Synthetic underlayment’s been a mixed bag for me. It’s lighter and goes down quick, but I’ve seen it get slippery as heck when wet—almost lost my footing once. Still, it does seem to hold up better after hail than the old felt. As for those architectural shingles, I’ve noticed they seal tighter, especially in the Texas sun. Not sure if it’s just the heat baking them down or what, but I’ll take it. Three-tabs always seemed to curl up on me after a couple years.
Fish scales is right—my roof looked like a giant armadillo after I tried laying those three-tabs myself. I swear, one good gust and half of them wanted to curl up like potato chips. I switched to architectural shingles last year and haven’t looked back. They’re heavier, but they seem to just melt onto the roof in this Texas heat.
I hear you on the synthetic underlayment being slick. Nearly did a split worthy of the Olympics when it rained mid-project. Still, I’ll take that over felt any day—at least it doesn’t turn into mush if you get caught in a downpour. Hail’s a regular visitor here too, and the synthetics have held up way better for me.
Honestly, I think the only thing more stressful than roofing is watching my neighbor try to DIY his own... from what I’ve seen, there’s an art to getting those “scales” lined up just right.
Fish scales is a pretty accurate way to put it—my first attempt at laying shingles looked more like a confused lizard than anything else. I’ll admit, I went with recycled composite shingles for my last project (trying to keep things green), and lining those up was a whole different beast. They’re heavier than asphalt, but they don’t curl or blow off as easily, even when the wind’s howling. The underlayment, though... yeah, nearly took a nosedive myself. Still beats felt in my book, especially when you factor in the rain we get here. There’s definitely an art to getting those layers right—makes me appreciate the pros even more.
There’s definitely an art to getting those layers right—makes me appreciate the pros even more.
You nailed it—layering’s way trickier than it looks. Composite shingles have their own quirks, for sure. I remember my first time with them, thinking they'd go down like asphalt, but lining up those edges... yeah, not so much. Underlayment’s a whole other story—synthetic’s a game changer in wet climates, but it can get slippery. Nearly lost my footing more than once, too. It gets easier with practice, but honestly, even after years, I still double-check my lines every row.
Totally agree about synthetic underlayment—it's a huge upgrade in wet areas, but man, that stuff is slick if your boots aren't grippy. One trick I've picked up is chalking out every course, not just the first few rows. It takes a bit longer but saves headaches later, especially if you get interrupted mid-job. And yeah, composite shingles can be fussy about alignment—sometimes I’ll nudge them just a hair to keep the pattern tight. It's those little adjustments that make the difference when storms hit and you want everything sealed up right.