gun nailing just not right

The use of a nail gun might speed up the job, but productivity certainly does not equal quality. Hand nailing means that every nail is hand-driven by use of a hammer. This ensures that the proper amount of pressure is applied to each nail, promising a tight seal of the shingles to your decking. More importantly, it ensures that the nails are driven onto the manufacturers’ nail line. There are several problems with using a nail gun to install shingles on a roof. Many of these problems are caused by inconsistency in the nail depth and pressure. Nails can be under driven, where the nail does not fully rest against the shingle causing the shingles to move or possibly even blow off during high winds. Nails that are over driven will damage the shingles and leave them vulnerable to wind and other severe weather elements that can cause weak spots, which may lead to leaks. If the nail is driven completely through the shingle, it’s not holding it in place at all. When dealing with wood shingles, it’s difficult with a nail gun because wood varies in density. There are hard and soft spots and setting the air pressure is guesswork, to say the least. The only way to ensure that the nails are driven in properly and aligned correctly is by the use of hand nailing. Each shingle is structurally engineered to have a nail line that shows where the nail should be placed; this is the strongest part of the shingle. If the nails are not placed within that nail line, your warranty with the manufacturer is potentially void. If the shingles happen to fail due to a manufacturer error, but they are not precisely aligned on that nail line, their warranties will not cover improper craftsmanship. When inspecting roof damage, we typically see shingles that have been damaged from previous roofers who did not adhere to the roofing standards. They were careless and trying to complete the job too quickly. Many contractors will charge more for hand nailing because it takes more time, but we believe that it’s the only wa y to install shingles, so there is absolutely no additional charges for this service.