Should Roofing Nails Go Through The Sheathing

Holding the roof together.

Should roofing nails go through the sheathing.

You say the nails are sticking through the plywood if this is the case you are supposed to have a soffit installed that covers the underside of the roof deck. This nail probably was driven very close to the horizontal seam of the sheets of plywood under the shingles. To determine the nail length you should consider the number of layers of shingles shingle thicknesses underlayment and flashings installed on eaves sidewalls and valleys etc. These pieces of plywood need something heavy duty to keep them from slipping off the roof.

There are typically 12 16 or 24 inch spans between each roof truss. Roofing contractors have told me electro galvanized nails that stick out past the sheathing edge can attract water which can prevent the wood deck from absorbing the moisture and rotting. With the shingles and inch sheathing the nails should protrude about inch through. In fact in most states the minimum length of the nail for roofing is 1 inches.

It makes sense to use nails to attach the decking or sheathing into place. It is vitally important that roofing nails of the correct length were used to secure the shingles. A home with exposed eaves normally has a beadboard or similar type of wood on the exposed portion if this is the case and nails are poking through your roofer needs to fix this for you. The nails we use are specifically designed for this job made to keep from pulling away from the rafters being nailed into.

You ll need to use nails wherever the roof sheathing makes direct contact with each truss. The number of nails you ll need depends on the face width of the sheathing you re using. Roof truss spacing will vary on the structure s construction. The sharp tip of the roofing nail should completely pass through and extend approximately 3 8 inch past the underside of the roof sheathing.

Using a 1 inch nail is best.