will give this measurement on the packaging. This number basically tells you how far to mark your lines, sort of.

You have to figure the width of the shingle and how much past the actual roof the edge will lay. For example, if your drip edge extends 2" past the roof, and your shingle will lay about an 1/8" past the drip, measure from the edge of the drip up the size of the full shingle, less 1/8".
Place a mark.
Now from that mark, measure up the roof every 5" for example, for a 5" exposure. Have a helper hold your tape for you. Do each end of the roof, on both planes. For our standard gable roof, you'll do this 4 times.

Snapping the Lines

Get your chaulk box out and have your buddy hold one end and you hold the other. Stretch it out and go from mark to mark. Make sure you're both on the right mark. You'll get 5 or 6 lines and need to reload the line. Pull tight, and I mean tight. The longer the roof, the tighter you need to pull. You want these lines as straight as possible. On roofs that are very long, I have an assistant stand in the middle and I sight the line. I have them bring the middle up to counteract the sagging that lines naturally do, then have them hold the line to the roof at that point. We then snap both halves of the line independantly.
Continue up the roof until you near the top, like within 6 feet. In the next article, I'll tell you why.