Supporting Latino Roofing Professionals at the 2nd Annual Latinos in Roofing Expo

As a roofing contractor, keeping yourself and your employees safe is crucial, which involves using the right equipment. Ladder hooks, sometimes referred to as roof hooks, are used to secure a ladder over the top of a roof's ridgeline. They're an essential piece of safety equipment for steep-slope roofing work.How Do Ladder Hooks Work?These hooks resemble a shepherd's crook that hooks over the roof's ridgeline and stays put with an attached T-bar to secure it to the other side of the ridge. The bottom of the crook has a smaller hook that holds the ladder and prevents it from slipping or sliding down the roof. Ladder hooks are typically made from heavy-duty steel and can support several hundred pounds. They essentially turn the ladder into a more stable set of stairs, creating a safer and more efficient work environment for roofing professionals, especially during steep-slope work.Most hooks also feature a rubber wheel that can help you get the ladder safely up onto the roof. Once you secure the hook on the rungs of the ladder, roll the ladder up the slope (on its back). When it passes the roof ridgeline, flip the ladder over to secure the hooks over the top of the ridgeline.Why Should You Use a Ladder Hook?According to the American Ladder Institute, 500,000 people are treated for injuries from using ladders every year, with 300 of those injuries leading to fatalities. With newer home styles featuring more dramatic rooflines with steep pitches, you may find yourself facing 10:12, 12:12, and higher pitches more regularly. Ladder hooks can help make working on these roofs safer.They can provide stability and security on lower-pitched roofs, too. You may also want to use them for performing repairs around skylights or chimneys, especially if the roof surface is icy or slippery. And they can provide secure footing in cases of suspected damage, such as a weak or rotting deck.These safety devices are designed to prevent the ladder from damaging shingles, so there's no downside to using them.Can a Ladder Hook Replace Other Safety Measures?Using a ladder hook can make you feel more secure and stable on a steep pitch. But you shouldn't forego other safety measures, such as using a personal fall arrest system consisting of lifelines, lanyards, and deceleration devices attached to an anchor point and connected to the body harness. Remember, the anchorage should be able to support 5,000 pounds per employee. Ladder hooks are designed to secure the ladder to the rooftop—not to secure a person or prevent them from falling.How Do You Choose the Right Ladder Hook?To find the right ladder hook, contact your ladder's manufacturer to see if it has a hook designed to work with its ladders. If it doesn't offer any, review the ladder hook manufacturer's guidelines to see what types of ladders are best suited for its hook. If your ladders are due for replacement, you can also look for manufacturers that offer kits with both the ladder and the hook.For more learning opportunities and resources to help you succeed in your roofing business, visit the GAF Center for the Advancement of Roofing Excellence (CARE).

Even the smallest details play a role in a roof's effectiveness and integrity. Shingles and flashing are among the most noticeable roofing materials, but roof nails often get overlooked—despite being just as important as more obvious elements. And since they can greatly differ in size, material, and length, using the wrong nails to secure certain areas can cause all kinds of problems down the road.Types of Roofing NailsWhen nailing shingles, roofers mostly choose from among these four common types of roofing nail:Typical roofing and ring-shank nails are the most commonly used. Typical roofing nails may have a smooth or circular unconnected rings around the body to help them maintain grip in the deck. Ring shank nails have connected rings around the shaft which give them superior withdrawal resistance during high winds. Either nail will keep shingles securely attached to the roof when installed according to the manufacturer's instructions. That said, ring shank nails have superior withdrawal resistance—which is why they're typically used in high-wind areas and are often required by local codes. Both of these nail types also offer strength and the ability to penetrate the deck below with ease.Square and round cap nails are more commonly used for roof underlayment than shingles. The larger caps provide holding power that keeps the underlayment material in place using fewer nails.Types of Roofing Nail MaterialsWhat the nail is made of is often just as important as the type of nail:Galvanized steel: While less corrosion-resistant than stainless steel, these nails are popular as they still have strong corrosion- and rust-resistance (courtesy of their zinc coating) but cost much less than stainless steel. There are two main types: hot-dipped galvanized and electro-galvanized. Hot-dipped is more robust, since the nail is immersed in a melted zinc solution, which creates a strong coating. Electro-galvanized combines electricity with a less powerful chemical solution to create a thinner zinc coating.Copper roofing nails are resistant to corrosion and can last much longer than steel. However, they're typically a more expensive option. Copper is more often used when installing long-lasting roofing materials like tile and clay. If you use copper flashing for the roof, it's best practice to use the same material for the nails. However, steel nails are acceptable, though mixing galvanized nails with copper can cause a galvanic reaction that leads to some corrosion in both.Stainless steel nails are typically only used in environments very likely to cause corrosion, most commonly in coastal regions.Aluminum nails are not as commonly used, especially in coastal areas since salt spray can damage the nail and may cause it to deteriorate prematurely.Nails for Roof Underlayment, Flashing, and SheathingDifferent roof components call for different nails. For underlayment, use square cap nails for felt and round head for synthetics (both nail types come with either metal or plastic caps). When installing flashing, you can simply opt for the same nails for the shingles, as they don't require any special properties. For flashing and sheathing, standard roof nails will do the trick.Hand-Driven Nailing vs. Pneumatic NailerYou will need to decide whether to hand-drive the nails with a hammer or use a pneumatic nailer.Using the pneumatic nailer is a much faster solution than hammering manually. Many shingles come with warranties that require you to install at least four nails per shingle, with some of them needing up to six. As well as time considerations, using a pneumatic nailer is obviously significantly less physically demanding than manual hammering.That said, an upside of using a hammer is that you have better overall control over nail placement. You can ensure a nail is tightly fitted and properly penetrates the decking, which can help in the long term as issues may arise if a nail is over- or under-driven. When nails are over-driven—meaning they go well past the material below it—it can cause openings in the shingles which can lower wind resistance (among other issues). When under-driven, nails don't fully penetrate the decking, which can lead to loose or falling shingles and leaks over time.Size and Length of Roofing NailsTypically, a roofing nail measures anywhere from 1 to 2 inches. A roofing nail should be long enough to penetrate the shingle and then as the plywood or OSB decking beneath by at least 3/4 of an inch. The sheathing thickness can vary, so you may need longer nails depending on the decking used.Keep in mind that some parts of the roof—like hip and ridge cap shingles, and ventilation accessories such as a ridge vent—require longer nails. Some premium or designer shingles may also require longer nails than standard 3-tab shingles, as they tend to be thicker (usually often consisting of two shingle strips fused together).Another thing to note is that 3/4-inch or 7/8-inch nails may be used at open soffit areas so as to not completely penetrate the decking. Completely penetrating the decking can cause the material underneath—most often finished wood—to splinter as well as the nail to be visible from the ground.Most manufacturers recommend using zinc-coated steel or aluminum, 10-12 gauge, barbed, deformed, or smooth shank roofing nails with heads 3/8" (10mm) to 7/16" (12mm) in diameter. Fasteners should be long enough to penetrate at least 3/4" (19mm) into wood decks or just through the plywood decks. Fasteners must be driven flush with the surface of the shingle. Over-driving will damage the shingle. Raised fasteners will interfere with the sealing of the shingles and can back out.Apply Your Nail Knowledge in Practice!While useful, having a good working knowledge of what materials to use for a job is only half the equation. If you'd like hands-on training to see how to apply your knowledge in practice—and given by some of the leading experts in roofing—check out the GAF CARE Contractor Training Center.

From October 1st through the 6th, GAF, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, teamed up for the 2023 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project. This year, the annual event took place at Habitat Charlotte Region's large-scale affordable housing neighborhood, The Meadows at Plato Price in Charlotte, NC. Together with over 1,000 volunteers from all over the country, and the future homeowners, GAF helped build 27 single-family affordable homes in five days by providing all of the roofing material, conducting roofing training prior to the event, providing over 20 volunteers as well as roofing leadership on site while the work was being completed.At GAF, we believe that resilience is the foundation on which we will build thriving, sustainable communities of the future, and nowhere was that more apparent than on the job site itself. "Seeing so many people work on my house, to me it says that people actually care if I have affordable housing or not. For me it means strength, it means tenacity, and it means community." says Keea Carroll, a Carter Work Project future homeowner.To learn more about how GAF is building resilient communities, read about our Community Matters initiative.