Q: One of my fellow workers insists that the cellophane strips on the backs of asphalt shingles have to be removed before the shingles are installed. Another co-worker says that it’s OK to leave them in place. Which one is right?
A: Reed Hitchcock, executive vice president of the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA), asphaltroofing.org, responds: Your question is a valid one, but something that ultimately should not be of any concern to roofing contractors or installers. Here is the story behind those cellophane strips.
As you know, asphalt shingles are shipped and stored in bundles. Each shingle is manufactured with an adhesive strip that allows it to adhere to its neighbor above when they are installed. The adhesive on the shingle is activated by heat—usually from sunlight beating down on the shingled roof.
But shingles can also be subject to heat during shipping and storage, especially in the hot summer months. And many supply houses store pallets of shingles where they are exposed to direct sunlight. To prevent shingles from sticking to each other while still in the bundle, manufacturers add a small strip of cellophane on the back of each shingle. In the industry, this strip is often referred to as “release tape.” The cellophane release tape lines up with the adhesive strip on the shingle below it in the bundle to keep the shingles from sticking together.
Because the cellophane strips do not align with the adhesive strip when installed on the roof, they have no effect on the performance of asphalt shingles. It’s fine to leave them in place as you install the shingles. In fact, the effort to remove them is unnecessary and just adds an extra step for the contractor. The only time that a cellophane strip should be removed is on the extremely rare occasion that it sticks to the adhesive layer of an adjacent shingle instead of remaining stuck to the back of the shingle being taken from the bundle.
For those contractors who still insist on removing the cellophane strips as the shingles are installed, rest assured that doing so has no adverse effect on the installation or performance of the shingles. But something to consider is that once removed, those lightweight plastic strips tend to fly around. Chasing down and disposing of all those wayward strips can create even more work for the contractor.
So our recommendation is to just ignore the strips. Once a shingle is taken from the bundle to be installed, the cellophane strip has served its purpose.