What Roofing Nails to Use in Colorado Springs (Galvanized, Aluminum, Ring Shank)

Key Takeaways

• Hot-dip galvanized steel nails are the Colorado Springs standard. Electroplated galvanized is not enough for the climate.
• Pikes Peak Regional Building Department requires 6 nails per shingle (not 4) in most of the Colorado Springs wind zone.
• Ring-shank nails resist wind uplift better than smooth shank. Worth specifying on west-side, high-wind homes.
• Aluminum nails are not allowed by most shingle manufacturers' warranties.

You can install the best shingles money buys and have the roof fail in 5 years if the nails were wrong. Nails are the most boring part of a roof job and the part most likely to bite you later. In Colorado Springs, where 60 to 80 mph downslope winds and 2-inch hail are routine, nail spec matters more than people realize.

Here is the breakdown of what works, what does not, and what the local code actually requires.

What does Pikes Peak Regional Building Department require?

The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD), which covers Colorado Springs and most of El Paso County, adopted the 2018 International Residential Code with local amendments. For asphalt shingles in our wind zone, the code requires:

• Nail material: Galvanized steel, stainless steel, copper, or aluminum (with strict caveats)
• Nail length: Minimum 1.25 inches, longer if going through multiple layers or thicker decking
• Nail head: Minimum 3/8 inch diameter
• Nail count: 6 nails per shingle in our high-wind zone, not the 4-nail standard you see in milder climates

Most of Colorado Springs falls into a wind zone that requires 6 nails on architectural shingles to maintain the manufacturer wind warranty. Crews that nail 4 per shingle to save time void the warranty and create a wind-uplift failure point in the first big chinook.

Galvanized: hot-dip vs electroplated

There are two ways to galvanize a roofing nail, and only one of them belongs on a Colorado Springs roof.

Hot-dip galvanized (HDG): Steel nails dipped in molten zinc, producing a thick (typically 0.0015 inch or more), uneven coating that takes decades to corrode through. This is the right answer for almost every Colorado Springs roof.

Electroplated galvanized: Steel nails plated with a thin (0.0002 inch) layer of zinc through an electric current. Cheap, smooth finish, and looks identical to hot-dip in the box. The coating wears off within 5 to 10 years in normal weather. In high-UV, snow-and-thaw climates like Colorado Springs, the corrosion shows up faster.

The package will say which one. Bostitch BHRT154 and SENCO branded coils with HDG callouts are common job-site choices. If you do not see "hot-dip" or "HDG" on the box, do not let the crew load them.

What about aluminum nails?

Aluminum nails are legal under IRC. They are also rejected by every major asphalt shingle manufacturer warranty. GAF, Owens Corning, CertainTeed, and Malarkey all specify hot-dip galvanized steel or stainless steel for asphalt shingle installation. Use aluminum and the wind, hail, and material warranties all evaporate.

Aluminum has its place on copper flashing details where galvanic corrosion is a concern, but it does not belong driving shingles down in Colorado Springs.

Are roofing nails magnetic?

Yes, if they are steel (galvanized or stainless). Steel is the base metal for almost every roofing nail used in Colorado Springs, and steel is magnetic. The galvanizing coating does not affect that.

This matters at cleanup. A good crew runs a magnetic roller through the lawn, driveway, and gutters after the install. Nails that fall and stay in the grass become flat tires later. If a contractor finishes a job in Briargate or Wolf Ranch and does not magnet-sweep the yard, that is a quality-of-finish red flag.

Stainless steel roofing nails are technically less magnetic than galvanized carbon steel, but they will still pull on a magnet.

Ring shank vs smooth shank

The nail shank is the body, not the head. There are three common patterns:

Type	Description	When to use
Smooth shank	Standard, slick body	Most installs, basic wind zones
Ring shank	Annular rings down the body	High-wind zones, west-side Colorado Springs
Screw shank	Twisted body, screws into wood	Specialty repairs, decking

Ring shank nails grip the wood deck about 40 percent better than smooth shank for the same length. In the parts of Colorado Springs that see the strongest downslope winds, like the foothills neighborhoods, Mountain Shadows, Cedar Heights, and parts of Falcon, that grip difference matters. We specify ring shank on those projects as standard.

For a standard east-side Colorado Springs home, smooth shank hot-dip galvanized is the right call and will do its job for the life of the roof.

Length: how long should roofing nails be?

The IRC minimum is 1.25 inches, but that assumes a tear-off down to clean 7/16 OSB or 1/2 inch plywood. Real conditions:

• Tear-off to bare deck, single layer shingle, standard underlayment: 1.25 inches works
• Roof-over (new shingles on top of one existing layer): 1.5 to 1.75 inches required
• Thick architectural or designer shingles: 1.5 inches often required by manufacturer
• Skip sheathing (older Colorado Springs homes, 1950s and earlier): match the deck thickness and the nail must hit a board, not air

Wrong nail length is one of the most common failures in budget installs. Too short and the nail does not bite into the deck. Too long and the point projects into the attic and can drip condensation. Both are bad.

What gauge?

For asphalt shingles, 11 or 12 gauge is standard, with the larger 3/8 inch head. Roofing nail guns from Bostitch, Hitachi, SENCO, and Paslode all take coil nails in this gauge. Specialty roofs (cedar shake, slate, tile) use different nails entirely.

Common Colorado Springs nail mistakes we see

After we tear off a roof, we can usually tell who installed the last one by looking at the nails. Common patterns:

1. Electroplated nails on a 10-year-old roof. Visibly corroded, heads rusted, shanks pitted. Most common on out-of-town storm-chaser installs after big hail events.
2. Four nails per shingle instead of six. Crews speed-installing to maximize jobs per day. Voids the wind warranty.
3. High nails. Nail set above the manufacturer's nailing line, missing the double-thick adhesive strip. Each high nail is a future leak.
4. Overdriven nails. Pneumatic gun pressure too high, nail head sunk into the shingle and cutting through the mat. Each one is a future leak.

A real Colorado Springs roofer sets gun pressure, walks the roof, and visually checks nail placement on every course. It takes longer. It is also why our roofs last and the cheap ones do not.

Bottom line

Hot-dip galvanized steel, ring shank if you are in the wind zone, 1.25 to 1.75 inches depending on deck and underlayment thickness, six nails per shingle per Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, and a magnetic sweep on the way out. Skip any of those and the roof has a built-in expiration date.

If you want to know what is actually in your existing roof, or you want a roof replacement done with the right nails the first time, call (719) 657-6893 or book online. Free written estimate same day in Colorado Springs.