One of the first things you will notice when Atlanta Roofing Specialists is working on your roof is everyone is using a hammer. With so may roofers using nail guns to get the work done quickly, you may wonder why we are an exception.
It’s not that we are technophobes or are even old-fashioned, in fact there are many practical reasons to hand nailing that outweigh taking shortcuts and dealing with the problems that nail guns can cause.
Consider the following:
The head of the hand nail is bigger, thus you get a stronger roof against wind force. Conversely, the head of the nail for a NAIL GUN is smaller in order to fit more nails into the coil that is reloaded repeatedly into the nail guns. Bigger is Better.
We hand hammer every nail that goes into your roof. This ensures that the nails are applied correctly; straight & flush with the shingle. Invariably, on every roof applied with a gun, 100% of the time, there will be nails that:
1. Go into the shingle too far (penetrate the shingle), and/or
2. Do not go far enough where the nail will be sticking up enough to wear a leak hole
3. There will be nails driven at an angle where the head cuts through the shingle because the roofer is swinging the nail gun.
It happens all of the time.
GAF, North America’s Largest Roofing Manufacturer, has issued a Technical Advisory Bulletin that warns of dangers caused by pneumatic coil nail guns. Driving another nail (if you will) into the coffin of the argument that nail guns are a suitable method to cut time and costs.
With all the problems associated with nail guns one would wonder why any reputable roof contractor would use them on their roofs. Frankly, we have no idea, they may claim otherwise but the evidence is overwhelming, hand nailing is FAR superior.
For more information and photos please see “Why We Hand Nail”.