Starter Strip, Ridge Cap and the Nail Line

November 2026

The parts that never show

Stand across the street from a new laminated shingle roof and you see color and a clean ridge line. You do not see the strip along the eaves that the first course sits on, the nails under each shingle, or the way the ridge pieces lap. Those hidden parts decide whether the roof is still lying flat after a few years of wind coming through Davis County.

On the houses we roof around North Salt Lake, wind is the test every shingle has to pass, and it is passed or failed on details nobody photographs for a brochure. Our architectural shingle roofing in North Salt Lake is built from the bottom edge up with that in mind. This post walks the roof the same way, eave first.

A quick word on the shingle itself. Laminated, or architectural, shingles are two layers bonded together, heavier and thicker than the old flat three-tab, and that extra weight and stiffness is part of why they hold better in wind. The rest of the job is how they are put down.

Starter strip at the eaves

The first course of shingles on any roof has nothing under it to stick to. A starter strip fixes that. It is a row of purpose-made starter shingles run along the eave, with a factory sealant line near the edge, so the bottom of the first full course glues down to it just like every course above glues to the one below.

Skip it, or use a full shingle turned upside down with its sealant at the wrong edge, and the bottom row of the roof is held only by its nails. Wind gets under the eave, lifts that first course, and works its way up from there. A lot of roofs that lose shingles lose them from the bottom row first, and a missing or backward starter is very often the reason.

The starter sits a little past the drip edge so water drips clear of the fascia and into the gutter, and not so far that the wind can catch its edge.

Up the rakes

The rakes are the sloped edges at the gable ends, and they get forgotten. Wind sweeping across a gable pulls at the shingle ends there harder than almost anywhere on the field. We run starter up the rakes too, so the edge of every course is sealed down along the side of the roof as well as the bottom. Rake edges with no starter are where we see a column of shingles peeled back after a windy night.

The field and the nail line

Every bundle of shingles prints installation instructions on the wrapper, and the most important part is where the nails go. On a laminated shingle there is a marked nailing zone, a band where the two layers overlap and the shingle is thickest. Nails driven inside that band pass through both layers and through the top of the shingle below. The wind rating on the wrapper was earned with nails in that band.

Too high, too low

Nail above the zone and the nail misses the lower layer and the shingle underneath, so the shingle can pivot and lift. Nail below it and the head ends up exposed, sitting where the next course should cover it, with nothing between it and the weather. Both are common on roofs put on in a hurry.

How many per shingle

The wrapper calls for a set number of nails, and in high-wind zones it calls for more. We put six nails in the nail line on our roofs, because the wind along this side of the valley does not check which pattern you picked.

Set flush to the surface

A nail gun set too hard punches the head down into the mat, and a shingle held by a crater is barely held at all. Set too soft, the head stands proud and lifts the shingle above it. We check gun pressure as the day warms up and the shingles soften, since the right setting at eight in the morning is too hot by early afternoon.

The sealant strip

Each shingle carries a line of sealant that bonds to the course below once the sun warms it. Shingles laid in cold weather may not seal until spring, which is why a roof put on in late fall can lose a few tabs to the first strong wind. On cold-weather jobs we hand-seal the edges most exposed to wind, the rakes and the first courses at the eave.

Hips and the ridge

The top of the roof is finished with hip and ridge cap, pieces made to bend over the peak and lap one over the next. A three-tab shingle cut into strips and folded over the ridge, the old way, cracks along the fold, especially on a cold day, and a cracked cap is a leak sitting at the highest point of the house. Proper cap pieces are made to flex over that bend.

Cap pieces get the same care with nails as the field: in the marked spot, long enough to bite into the deck or the ridge vent beneath, with the lap running away from the wind that hits the house most. Sitting at the very top, cap catches gusts from either slope, and that is why it is often the first piece we find missing after a rough night.

On hip roofs, which are common on the hillside builds around town, every hip is a ridge running downhill, and each one gets the same cap and the same nailing.

A word on color

North Salt Lake is built on a slope, and on a lot of streets the houses above look straight down onto the roofs below. That makes the roof part of somebody else’s view, and part of yours when you look back. We bring full shingle samples out and hold them up on the actual roof, in daylight, before anyone orders a bundle. A color that looked warm on a small chip can read flat or busy across a whole hillside roof.

Lighter shingles stay a little cooler in summer sun. Darker ones shed snow a little sooner on a south slope. Neither difference is big enough to outweigh a color you will be happy looking at.

What the warranty is about

A full replacement from us carries a 10-year workmanship warranty. It covers how we put the roof on: the starter, the nailing, the flashings, the cap, the details in this post. If something we installed comes loose or leaks because of how it was installed, we come back, look at it, and fix what is ours. The shingles themselves carry the manufacturer’s own warranty, which is a separate thing between you and them, and we will walk you through both before the job starts.

What you can ask to see

You do not need to climb up during the job to know these parts went in right. Ask your crew to show you a few things while the roof is still open.

A starter strip at the eave and up a rake, before the first course covers it. A shingle with its nails visible, before the next course goes over, so you can see they sit inside the marked band. The cap pieces still in their bundle, so you know they are cap and not cut field shingles. We take photos of each of these as we go anyway, and you get them at the end with the rest of the job pictures.

More on how we plan a new roof is on our architectural shingle roofing page. If you are weighing a new roof against fixing the old one after a windy season, our North Salt Lake wind damage page covers the repair side.

Planning a replacement? Call (801) 382-8898 or reach us through the contact page, and we will come walk the roof with you.

Questions about the hidden parts

Can you tell if my current roof has a starter strip?

Sometimes from a ladder at the eave, by lifting the first course gently and looking for the sealant line underneath. On a roof that is already losing shingles from the bottom row, the answer is usually no.

Does a ridge vent change how the cap goes on?

The cap goes over the vent instead of over bare deck, so it needs longer nails that reach through the vent into solid wood. The vent has its own nailing marks, and we follow them.

Is it a problem to roof in the cold?

It can be done well with extra care. Shingles get brittle and the sealant will not bond until it warms, so we hand-seal exposed edges, handle bundles gently, and keep an eye on the forecast for the days after.

Why do new shingles sometimes look wavy?

Usually the deck underneath is uneven, or the shingles were laid before they warmed and relaxed. Waves from the deck show up in the first days and stay. Waves from cold shingles usually flatten out once the sun works on them.

Do you use the same brand of starter and cap as the shingles?

We match the starter and cap to the shingle line going on the roof wherever it is available, because the manufacturer’s warranty is written around its own system. We will tell you which products are going up before the job.

Bottom to top

A roof holds in the wind from the edges in. Get the starter, the rakes, the nail line and the cap right and the field mostly takes care of itself, for as long as the shingles last.

Questions about a new roof in North Salt Lake? (801) 382-8898 reaches the family, or use the contact page and we will call you back.