How to shingle

[Ris]

Shingling the mansard roof is on the horizon for me.  It seems like an intimidating step.  So far, I have cut outs for each of the roof pieces.  Right now the cut outs are on wrapping paper (only because it was big enough to hold the full cut out).  Is there a better type of paper to glue them to which I can then glue to the house?

Since shingles are not included in the directions, I'm not sure when I should do them.  Should it be before I put the window frames on or after?

I know you all are pros, so I was hoping to get some tips on what the best approach is for shingling the house.  

I also saw some reference in another forum post to these pre-made shingles (http://www.wnxt.net/product/38-1).  Thoughts on using these?  

[Sable]

I apply them directly to the roof. There are some great YouTube videos that can teach you this skill. 

One note of caution: Do not use a whole shingle as your first coarse. It will mess up the slant. Use a 1/4 shingle on a mansard.  Then cover it with a whole shingle.   

Edit: I just tried to find a good YouTube for you but I can't find one. Too many people do the first level wrong in their videos. If you can afford a subscription to www.dollshouse.tv, I would recommend that.

[KathieB]

Sable said: One note of caution: Do not use a whole shingle as your first coarse. It will mess up the slant. Use a 1/4 shingle on a mansard.  Then cover it with a whole shingle.  

I'm not clear on this, Sable. Do you mean the whole bottom (starting) row should be 1/4 of a shingle in depth? Or just the edge shingle should be split vertically into 1/4 and the rest of the row beside it is whole shingles? I have the roof of the Beacon Hill on my horizon and haven't yet given any thought to the challenges it will present. Do you have a photo you could share?

 

[Sable]

I hope this helps. The steeper the pitch, the narrower the starter row which will then be covered by a whole tile.  

[KathieB]

Yes, thanks. That helps a lot. :)

[Ris]

Anyone else have some starter tips or guides for shingling?  Not sure I want to invest in the dollhouse.tv subscription at the moment.

 

[Sable]

The owner of Greenleaf put this tutorial together for a mansard roof. Pretty fancy but it gives you some ideas.

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/dollhouse_news/JUN2009/new-dollhouse-shingle.html

[havanaholly]

For dormers and gables and other angles roof joins I take a piece of paper and line one edge even with the roof bottom and let it overlap the joint, then crease the paper into the joint to give me the angle I need to cut the shingles that will go on either side.

[Ris]

@Sable - just wanted to come back to this and let you know that I didn't understand what you meant about the slant at first, but it all came together in my head when we started to put the shingles on.  Thanks for that great tip!

[Sable]

You are welcome. I'm glad it clicked.  Doing that first row correctly is so important.