Hi folks, I'm having some shingle problems and need some advice. About 7 months ago (July 09) we had our 20 year old roof re-shingled. I noticed then that the roofers removed only about 30% of the clear plastic strip that covers the tar on the bottom part of the shingle. I was told it's not necessary to take the plastic strip off. A wind/rain storm this week peeled about 15 of my new shingles off starting at the ridge. These are IKO asphalt laminated shingle with a 30 year warranty. I think if the plastic strips had been removed, so the tar could stick the shingles down, that this might not have happened. So my first question... Should the plastic strips covering the tar on a new shingle be removed before nailing the shingle down?
My next question has to do with tar paper. When the roofer came to replace my 15 shingles I don't believe he replaced a 2ft by 5 ft strip of tar paper that came off near the ridge. Can you lay shingles directly to bare wood and expect it not to leak? I think that I may be done with this roofer. He has an excuse for everything, and it's obvious that he has no pride in his work. Thanks for your thoughts, cheers - Mike

 

The plastic strips that you are referring to serve only one function... to keep the shingles from sticking to one another while they are in the package. Some brands actually print on the plastic strip "do not remove". It is not necessary to remove the plastic at all. The tar only lines up with the plastic when the shingles are in the package. When you separate the shingles and lay them on the roof, the plastic is next to the tar strip, not right on top of it.

Placing felt paper under the shingles is recommended by many manufacturers, and provides some weatherproofing in the event of a leak. But provided your shingles do not leak (which they should not) then there will not be a problem. If you have a shingle blow off in that same area again and it rains, then you will have a problem.

 

You do not remove the plastic strip on the back of the shingle. I have no idea why people think you must do this. In fact several of the top brands actually say on the package, that if you remove the plastic strip your shingle warrenty is void. Your roofer was correct, you do not need to remove it.
Of course, you are just guessing that he did not put tar paper up under the area you mentioned. Up at the peak it probably will not matter much, but yes it should be there. I don't know of any roofer who would leave it off. You may be taking his answers to your questions as excuses. My question to you is did you install a wind shingle or just a 30 year shingle ?

 

Thank you both for your answers. I'm still a bit miffed about that plastic strip over the tar, but I will accept that it does not need to come off.
As for the felt (tar) paper, no I did not see him place any on the ridge line where the shingles and paper blew off and it's entirely possible that he did. What makes me believe he didn't is this. From inside the attic, there is a nail hole about 1 ft down from the ridge and I can see blue sky through the hole. If there is felt paper plus a shingle there is no way I should be able to see sky from inside, even if it's only a nail hole. I definitely need to get someone up on the roof to check this hole.
I'm not sure what a "wind shingle" is. So I guess these were just ordinary 30 year shingles, but they're rated for winds of 70mph (112kms) and we only had wind gusts around 60 mph (95 km/ph). My old shingles were a 25 year 3 tab asphalt type and they lasted 20 years, making it through several hurricanes without any coming off or tearing. Thanks again for your replies... I appreciate it. Cheers, Mike K

 

On occasion, the plastic strip WILL stick to the tar on the TOP of the shingle after the shingles are separated, and in the event that it does, then yes, you'd probably want to remove it from the tar. (not sure if that is what you were complaining about or not) But normally, the plastic strip is stuck to the BACK side of the shingle, and as such, that is why we say it does not need to be removed.