Connect to your favourite weather forecaster and look for the following conditions:
Category: Roofing Product: Asphalt Shingles
Temperature Limitations: Use above +5 C (+40 F) for shingle installation. Emergency repairs can be made down to -10 C (+14 F). Nailers must be adjusted in cold weather.
Rain Limitations: No rain or snow on exposed roof deck that will end up under shingles.
Wind Limitations: Do not work on a roof in high winds -- both you and the material can blow off.
Humidity Limitations: n/a
Continuous Conditions: One day of direct sunlight and warm conditions after shingle installation will help shingle tabs to adhere to the glue spots below and avoid eventual wind uplift. Late fall installations may not adhere until the following spring.
Comments: Organic base and fibreglass base asphalt shingles have the same weather restrictions. Organic based shingles are phasing out in favour of fibreglass based shingles. New house construction codes require that shingles conform to the Canadian CSA standard, but there are no such code requirements for renovation. However, buying shingles that conform to the Canadian CSA shingle standard, which is much stricter than the US standard, will assure good performance in the Canadian climate.
Weather limitations on most renovation products can be located on the WEATHER tab above.
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APPLICATION / INSTALLATION DETAILS
Organic base and fibreglass base asphalt shingles have the same weather restrictions.
When it is cold you have to be careful not to fracture shingles and pneumatic nailers need to be adjusted to not punch through the shingle.
When it is hot you have to be careful to not tear a shingle and minimize walking so as to not scrape off the protective granules. Click here for details on WALKING ON SHINGLES.
If there is any possibility of rain during the roofing job, plan for the quick ability to cover any exposed part of the roof with a large tarpaulin -- you don't want to replace the ceiling below as well as the shingles. However the minute the last shingle is placed to protect the roof, rain will do no harm. If you must work in threatening weather, many people will place that tarpaulin on the ridge ready to roll out and only remove it when it gets in the way of placing the last shingles.
An important detail that many people miss is that every shingle has a little application of adhesive already on the shingle, designed to end up right under the bottom edge of the next shingle tab. When the sun shines on a newly shingled roof, the shingles relax and lay flat onto that bit of adhesive and the sun activates it. Once that is done those tabs will no longer have a tendency to lift with wind. If you shingle very late in the fall, the tabs may not be adhered down until spring, and a very windy storm that blows off all the snow could lift the shingles. The stronger the wind gusts in your area, the more important it is to complete a roof earlier in the fall while there is some heat left in the sun.
Just about the only adhesive we might use with shingles and flashings is PLASTIC CEMENT.
As for the question of the difference between organic base and fiberglass base asphalt shingles, as well as a warning about shingle standards in a cold climate, check out WHAT IS CSA CERTIFICATION?
For many more details about roofing or re-roofing with shingles, check out the keyword SHINGLES.