On 4 Jul 2006 16:17:59 -0700, "al" wrote:

Just had a new roof completed the other day and a neighbor commented
this afternoon that there aren't any pieces of tape scattered around
the yard. He says shingles have a piece of cellaphane tape covering a
strip of tar or something that serves as an adhesive so the shingles
stay put. He said that sometimes roofers neglect to remove the tape
which makes the shingles vulnerable to wind damage and that if it ahd
been removed it would be scattered around the lawn. Living in S.
Florida with the threat of hurricanes, this additional adhesive would
be important.

Concur re importance.

They're supposed to:

1.) Remove the tape.
2.) Properly discard the tape. You aren't supposed to see
any lying around.

In fact I did come across a piece of scrap shingle and it still had
this tape on it. My question is, is there a way to check the shingles
without disturbing the installation job too much to see if tape remains
on a random number of shingles

If you can get to them, you can check. Be very careful with the
ladder, etc. Very, very gently pry up the bottom of a shingle
and lift it just enough to examine underneath. You know what
the tape looks like. I'd consider using a knife blade, but
very carefully.

or would it be prudent to contact
someone who actually knows what they're doing to take a look. And if I
do find that the tape has not been removed, what can be done about
that?

Not certain why they couldn't return and remove the tape
given recent install.

If all or most of them have to be removed does that mean the
paper beneath them also would have to be replaced?

You mean remove the shingles? Shouldn't be necessary.

It wouldn't surprise me to find that they had not removed the tape
because they have already had to come back on three other ocassions to
correct not insignificant oversights in their work, from failing to
replace rotton wood

Did you contract for such replacement?

to sloppy installation of fascia to reusing the
aluminum drip edge they had to remove to replace the wood.

I'm guessing this last is common practice.

Thanks (again) for any suggestions.

I'm guessing they removed most/all of the tape, but it
merits an inspection, followup, as necessary.

Cheers,
Puddin'