Starter Shingles: What are they and what are they used for?

Agassiz Roofing Winnipeg

The Purpose Of Starter Strips

Starter shingles (also known as starter strips) are a key component to your new roofing system. A starter strip is an asphalt based shingle utilized to waterproof the eave and rake edges of your home during a re-roof.

Take a look at your roof and you’ll see how the field roofing shingles are overlapped to create seamless flow of water without penetration.  But along the eave line, roofing shingles come to an edge and can’t be overlapped.

To prevent water penetration, we install starter shingles or starter strips.  Where the shingles on the eaves butt up against each other, these starter strips provide the overlap function.  

Starter shingles provide multiple purposes along rakes:

  • Adhesive tar strips help prevent shingle blow-off from harsh winds (along eaves as well).
  • A straight line to properly orient each new row of shingles.
  • Thicken the shingle layers sticking over the rake edge to help prevent drooping.

Without starter strips or starter shingles, water will likely penetrate your roof edge.  A good underlayment, like CertainTeed RoofRunner goes a long way to reducing damage.  But it is only a secondary layer of protection that functions robustly when the water that reaches it is a low enough quantity.  If a lack of starter strips have caused a real problem of water penetrating your top shingle layer, underlayment or even the more robust CertainTeed Winterguard Ice and Water shield will not prevent water penetration forever.

Installation Tips

  • Make sure the factory adhesive is facing up so it can adhere to the field shingles.
  • The edge of the starter strip should hang over the eave and rake edge 3/4″ in order to create a drip edge. This is required on all CertainTeed Surestart Extended warranties.
  • Utilize 4 nails per shingle for proper wind rating.