Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1873-01-02
Ought Shingle Roofs to be Painted ?

If it is an economical practice to paint
any other part of an architectural struct-
ure, most assuredly it is a commendable
practice to paint shingles. We never
could understand why certain builders
have persisted in advocating not to paint
shingles, except we judge them to be in
fuenced by mercenary motives. Every
intelligent builder is aware of the fact
that shingles and siding, when not paint
ed, will wear out very much sooner than
if they had been protected by generous
covering of paint. Hence, reasoning
from selfish policy, it is better rot to
mote their durability, and whatever pro-
notes their durability tends to diminish
the labors of the craft, and thus curtail
the revenue of civil architects.
The house in which the writer was
born was covered with shaved pine shin
giles in the year 1905, at which time the
roof received a generous coat of oil paint
made of linseed oil and Venetian red.
After twenty years had elapsed, another
coat of paint, nearly black, was applied.
Since that period, no paint has been ap-
piled, and it is now good roof, for an
old one. 1t does not leak, and the only
repairs on it have consisted of a shingle
added here and there, where portion Of
poor shingle was worn out. If the roof
had not been painted, the butts of most of
the courses would have been worn en-
tirely away; and, if such long periods
had not been allowed to intervene between
the times of painting, the roof would have
been good one, even after the lapse of a
hundred years.
Some one once suggested that, if the
roof is painted, the paint will cause the
water to back up beneath the next course
of shingles above, which will thoroughly
saturate the two courses. and thus the de-
cay of the roof will be fastened. That is
unmitigated nonsense. There is not a
word of truth in the assumption. On the
contrary, when the surface is painted, the
water will glide away so quickly that it
will not be drawn back between the
courses of shingles half so readily as it
will be when no paint has been applied.
The true way to paint roof is to apply
paint of some kind to both sides of the
shingles. 1t is quite as important that
the under side of every shingle be cover
ed with paint as the surface, to prevent
| the water from being drawn up between
the courses by capillary attraction. If
good shingles are painted on both sides
and good paint be applied to the roof
once in ten years, it will continue leak
| tight for more than hundred years.
When it is not desirable to save the
water for drinking, coal-tar is an excel
lent and cheap paint for preserving shin
giles, and it will pay well to smear a roof
with this material once in four or five
years. When roofs are not painted, moss
is liable to collect at the butts of every
course of shingles, which promotes their
decay more rapidly than alternate rain
and sunshine. When oil paint is used
for painting shingles, it is always better
to employ some light color rather than
black, as the apartments of the attic story,
beneath black roof, are liable to be un-
comfortably hot in the summer; and more
than this, as black paint absorbs more
heat than any other color, neither the
paint nor the shingles will endure as long
as if the roof had been covered with some
light-colored paint. A metallic roof COW
cred with light-colored paint will last
much longer than if it had been painted
with black paint. The most economi-
cal paint for roof is generous coat of
coal-tar once in few years; but coal-tar
will color the water for five years after a
coat is applied to the roof.-Industrial
Monthly.