How are roofing shingles made?
Roofing systems are made of different materials regardless of the option you choose—panels, tiles, or shingles. Therefore, when you are trying to understand and know how shingles are made in this case, you need to consider that it will depend on the material you use most of the time. The most common shingles in the United States are made of asphalt or have them as a secondary material when manufacturing others. Now, I have to point out that roofs are not made of the raw material they are known for but rather a mix of several ones.
In this case, asphalt is the main one and over 50% of the composition of the shingles will consist of it. But in order to acquire the final result that is not only the shape but fire resistance, durability, and style of the roof, it is necessary to add materials like:
- Fiberglass.
It helps to reinforce asphalt roofing shingles and work in the weather or climate resistance of the roof while adding fire resistance directly. Asphalt isn’t as durable as most people believe—not by itself—, which is why fiberglass also plays an important role in its longevity and durability.
- Granules.
This is pretty much what adds style and beauty to the shingles during the final result since mineral granules are processed into several colors.
- Asphalt.
The main material is processed very similar to road asphalt in order to obtain a higher resistance to elements but unlike the first one, it is mixed with a fine mineral powder. Asphalt is what adds the water-resistance to the shingles and reinforces the fire one from the fiberglass.
What about other materials and fabrication processes?
If you are interested in obtaining a different roofing shingle for your property like metal ones or maybe wood shingles, it is about cutting them and adding some chemicals to increase durability. In the case of wood ones, most of them are sawed from red cedar or pine in order to be processed and obtain a more durable roof in terms of elements like water and fire.
For metal shingles, it will depend on the material you decide to use for the roofing system. Either if you choose copper, zinc, steel, or aluminum, you need to obtain them by processing the mineral, obtaining panels that will be cut into shingles later on. Now, is it that simple to obtain shingles from other materials?
Well, it is simple when you look at this in a next way.
Most roofing shingles are obtained—regardless of the material—during a coating, surfacing, finishing, and cutting process. Metal, wood, asphalt, concrete, or any other material—once it is processed—needs to be treated to obtain a specific shape or panel. This panel will be coated with the selected option to add more resistance and durability to be surfaced later on to add the color and desired texture.
The finish will allow it to look neat and seal all the elements and additions to be able to finally cut the shingles. Yes, all shingles are obtained thanks to cutting machines that stack the pieces in bundles. Unlike what most people believe, asphalt and concrete roofing shingles—or other materials similar to them—are cut just like metal and wood.
Basically, there is a formula depending on the material. But the process and how the shingles are obtained are just the same—with some variations—regardless of the material.
