Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below. Historically, at the roof ridge there was a cap consisting of copper or lead sheeting which in modern times has been replaced by shingles with a plastic underlay.

Shingles have been made of various materials such as wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

, slate

Slate

Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...

, asbestos-cement

Eternit

Eternit is the registered trademark for fibre cement. This has caused fibre cement to be known under the "Eternit" brand. Though, this is not to be confused, "Eternit" is only a trademark for fibre cement....

, bitumen-soaked paper covered with aggregate (asphalt shingle

Asphalt shingle

An asphalt shingle is a type of roof shingle. They are one of the most widely used roofing covers because they are relatively inexpensive and fairly simple to install.-Types:...

), composite or ceramic

Ceramic

A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

. Due to increased fire hazard, wood shingles and paper-based asphalt shingles have become less common than fiberglass-based asphalt shingles.

Aging of shingles

Left: Example of faster asphalt shingle wear along eaves due to channeled water running down the roof. Right: Severe shrinkage resulting in tearing away of entire tabs. Note the exposed nail heads. Water running down the roof can seep around the nails into the interior space.

The protective nature of paper and fiberglass asphalt shingles primarily comes from the long-chain petroleum hydrocarbons, while wood shingles are protected by natural oils in the cellulose structure. Over time in the hot sun, these oils soften and when rain falls the oils are gradually washed out of the shingles. During rain, more water is channeled along eaves and complex rooflines, and these are subsequently more prone to erosion than other areas.

Eventually the loss of the oils causes asphalt shingle fibers to shrink and wood shingles to rot, exposing the nail heads under the shingles. Once the nail heads are exposed, water running down the roof can seep into the building around the nail shank, resulting in rotting of underlying roof building materials and causing moisture damage to ceilings and paint inside.

Tile

A shake is different from a tile

Tile

A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops...

:

• A tile is made of a ceramic
  Ceramic
  A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
  
   material and is hard and brittle, poorly suited for places where tree limb
  Branch
  A branch or tree branch is a woody structural member connected to but not part of the central trunk of a tree...
  
  s can fall on a house's roof, but not subject to deterioration due to rotting.
• A traditional shingle is made of wood. Roofing material made of more modern material (e.g., asphalt composition, asbestos) is sometimes referred to as "shingles".

While tiles tend to last much longer than wood or asphalt shingles, they are brittle and prone to fracture. Walking on tiles can break them, requiring replacement or the roof will begin to leak.

Regional variations

In the United States, fiberglass-based asphalt shingles are by far the most common roofing material used for residential roofing applications. The use of wooden roof shingles has existed in parts of the world with a long tradition of wooden buildings, especially Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

, and Central

Central Europe

Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

 and Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

. Nearly all the houses and buildings in colonial Chiloé

Chiloé Archipelago

Chiloé Archipelago consists of several islands lying off the coast of Chile. It is separated from mainland Chile by Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and Gulf of Corcovado to the southeast. All of the archipelago except Desertores Islands, which are part of Palena...

 were built with wood, and roof shingles were extensively employed in Chilota architecture

Chilota architecture

Chilotan architecture is a unique architectural style that is mainly restricted to the Chiloé Archipelago and neighboring areas of southern Chile...

. Roof shingles of Fitzroya

Fitzroya

Fitzroya is a monotypic genus in the cypress family.-Species:The single living species, Fitzroya cupressoides, is a tall, long-lived conifer native to the Andes mountains of southern Chile and Argentina, where it is an important member of the Valdivian temperate rain forests...

 came to be used as money and called "Real

Spanish real

The real was a unit of currency in Spain for several centuries after the mid-14th century, but changed in value relative to other units introduced...

 de Alerce".

Shingles

• asphalt shingle
  Asphalt shingle
  An asphalt shingle is a type of roof shingle. They are one of the most widely used roofing covers because they are relatively inexpensive and fairly simple to install.-Types:...
  
  
• slate shingle
  Slate
  Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
  
  
• wood shingle
  Wood shingle
  Wood shingles are roof shingles made of cut wood, used for roofing material. Such roofing material made from split wood is referred to as "shakes"....
  
  
• shake (shingle)
  Shake (shingle)
  A shake is a basic wooden shingle that is made from split logs. Shakes have traditionally been used for roofing and siding applications around the world. Higher grade shakes are typically used for roofing purposes, while the lower grades are used for siding purposes...
  
  

External links

• An Illustrated glossary of roofs and roofing terms.