Hi All, I’ve noticed some packs of my certainteed landmark shingles are damp inside. They are sealed in plastic so I’m wondering if they have moisture in them when they are manufactured or if it gets in to the packs while they are stored in the material suppliers yard? It hasn’t rained hard here in California since last winter so if it got in from rain they must have been in the yard a long time? or maybe they were made somewhere else and got rained on in shipping? anyone have experience with damp packages of shingles? Is it common?
Thanks, DaveB
Hello,
Many manufacturers spray the shingles with water to cool them as they come off the line. The moisture gets trapped in the bundles.
It is common here in AK and it really sucks because when you have frozen shingles it makes for a long day.
Keith
The water left inside the bundles during manufacturing is what the manufacturers call process water. All manufacturers spray the shingles to cool them before they cut and wrap the shingles, but some do a better job then others getting them dry. Most manufacturers have the amount they spray on the shingles based on line speed, if the line slows down, not so much water, if it speeds up, more water, this can vary from plant to plant within a manufacturer. After they are sprayed with the water they are giving a certain amount of “conveyor belt time” to dry, some manufacturers use fans at this point to get them dry. Process water is worse with a plastic wrapped shingle. The plastic traps the residual process water inside, where as the paper wraps let the process water out. This is why some manufacturers with plastic wrappers leave the ends open. Some manufactuers are more concerned with the amount of process water than other, some try hard to eliminate it, other don’t give a damn.
Thanks guys, I hadn’t shingled anything for 25 years so I wasn’t sure if the dampness was common or not. The last time I used shingles they were in paper wrap so they probably had dried out before I got them.
Regards, DaveB
hey roofboy,
good to read ya,
you crack me up sometimes.
i dont know how you do it.
i would freeze, falldown, and break into a million peaces.
gweedo.
Hey Gweedo,
Haven’t seen you around in a while.
It really sucks to take a bundle and try to break it on the pallet and literally break it in half. 22 shingle split clean in two. 
I have had to take a flat bar or my hatchet and pry them apart.
I saw ice one time in Florida though. It was in Deland. Temp was about 30 and someone left their sprinkler on :mrgreen:
Keith
Dampy shingles may have a fishy whiff. Sure beats smellin 5 sweaty laborers :mrgreen: