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shingles on ridge vent -only cosmetic?

Are shingles on a plastic ridge vent only for cosmetic appearance? (About 8ft of shingles blew off the ridge vent; vent itself is fine.) If I don't use shingles at all and just cover the plastic with some ultraviolet resistant covering (which would be easier for me to do vs. nailing in shingles), would that probably last 5-7 years or so in the sun in the NYC area? For the UV-resistant covering, I was thinking maybe Gorilla tape, or even roof cement spread over the ridge vent. The ridge vent is GAF Cobra roll, and the data sheet for that says the plastic contains Carbon black, which is good for UV resistance, but I want to cover that ridge vent plastic also, to provide more UV shading. Thanks.

Reply to
r31 aug
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Plastic ridge vents are stupid, they will all get killed by U/V. I would skin it with aluminum on top to shade it.

Reply to
gfretwell

How would I "skin it with aluminum on top" (not sure what you mean) Thanks.

Reply to
r31 aug

What's so hard about nailing on cap shingles? Sounds a lot easier to me than trying to kludge something half-assed together that's going to be an obvious kludge job. You can just cut regular shingles or some manufacturers offer cap shingles that don't need to be cut. Find ones that match the roof. That roll stuff is just flimsy material and it's intended to be covered with shingles for it to last and to keep water out. I'm sure there are plenty of youtube videos showing how to do it.

Reply to
trader_4

What kind of nails work best into a flimsy plastic ridge vent ? ... liquid ones ? :-) John T.

Reply to
hubops

So you're an expert roofer too! Imagine that.

GAF makes cap shingles designed to cover the ridge vents.

Reply to
Scott Lurndal

The kind recommended by the manufacturer of the ridge vent, of course.

Reply to
Scott Lurndal

On Tue, 13 Apr 2021 09:15:48 -0700 (PDT), r31 aug posted for all of us to digest...

years or so in the sun in the NYC area? For the UV-resistant covering, I was thinking maybe Gorilla tape, or even roof cement spread over the ridge vent. The ridge vent is GAF Cobra roll, and the data sheet for that says the plastic contains Carbon black, which is good for UV resistance, but I want to cover that ridge vent plastic also, to provide more UV shading. Thanks.

Is there a possibility that the roof is still under warranty? It may have roofed by an approved - by the shingle manufacturer - roofer.

Reply to
Tekkie©

The nails supplied with the ridge vent. AFAIK the vast majority of ridge vents used today are plastic, either rigid or the soft roll type. I would use the rigid, but they are both widely used. The problem here isn't the ridge vent, it's that somehow the shingles blew off, likely because they were not installed correctly. The OP appears to want to double down on that. And the claim that UV will destroy a plastic ridge vent makes no sense as they are installed with shingles over them.

Reply to
trader_4

ROFL, +1

Reply to
trader_4

Nail into a piece of plastic?

Why would shingles be better than aluminum coil? You can get it white on one side and brown on the other to come closer to matching the shingles. If you used SS tek screws it would hold a lot better than trying to nail anything with less chance of breaking the ridge vent. Do they even do ridge vent up there? I would think snow would cause water intrusion.

Reply to
gfretwell

The kind that blew off?

Reply to
gfretwell

I have never even seen plastic roof vent. It is always aluminum here. Maybe that is a northern thing.

Reply to
gfretwell

I just used the regular nails in my air nailer - with no problem. The cap shingles protect the plastic from harmful UV rays which would otherwize deteriorate the plastic making it brittle.

Reply to
Clare Snyder

You don't nail into the plastic, you nail through it into the wood.

IDK, for the same reasons you see lots of roofs that use shingles, not so many that are covered in aluminum?

You can get it white

Most roofs don't have shingles that are either white or brown.

Or you can just do it the way 99% of roof installs on homes are done, covering the ridge vent with the same shingles as the roof.

If you used SS tek screws it would hold a lot better than

Virtually all new construction and most re-roofing has used ridge vents up here for decades now. It would be hard for snow to get under the shingles and then through the roll type product like that on the poster's roof.

Reply to
trader_4

Take a trip to HD or Lowes or try Google.

Reply to
trader_4

Could you be a bigger asshole?

It's clear that the person who installed the cap shingles did not follow the manufacturers recommendations for installation, since GAF has a lifetime warranty when installed per their instructions.

Reply to
Scott Lurndal

They sell lots of things on the internet or even list them at Home Depot that don't meet code here. What is the rated wind speed with shingles nailed on top?

I know, who cares about that.

Reply to
gfretwell

Is that like their 30-40 year roof warranty?

Reply to
gfretwell

I had my house and garage roofs done in 2001 with GAF shingles. The roofer used a different brand of caps from a company that underwent a class-action lawsuit because their shingles started deteriorating fast. In 2012 I had to get a guy out to replace all the caps because they were starting to crack and had bare spots. The new roofer told me about that as soon as he saw them. I had him replace them with GAF caps. Cost me $900. Afterwards I priced those caps at Home Depot and they were about $600. My roofs still look new after 20 years.

Reply to
Vic Smith

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