Those plastic strips are to be taken off just prior to the shingle being put on the roof. The tar strip is to create a seal. Google whether you should take the strip off. Most say you do remove it. Just because most do not bother to remove it, doesn't mean it's the best way to lay your shingles. If you can, put the plastic torn off strips immediately into some sort of disposal rather than throwing them on the ground to be picked up later. Just read a package of shingles and it says to remove the strip. We just had a friend whose roof was done last year by a reputable roofer and after the last wind storm, the friend wasn't picking up strips of plastic, he was picking up shingles all over the neighborhood... With that plastic strip still on the shingles. It was described to me that that tar strip acts as a barrier. Without it, the wind can go up the shingles. Sure it MAY not lift them, but imagine, over time or a constant big wind, that can start from the bottom of the roof and rattle those shingles. Eventually the nails will come loose or pull through the shingle. Rain could be blown up through in the same way.
Why is there so much discussion for this? Read the installation instructions... You DO NOT remove the strip prior to installation. It does not misalign, the tar will seal through the plastic strip. To the original poster, not only is the insurance company wrong in stating the shingles were not installed properly, but regardless, it is their obligation to conduct an inspection of the property before they insure it. If the roof was supposedly incorrectly installed, they should not have insured it, or required it to be fixed before insuring it. Since they issued the insurance anyway, it doesn't matter, they owe you for the damage.
I read with interest the comments that the MFG'r states not to remove the tape. If the tar under the tape is not exposed to the under laying shingle.... Why in the world would the MFG'r put the tar strip there in the first place? Do you think they could save not only the tar but the tape and the equipment to install them on the shingle? This just makes no sence... Why would you spend money for tar, tape and equipment for something that is not needed? Or is this just another example of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Maybe the engineering department needs to either save the MFG'r a boat load of money, OR tel the packaging people to stop telling people Not to remove the tape.... Either the tar-tape-equipment is not needed OR the right hand needs to talk to the left hand. With a drive in EVERY company in the world to make the product cheeper, you would think that someone would ask "Do we realy need that tar and tape on our shingle, and if so, why do we tell people it doesn't mater.... You can't have it make sence both ways. I say, remove the tape and let it seal the top shingle to the one below it !
You do NOT remove the plastic strip. It is there just to keep the glue on the stacked shingles from sticking together. It won't hurt if you do but there is no need to waste your time.
The plastic film strip is on the shingle to prevent adhesion to the front of the next shingle in the stack during storage. The manufacturer could easily place it on the front but then you would have to remove it prior to placing. Removing the strip is a waste if time and does not offer any superior adhesion or protection. The adhesive tar of interest is located on the face of the shingle near the nail line. You'll notice it never has any plastic on it, by design.
If you install the roof in the cooler months you should remove the strip. If installed in the hotter months such as July-Sep you don't have to it will melt and bond around the strip fairly fast. Shingles are applied on pitched roofs so the tar strip will run down a little.
Yes you are supposed to remove the strip but a lot of roofers don't bother. The strip is there to act as an adhesive. Once your roof gets heated up from the sun the asphalt strip will melt down into the shingle underneath it and bond together.
Shingles come packaged in pairs ( facing back to back and bottom edge of one againt top edge of the other. Along the bottom of each shingle on the back there is a thin strip of tar. Along the top there is a second wider strip of tar covered with the cellophane tape. The cellophane tape is there to prevent the thin bottom tar strip from sticking to the back of the other shingle. The cellophane tape is held in place by the wider tar strip on the top. ( Think about it, tar is a cheap adhesive, and the shingle manufacture is already using it along the bottom. Why pay 3M for a fancy expensive release tape.) When it comes time to separate the shingles the wide strip of tar has more surface area in contact with the tape than the thin strip, so the tape stays stuck to the top strip, and releases the bottom strip ( this bottom strip then melts to the shingle below it when installed. Hopefully this answers why there is a 2nd strip of tar along the top. - Back to original question: Should tape be removed from top strip. Answer is it depends on what is underneath. If this is a 2nd layer of shinges then I say yes so that the tar strip will bond new shingles to old. If puttind down over ice and water shield ( minimum first 3 feet along the edge) , also yes because the ice and water is glued down to the roof thus it will help hold down the shingle. If over tar paper I would not bother as the tar paper has nothing but a few stapes holding it down to the roof
I know this is an old thread, but the response is completely off base and shows that the person making that statement has never read any shingle manufacturers instructions regarding the cellophane strip on the underside of the shingles.
There are 2 reasons that the strip is attached in the first place.
1. It "May" include some stamped in data from the manufacturer to identify the time and location of it's creation at the facility.
2.. The cellophane strep is there to keep the individual shingles from getting stuck together while they are in the bundle wrapper.
When the shingles are installed at the proper spacing recommended, the sealant strip from the one shingle does not come in contact with the cellophane strip from the next shingle. It is completely useless and buried at that point and time. To take the step to remove and pick up all of those straggling pieces of plastic blowing around the neighborhood would be absolutely ludicrous.
I'm pretty sure you do remove the plastic strip you mentioned . Just before you put it in place . That protects a tar strip . It allows allows the shingles to form a seel .
In theory, you are supposed to remove the strips so that when the sun shines on the shingles it will melt the tar under the strips and cause a better seal, gluing shingles to the shingles under them. In practice, very few roofers ever do remove the strips, and it makes little real difference. I know many roofers, and none of them bother with it, nor have I bothered on roofs that I shingled. I have never had a house lose any shingles yet.
