What are they?
Roof shingles are any roof covering that is made up of multiple overlapping elements. The overlap helps to prevent water from rain or snow from penetrating the roof surface. The elements–that is, the shingles–are generally flat rectangular shapes coursing up from the bottom edge of the roof up the slopes to the peak. The successive overlap covers the adjoining locations of the row below, thus preventing water from entering a sloped roof. Shingles can be made of many different materials, including wood, slate or other natural stone, metal, or composite elements, such as asphalt shingles. When the overlapping elements are ceramic or concrete, they are called tiles. Tile roofs are very popular in Europe, but less so in the United States, where the most common material is asphalt shingles.
Asphalt Shingles
Fiberglass-based asphalt shingles are the most common roof covering for residential structures in the United States. This type of shingles are easy and relatively quick to install, they are affordable when compared with other roof coverings, and they can last twenty to fifty years depending on shingle style and climate. Asphalt shingles also come in a large variety of colors, which do not affect the cost, allowing homeowners to customize their roofs to fit their aesthetic.
The waterproofing and protection provided by asphalt shingles mainly results from long-chain petroleum hydrocarbons that are formed in the manufacturing process.
How Asphalt Shingles Are Made
Asphalt shingles are made at dedicated shingle manufacturing plants across the country by several different companies. Top tier roofing plants receive thousands of tons of raw and manufactured material daily. The materials are then transformed into high quality roofing materials with increasingly improving durability as the science behind shingle manufacturing continues in advancement.
Asphalt used at these manufacturing facilities is processed to meet strict quality guidelines, resulting in the creation of strong and flexible shapes. Quarried limestone, which arrives at the plants in the form of large stones, is crushed by specialized milling equipment into limestone powder. The limestone powder is mixed with asphalt to create a manufactured material called filled coating.
Fiberglass forms the center base of the shingles. Many thousands of yards of rolled fiberglass is rolled out into a coater where the filled coating is applied to both sides of the fiberglass at super-heated temperatures exceeding four hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Next, the granules–the rough, gritty surface of the shingles–is applied. Granules are created from ceramically coated fine, mined stones that are specifically sized for the process. The ceramic coating on the granules is what gives color to the shingle. Thus, a specific colored coating is selected for each color and style of shingle.
The asphalt coated fiberglass sheet is fed into a press which embeds the ceramically coated and colored granules. Then, the material is passed over a series of rolls while being sprayed with a fine mist of water, which cools down the material and seals the process. A strip of sealant is then added to the sheet to give additional wind protection to the shingles.
Specialized machines at the plants then slice the rolls into individual shingles which are stacked and packed into bundles. The bundles are packed onto palettes then shipped to suppliers’ warehouses across the country.
Whether you have a shingle roof or roofing of any other material, for all your roofing needs in Flagler, Palm Coast, Bunnell, Daytona Beach, and Deland call Florida’s Best Roofing Inc. at 386-263-7906 for a free estimate!
