How to buy shingles?
 

I want to buy shingles for my roof and I am unsure of how much I need to buy. The roof is 50 feet long and 30 feet wide with a 5 foot rise at the peak.
To me that would be 1500 sq ft but I guess you have to allow for the pitch. I also need to know how much comes in a bundle of shingles. I went to 2 different building supply places with the same dimentions and was given 2 completely different amounts, 62 bundles from first and 50 from the 2nd!!
Any help would be geatly appreciated. :thumbsup:

You are probably dealing with someone who is allowing for a greater margin of error than the other...

You don't have to worry about pitch. Length x Width = Area. That's how much area you have to cover. You should allow for cutting, ridge lines, obstacles, mistakes, etc.

Three bundles are roughly equal to 100 square feet... or so I've been told.

A good rule of thumb with ANYTHING when it comes to building materials is to buy 10% more than you need. There's nothing worse than realizing you're going to be short on a project just a couple minutes before the home center closes. Most places will let you return your excess when you're done anyways.

Sorry if that doesn't help you with the roofing question per se. Good luck to ya!

If you take the pitch into account, the dimension is roughly 16 on each slope. Multiplied by 50, the area works out to 1600 SF or 16 square, a term used for measurement of roofing and siding: an area of 100 SF. Ordinary 3-tab shingles cover 3 bundles to a square, or you need 53.33 bundles, assuming no waste. Break on half is the ordinary convention and will bring you to ~57 bundles. Depending on rainfall amounts, I like break on third for the greater distribution of tab rain paths. It is a touch more effort, but I prefer the look. At ~$8/bundle, having a few extra isn't a killer. Put your money into 30# felt, and use a self-adhering bituminous membrane at edges, valleys, and abutments. Grace Ice and Water Dam is one brand. Pricey, but worth the cost. Good luck.

Thanks kazoo that was the best answer I've received yet!!

If anyone tells you " Ahh, just turn a shingle upside down for the starter." , you have my permission to slap them upside the head. Either buy pre-made starters, or cut the tabs off of regular shingles.

5 inch offset is easy to do, as it's what the gauge on a roofing nailer and shingle hatchet will be set at for 3 tab. It breaks up the waterlines much better than 6 inch. 3 inch (break on thirds) is too close, IMO.

And ridge caps will cover 5 inches per tab. Pre-cut hip and ridge shingles make life easier in that regard.

My past 6 weeks have all blurred into one big roof. Stupid hailstorms.

the number of bundles can very greatly depending on the choice of roofing material. 30 year singles are 4 bundles to the square rather than 3. Make sure you grab some ridge cap shingles, you will need about 2 bunndles i think. Like someone said before, you need to use a underlayment other than felt paper for edges valleys and so on. Home depot's brand is weather watch, and as for felt paper weight, havier paper hides in consistancies in the plywood you are attaching to better than 20. Well thats all i can can think of for now. dont forget drip edge and flashing too!

Make sure your decking is in good shape before you go further.