Glossary
Roofing Glossary
Eave, rake, flashing, underlayment, square: the words roofers use, explained in plain English. Search or scroll.
- Architectural shingle
- A thick, layered asphalt shingle with a dimensional look, also called a laminated or dimensional shingle.
- Bundle
- A packaged stack of shingles. Most roofing materials are counted in bundles, and three bundles usually cover one square.
- Counter flashing
- Metal set into masonry or a wall and lapped over the step flashing so water cannot get behind it.
- Cricket
- A small peaked saddle behind a chimney that sends water around it instead of into it.
- Decking
- The plywood or boards over the rafters that the rest of the roof is fastened to. Also called sheathing.
- Dormer
- A small structure that sticks out of a sloped roof, usually with a window and its own little roof.
- Drip edge
- Metal along the eaves and rakes that sends water off the edge and into the gutter.
- EPDM
- A rubber roofing membrane that comes in large sheets, used on flat and low-slope roofs.
- Eave
- The lower edge of a roof that overhangs the wall.
- Fascia
- The board along the edge of the roof where gutters are fastened.
- Flashing
- Thin metal that keeps water out where the roof meets a wall, chimney, vent or valley.
- Gable
- The triangle of wall under the peak of a sloped roof, or the roof style that makes it.
- Granules
- The small mineral pieces on an asphalt shingle that protect it from the sun. Loose granules in the gutters mean wear.
- Hip
- The sloping ridge where two roof planes meet at an outside corner.
- Ice-and-water membrane
- A sticky, self-sealing waterproof strip used at eaves, in valleys and around openings.
- Modified bitumen
- Layers of asphalt-based rolled roofing with a granulated surface, used on low-slope roofs.
- Net free area
- The actual open space for air in a vent, used to work out how much ventilation a roof has.
- Parapet
- A low wall at the edge of a flat roof.
- Penetration
- Anything that pokes through the roof, such as a vent pipe, chimney or skylight.
- Pitch
- How steep a roof is, written as rise over a 12-inch run, such as 6/12.
- Ponding
- Water that stays on a flat roof more than a day or so after rain, a sign of drainage trouble.
- Rake
- The sloped edge of a roof along a gable end.
- Re-cover
- A new layer of roofing installed over the existing one instead of after a tear-off.
- Ridge
- The horizontal peak where two roof planes meet at the top.
- Ridge vent
- A vent along the ridge that lets hot, damp air leave the attic.
- Scupper
- An opening in a parapet that lets water leave a flat roof.
- Soffit
- The underside of the eave, often vented so air can enter the attic.
- Square
- A unit of roofing, equal to one hundred square feet of roof.
- Standing seam
- A metal roof with raised seams that lock the panels together and hide the fasteners.
- Starter strip
- A row of shingles or a special strip along the eave that seals the first course.
- Step flashing
- Small pieces of bent metal woven between shingle courses along a wall or chimney.
- TPO
- A white, single-ply roofing membrane with heat-welded seams, used on flat and low-slope roofs.
- Three-tab shingle
- A flat, thin asphalt shingle cut into three tabs. Older and lighter than architectural shingles.
- Underlayment
- A water-shedding sheet laid over the decking under the shingles as a backup layer.
- Valley
- The inside corner where two roof planes meet and send water down.
- Vent boot
- A rubber or metal collar that seals around a vent pipe where it comes through the roof.
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