Rolled Roofing: Basics, Costs, & Self-Installation

Rolled roofing, or MSR, is an inexpensive, easy-to-install roofing material often used for sheds and carports. Unlike individual composite (asphalt) shingles, rolled roofing comes in large rolls of up to 100 square feet; in a sense, each roll is a 100 square-foot shingle.

Easy to find at most home centers, rolled roofing is generally less attractive than shingles or standing seam metal roofing. Still, it's a good temporary roofing option for residences or serviceable roofing for functional structures like outbuildings.

Dimensions

Rolled roofing comes in rolls of 100 square feet. One MSR roofing roll is usually about 36 feet long by 36 inches wide.

A roofing roll is about the size of one composite shingle square. Square is a roofing term that refers to one roofing unit of 100 square feet. Rolled MSR roofing is thin, making it less durable than composite shingles.

Several types of rolled roofing are used as supplements to other roofing materials. One example is saturated felt, which is builders-grade felt impregnated with asphalt and used mainly as an underlayment.

Applications

Rolled roofing is best installed on unoccupied structures, like outbuildings, rather than on occupied structures like main houses or ADUs.

• Sheds
• Workshops
• Detached garages
• Carports
• Potting sheds
• Barns

Installation

Rolled roofing material is often used on low-sloped roofs. If your roof pitch declines up to 1 inch vertically for every 12 inches horizontally (1:12 pitch), it is a good candidate for rolled roofing as long as you use the concealed nail method of fastening. 

Otherwise, the safest minimum pitch for rolled roofing is 2 inches of decline per 12 inches of horizontal direction (2:12 pitch). Rolled roofing should not be used on flat roofs as this could lead to leaks.

Lifespan and Durability

Rolled roofing has a short lifespan of between five and eight years. Compare this to a lifespan of about 20 years or even more for composite shingles. 

One benefit of roofing shingles is that they can move and shift as the house moves and shifts. Rolled roofing's larger sections do not move as readily as the home expands and contracts.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Rolled roofing is the least expensive roofing material, even compared to composite shingles. 

Rolled roofing comes in relatively light 75-pound units. Lifts are not required to raise them to the roof. Highly adaptable, this product can be cut into strips of any size to cover roofing hips and ridges.

Do-it-yourselfers who might avoid installing a shingle roof can easily install a rolled roof. If removing your current shingles is a problem, it is usually permissible to re-roof over your existing roof with rolled roofing. 

Cons

Rolled roofing comes in only a few colors and styles. The most common colors for MSR are black, white, tan, gray, and green.

Rolled roofing is less durable than shingles. One reason shingles work so well is that the network of multiple, loosely interlocking shingles expands and contracts without stressing individual shingles. By contrast, rolled roofing is like having one big shingle. This shingle cannot respond to changes in the building structure without tearing. 

Rolled roofing is generally considered a less attractive roofing material than shingles or other types of roofing systems. Homeowner's associations in gated communities may not allow the installation of any structure with rolled roofing, even outbuildings.

Residences that use this type of material will have extremely poor resale value. Few home buyers would consider rolled roofing to be anything more than a temporary roofing solution.

Installation Tips

• Remove slag, gravel, and other debris to avoid puncturing the material.
• Underlayment isn't always required, but it can offer more protection from water.
• Remember to install the material horizontally (parallel to the eaves).
• As with installing conventional shingles, start at the bottom of the roof at work upward.
• Apply roofing cement to the edge of the first strip you lay horizontally.
• Overlap the strips as you work upward.