Roof Shingle History

Today shingles are mostly made by being cut which distinguishes them from shakes which are made by being split out of a bolt.

Roof shingle history.

Around 735 ad thatched roofs were developed and used. Shingles historically were called tiles and shingle was a term applied to wood shingles as is still mostly the case outside the us. Asphalt roof shingles were invented around 1901 in grand rapids mi by h m. Certigrade handbook of red cedar shingles red cedar shingle bureau 1957.

The size and shape of the shingles as well as the detailing of the shingle roof differed according to regional craft practices. Historically shingles were split from straight grained knot free bolts of wood. The shingle typology has been revived in the 21st century for roofing and siding applications typically in higher end projects. People within particular regions developed preferences for the local species of wood that most suited their purposes.

1967 today s most popular shingle. The ancient egyptians used aluminum and alum compounds to strengthen their roofing. Wood shingles are thin tapered pieces of wood primarily used to cover roofs and walls of buildings to protect them from the weather. Wood shingles were introduced 300 years later.

Before the invention of the asphalt shingle a different process known asasphalt prepared roofingwas used. In 1933 the ruberoid co. Wooden shingle roofs were prevalent in the north american colonies while in central and southern europe at the same time thatch slate and tile were the prev. Shingle is a corruption of german schindle schindel meaning a roofing slate.

Pretty innovative for the time right. Shingles are laid in courses usually with each shingle offset from its neighbors. Wood shingles were popular throughout the country in all periods of building history. Check out this early piece of shingle sales literature from the company.

Introduced tite on shingles an inexpensive attractive alternative to older roofing methods and became the model for the success of asphalt shingles to this day. Around 300 bc the loha maha paya temple in sri lanka had a roof made of copper shingles one of the first known instances of this material being used in this way. Greece and babylon used flat earthenware roof tiles between 4 000 and 5 000 years ago. Cedar shingles commonly topped residential structures through the 19th century but were supplanted in popularity in the 20th century by asphalt.

It was back around 1840 when coal tar was first used to saturate layers of felt to produce a rolled sheet. The romans brought variations of the greek clay tiles to england as early as 100 bc.