Roofing Felt Vs Tar Paper

If you are looking for a suitable roofing felt for your home and want to get the best available then you may be torn between peel and stick roofing underlayment and felt roofing paper the former is a modern invention which is designed to be more easy to place on a roof and need less professional assistance.

Roofing felt vs tar paper.

Roofing felt also known as tar paper provides a protective underlayment over the roof deck and beneath the shingles. For this article we will just call it felt underlayment or felt paper. Prospectors during the california gold rush covered the roofs of their temporary shacks with roofing felt also known as felt paper or tar paper. Felt underlayment is an all over roofing accessory made of a natural wood cellulose natural fibers etc or synthetic.

Asphalt felt underlayment is known by many different names including felt paper roofing tar paper felt underlayment asphalt soaked felt and so on. Of course it is a bit more technical than that but this is the basic idea behind how felt works. Ft or unrated 30 lb. The sheathing paper specified by code irc is astm rated type 1 paper astm d226 an asphalt saturated felt tar paper which weighs a minimum of 11 5 pounds per square.

Tar paper also called roofing felt is used under shingles. For decades roofers have fitted a layer of felt over a roof s sheathing or roof deck before installing shingles. It was easy to use durable and even had alignment lines to help with the shingle installation. Generally speaking roofing felt is a felt paper that is soaked in asphalt and other water resistant compounds to produce a membrane.

Sometimes called roofing felt underlayment roofing tar paper or roll roofing this is a layer of protection installed between the roof deck and the roofing shingles. Felt paper also referred to as tar paper was the standard underlayment material in roofing for decades. Fast forward 170 years and roofing felt is still the most popular roofing material now used as an underlayment being installed today. Long ago a 15 role actually weighed.

Most of the felt paper stocked by lumberyards today is either unrated 15 felt which typically weight around 7 or 8 lbs. It also offers fire resistance required for home construction. Although tar paper has traditionally been the standard undercoating for shingles as of 2010 synthetics are becoming more popular as an underlayment. Roofing felt is comprised of a base made from natural materials such as wood cellulose or synthetic ones such as fiberglass or polyester and then coated or saturated with a.

Roofing felt offers an additional layer. In our industry there are two main varieties of underlayment. Per square 100 sq. Felt paper and synthetic.