Day One Morning: Materials, Setup, and Staging
On most jobs, shingle bundles are delivered either the afternoon before the job starts or early on the morning of installation. A full roof's worth of materials — shingles, underlayment, ice and water shield, drip edge, ridge cap, nails — weighs several thousand pounds. The delivery truck uses a conveyor or boom to stage bundles on the roof or in the driveway staging area.
The crew arrives between 7:00 and 7:30am. First order of business is protection: tarps are laid around the entire perimeter of the house to catch falling debris, protect landscaping, and contain shingle granules that would otherwise end up in your lawn and garden beds. Ladder stands are positioned. Safety precautions are in place.
The dumpster — typically a 10- or 15-yard roll-off — is placed in the driveway. All debris goes directly into the dumpster throughout the day rather than accumulating on the ground. This keeps the work area safe and makes final cleanup significantly faster.
Before tear-off begins, the crew leader does a brief walk around the exterior to confirm the scope and identify anything that needs attention — pipe boots, flashings, skylights, satellite dishes, and any areas where the estimate noted potential decking issues.
The Tear-Off: What You'll Hear and See
Tear-off is the loudest phase. Crew members use roofing forks and flat shovels to strip old shingles off the decking — scraping, prying, and dropping material down to the tarps below. This creates a consistent, rhythmic banging and sliding sound that carries through the house structure. Expect this phase to last 2–4 hours on a typical Arkansas residential roof.
As shingles come off, a portion of the crew works the ground: gathering debris from tarps, loading the dumpster, and keeping the perimeter clear. The pace is fast — experienced crews can tear off a full residential roof in a morning.
When the old roofing is stripped down to bare decking, the decking inspection happens. This is a critical step. The crew walks the entire deck looking for:
- Soft spots that compress underfoot (indicates moisture damage or rot beneath)
- Delaminated or buckled OSB or plywood panels
- Broken or missing decking sections
- Condition of existing flashings at chimneys, skylights, and walls
Any compromised decking must be replaced before new roofing goes on — installing over bad decking voids manufacturer warranties and creates a structural failure waiting to happen. A quality roofer will walk you to the specific locations and show you the damage before replacing it. This is also when the final project cost may adjust: if the estimate assumed minimal decking repairs and there is more damage than expected, those additions are transparent and documented.
Underlayment and Shingle Installation
Once the deck passes inspection and any repairs are made, new roofing components go on in a specific sequence that matters for waterproofing performance:
Drip edge at the eaves goes on first — metal flashing that directs water away from the fascia board. This is often skipped by cut-rate contractors and is required by Arkansas building code.
Ice and water shield is applied in the valleys and at the eaves. This self-adhering membrane is the critical waterproofing layer for the most vulnerable roof areas — where water concentrates in valleys and where ice dams can form at the eaves in Arkansas winter weather. It is required by code and by most manufacturer warranties.
Synthetic underlayment is rolled out over the rest of the field. Unlike old felt paper, modern synthetic underlayment is fully waterproof — if weather forces a stop mid-job, the house is protected from the moment the underlayment goes down. This is a major advantage over older felt-based systems that absorb water.
Drip edge at the rakes (the sloped edges) goes on over the underlayment.
Then field shingles are installed starting from the bottom of the roof and working up, each course overlapping the one below. Pneumatic nail guns drive fasteners at the manufacturer-specified nail pattern — this is where installation quality matters enormously. Under-nailing (too few nails, wrong placement) is one of the leading causes of storm damage and warranty voidance.
Valleys — where two roof planes meet — are detailed carefully. This is a high-risk waterproofing point where mistakes lead to leaks. Proper valley installation uses either a woven shingle pattern or a cut valley over ice and water shield.
All pipe boots, flashing, and penetrations are addressed: step flashing at walls, lead or rubber boots around plumbing vents, counter flashing at chimneys. These details are where inferior installations fail first. SMI uses properly sized, code-compliant flashings on every penetration.
Ridge cap shingles are installed last, running along the peak of the roof and all hips. The ridge cap is the finishing element and the final waterproofing layer at the roof's highest exposure point.
Day 2 / Cleanup and Final Inspection
On most jobs, the roofing installation wraps up on Day 1 or by mid-morning of Day 2 for larger roofs. Cleanup is thorough: tarps are gathered and debris shaken into the dumpster, all tools and staging removed, and the magnetic roller is pulled across the entire yard, driveway, and surrounding areas to collect stray nails.
SMI recommends homeowners do a secondary magnet pass themselves — either with a handheld magnet or by running the magnetic roller a second time. Finding a few stray nails after a professional sweep is normal; finding many means the cleanup was not complete. Check around landscaping beds, near the foundation, and in any low spots where nails could accumulate.
The final walkthrough with the crew leader or project manager covers:
- Ridge line — should be straight, ridge cap nailed consistently
- Valleys — clean, tight, no exposed underlayment edges
- All flashings — pipe boots sealed, step flashing tight to walls, chimney counter flashing seated
- Drip edge — consistent around all eaves and rakes
- Overall shingle alignment and pattern
You will receive photos of the completed work and your warranty documentation — both the manufacturer's material warranty and SMI's 10-year workmanship warranty. Keep these documents accessible; they are valuable when you sell the home.
After the first rain, do a quick walk-through inside the house. Listen for any new drip sounds in the attic or ceiling areas. If you hear anything that was not there before, call SMI immediately at (501) 464-5139 — post-installation issues are covered under the workmanship warranty and we respond promptly. Ready to schedule? Book your free inspection here. You can also read our preparation checklist to get your home ready before day one.