The asbestos shingle is a modern fireproof roof covering handled 
very much like slate 
Wood shingles are the most common roofing material. The rounding 
off of edges is called “weaving” 
The Problem of the Roof 
WHAT THE AVAILABLE MATERIALS ARE, WHAT THEY COST, HOW THEY WEAR, 
HOW THEY MAY BE EFFECTIVELY USED AND HOW PROPERLY PUT ON 
by Charles Edward Hooper 
Photographs by J. F. Beals, M. H. Northend and others 
T HE problem of the roof—and it is a problem—is one that 
the average house-builder is called upon to solve for him¬ 
self. To the man of unlimited means there are more ways of 
escape than are offered to the fellow with the slender pocket- 
book, who often is obliged to take what he would prefer not to 
have, on the score of economy. 
The most common roof covering is the wood shingle. This 
should not be laid on a roof with a pitch of less than thirty degrees, 
and it stands to reason that, with any covering, the steeper the 
pitch the quicker the water will run off and consequently the 
less liability of leakage. The old-time hand-shaved shingle, which 
presented a wearing surface following the wood-fiber, had a much 
longer life than the modern machine-made shingle. The latter, 
while following the grain in a general way, frequently cuts across 
it slightly in such a way that, through the agency of sun and rain, 
its life is greatly shortened. Thus, the modern shingle has dis¬ 
tinctly a right and a wrong side and should be laid accordingly. 
Owing to the tendency of modern shingles to curl under 
the heat of the sun, they should be laid with a comparatively 
small portion of their sixteen inches of length exposed to the 
weather—say four and one-half inches. Even if the roof be 
steep it is not advisable to lay more than five inches to the weather 
for the above reason. 
The life of a shingle roof is hard to fix absolutely; from ten 
to fifteen years might be a fair figure. Near salt air it deteriorates 
quicker than when inland. Being absorbent, the alternate 
wetting and drying, freezing and thawing cannot help but hasten 
decay. It is really economy in the long run to resort to some 
preservative. Such may be found in creosote stain; the creosote 
acting as a penetrating as well as a preserving agent, carrying with 
it into the pores of the wood much of the painty body of the color¬ 
ing matter. Dipping is the only effective method of application 
and this should be for two inches more than the weatherage of two 
courses. A brush coat may be applied in addition, after the roof 
is laid, with excellent results. If ready-made stains are not 
readily obtainable a good substitute may be made from paint 
mixed with an equal amount of creosote oil. The paint should 
be of the desired color and of ordinary consistency. In this form 
with the creosote it makes a somewhat thicker stain than one can 
buy. To thin the above add more creosote oil; this will also 
cheapen it. It will cost about two dollars and a half, using the 
above formula, to stain one thousand shingles, outside of labor. 
Of course if one wishes to collect his roof water in a cistern, 
creosote is out of the question. The alternative is to paint each 
course of shingle as laid, rubbing it well into the joints. As 
it is a nasty job and is bound to be more or less rubbed, a final 
brush coat is necessary. 
The two great faults of a shingle roof are its comparatively 
short life and its inflammability. The cost of the former we may 
count on, but the latter is a constant menace. This is more 
particularly so in the country where there is no fire department, 
and where flying sparks, combined with dry weather, high winds 
and no water, make fire-fighting a hopeless task. Some experi¬ 
menting has been done in the line of fireproofing shingles by 
dipping them in a mixture of lime and hot oil. As far as we know 
the practice has not been common enough to judge definitely of 
results. Lime is a preservative and the chances are that a newly 
treated roof would resist fire. The question lies in its durability. 
We are used to thinking of a tin roof as a cheap affair and 
so it is at seven dollars a square (ioo square feet). A good tin 
roof, however, is a different proposition. It is indispensable on 
flat pitches, where it is laid in sheets with a single lock joint, 
soldered and cleated and painted on the back. On such pitches 
as might be properly shingled or slated, the standing, double 
lock joint is used without solder, except the top and bottom of 
the vertical joints and perhaps the ridge joint. Such roofs have 
been known to last fifty years and over. Being put together 
practically without solder, they are not handicapped by that less 
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