A
ASPHALT -Tar or similar bituminous solid substance. A natural material, that can be mixed with rock for paving, or applied as water proofing, to various papers, felts, and sealant products.

B
BATTEN -Cedar or redwood board, 3/4" thick, 2" wide, 4' long. Nailed to roof deck to hold certain kinds of tile.
BID -Written offering, of price for work to be performed. Not necessarily a contract, can be more like an estimate, with only basics laid out.
BITUMEN -Natural substances such as asphalt or maltha, which consist mainly of hydrocarbons.
BITUMINOUSConsisting of or resembling bitumen. Can be man made, such as those made from petroleum by-products.
BOND -A paid for premium through an insurance company, that affords consumers some protection against work performed. $5000 minimum in most areas. To secure larger jobs, contractors will get larger bonds, over $1,000,000 not uncommon.
BUNDLE -A package of roofing shingles, ie: a bundle of shakes, a bundle of composition shingles. Used as a unit of measure. 3 bundles to a square, 5 bundles to a square.
BURNOUT -Used to describe the effect the sun will have on exposed felt. Usually in relation to a hole in a shake roof, ie: The sun caused a burnout between shakes and it leaked.
BURNTHROUGH TIME -A measurement, used to describe the amount of time it might take burning embers to burn through the exterior to the interior. Ie: a 1 hour burn time is equivalent to a Class A fire rating.
C
CONTRACT -The written form of an agreement, enforceable by law, between two or more people for doing or not doing specific things.
CONTRACTOR -A person who contracts to provide products or services at a set price or rate.
CAULKING -Adhesive used to fill in small areas against water. Ie: Around windows in a long bead so water won't leak in. Sold in tubes, and applied by pressure. Normally by hand with a 'caulking gun'.
D
DECK -This is the actual surface on which the roofing will be applied. Usually plywood (3/8" - 1") or 1"x4" or larger boards.
E
EAVE -This is the lower, overhanging part of your roof. Typically down where the gutter is located is called the eaveline.
EXPOSURE -Used to describe the amount of each row of roofing, not covered by the above row. Ie: If you look at a shake, tile or composition roof you will see clearly defined rows. Each shake is 24" tall, how much do you actually see? About 10" up and down. That is the amount of exposure. It matters because each row laps over the one below, to give good coverage and to allow it's nails to penetrate the row below.
F
FELT -Paper, matted together by pressure and impregnated with asphalt to make waterproof.
FIFTEEN POUND -Felt commonly made in 36" tall rolls and sold by weight. 15 pounds per 100 square feet of coverage, with one roll covering 400 square feet.
FIRE RATING -Measurment used by independent labs to determine resistance to fire.
FLASHING -Commonly any metal used on a roof to cover pipes, walls, skylights, chimney, or valleys. Can be waterproof paper used around windows.
G


H
HANDYMAN -Jack of all trades. That is an old expression but applies here. Typically someone with knowledge of various trades, but not specalizing in any one. Handling smaller jobs such as normal upkeep.
HEADLAP -The amount of lap given to a material at the top of the application. Such as rolling out some felt and overlapping onto the one below a number of inches.
HIP -The angled line formed at the juncture of two sloped sides, ie: A pryamid would have four hips. Where each of two sides would meet.
HIP AND RIDGE -This describes the material used to cover the hip or ridge areas. Know also as trim pieces.
I
INSURANCE -Commonly called public liability insurance. A special policy that protects the overall public from roofing disaster. Such as a building catching on fire, kettle full of hot tar blowing up, passers-by getting hit with rock, etc.. Protects the owner from lawsuit.

J


K


L
LAP -The amount of the preceding material being covered.
LIEN -The right by a worker or supplier to hold or sell your property if not paid by the contractor for their work or products. You must obtain releases that are originals and not copies, to assure all bills paid before final job payment.

M
MASTIC -Asphalt based sealant. Troweled, or applied by hand using rubber gloves. Other trades have other types of mastic products.
MODIFIED-BITUMEN -Roofing material sold in rolls, usually applied by heating with a propane torch.

N
NINETY POUND -Saturated felt matting with asphalt based coating and embedded with color chips. By weight 90 lbs. per 100 square feet. 100 square feet per roll. This is a waterproof product by itself.
NOSING -Metal edgeing of various widths but normally 10' long. Used along the eaves and up the rakes to cover plywood, other layers of roofing, or just to give a nice clean look, especially when painted. Nailed to deck, or on top of new roofing in high wind areas.
O
OPEN BEAM CEILING -When timber supports are visable inside and the ceiling is also the outside roofing deck. Common to have 2x6, 2x4 tongue and groove boards as this dual use material.
OSB -Oriented Strand Board. An alternative to plywood, made from wood chips oriented and gluded in layers, to provide a strong deck surface. Sold in 4x8 foot sheets, in various thicknesses.
OVERHEAD -The cost of doing business. The amount of rent, insurances, bonds, payroll, payments, licenses, tool repair cost, tires, gas, oil, etc.. Really any thing that must be met before a profit is shown. The more there is the more you have to make, sometimes having higher rates as a result.

P
PATCH -Temporary fix for a water leak.
PALLET -Tile and other materials when purchased in quantity, will come on a prebuilt wooden structure. This is a pallet and the place where a forklift would put the forks to lift the entire amount.
PENNY -Unit of measure in describing length of nails.
PLY -Refers to layers of roofing applied. Such as 4 ply, that would be four complete layers of roofing one on top of the other.
PRORATED -In reference to warranties, this means the amount of rebate if any, would be less the older the roof is.

Q

R
RAFTERS -The supports that hold up the roof and where the deck material would be nailed.
RAKE -The sloped ends of framed gable sides.
RECOURSE -The actions that you can take to recieve refund, judgement or penalty from someone for unlawful actions.
RESHEETING -Commonly means covering existing roof deck with a new layer of plywood.
RESUPPORT -Installing support for a heavy roofing material such as tile.
RIDGE -The horizontal line where the tops of roofing rafters meet. Also used to represent the material used to cover this area.
S
SEVENTY TWO POUND -A roll material used for the top layer of a hot tar roof. Weight of 72 lbs. per 100 square feet. Not waterproof by itself.
SHEAR -Measurement used to determine the horizontal strength of an embedded object. Ie: How much force or weight does it take to pull a nail out of wood.
SHEETING -The actual deck material, like 1x4's, or plywood.
SKIP SHEETING -Decking, using 1x4 boards with one installed, skip one, install the next etc.. Allows wood roofing to have air circulation.
SPECS -Short for specifications. All the information about a material and any requirements for installation.
SQUARES -A square is 100 square feet in roofing area. A roof of 1500 square feet would be 15 squares.
STEPSHINGLE -A metal flashing in a ' L ' shape, used to tie roofing into walls, skylights, chimineys, etc..
STRONGBACK -A support used in attics to distribute weight.
SUMMER/WINTER GRADE MASTIC-Type of mastic that can be used in cold weather is called Winter Grade. It is formulated to be thinner in consistency to allow it to be worked when cold. Summer Grade the opposite, to be used when weather is hot. Stiffer and will not run in summer temps.
T
THIRTY POUND -Roofing felt that weighs 30 lbs. per 100 square feet. 18 and 36" rolls, one and two squares respectively.
TIN SHINGLE -Thin metal rectangles about 4x8 inches.
TONGUE AND GROOVE -Wood boards with a groove on one side and a ridge or tongue on the other, to lock together for strength.
TURBINE -Air flow device used to ventilate attic areas. Mounted on the roof and driven by the wind.

U
UNDERLAYMENT -Materials used to complement others as a first of two or more layers.
UTILITY KNIFE -Handheld tool that can hold different types of razor blades.

V
VALLEY -Depression angle created when two sloped areas meet.
VALLEY METAL -Sheet metal used to cover valley areas of the roof.

W
WET/DRY-WET PATCH -Type of mastic that can be used on wet or dry surfaces.
WHIRLYBIRD -See turbine
WORKMAN'S COMP -Insurance held by an employer in the case a worker is hurt on the job. This can cost more than 50 cents on every dollar paid in wages, for roofers.