Roofing Installation

Before you can begin the job of installing a new roof you unfortunately have to complete the job of removing the old roofing material. The only exception to not taking the old roofing material off would be if you were planning to install a metal roof on top of the old roof. A metal roof offers a few advantages such as being cost effective and by not having to remove the old roof you are not filling up a landfill with material that won’t easily decay.

If however you are planning to install a new roof that is not metal you will need to remove the old one. Removing old roofing material is probably faster in most cases than installing a new one. Using a roofing scraper you will simply need to get under the shingles and pull them up, nails and all. It is then just a matter of scraping and tossing the old roofing material into a dumpster below. Once you get the entire old roof off it is just a matter of hammering in any loose nails and removing any rusty ones to prepare the new roof.

The next step is to dry in the roof. New drip edge is installed and if needed new flashing is installed around the roof penetrations. The next step is to lay an ice and water shield. This sticky paper is very difficult to take back up once it is down so it needs to be laid correctly the first time. This will work to help keep any leaks from getting into the home and is installed before the tarpaper. It’s expensive at $60 a square foot but it can ultimately help prevent a costly repair or replacement job to a roof from water damage so it virtually pays for its self over time.

The next stage is to install the tarpaper by rolling it out and overlapping the edges a few inches with each row and secure with the use of a hammer, tacker, or an electric staple gun.

Once you are ready to start installing shingles you will start by putting up the starter strip. These can come precut or you can cut them yourself if you prefer. You are going to start at the bottom of the roof and work your way up to the top working in an overlapping process much like you did with the tarpaper. Since the shingles will overlap they also need to be placed with the ends and the tab notches not lying directly above the gaps in the shingle below to prevent a line of water from penetrating in form one shingle row to the next.
The shingles are laid in a pattern and then simply nailed in place with a nail gun or by hand depending on your preference and using an adjustable guide to keep the pattern uniform all the way up, the shingles are nailed in place up to the roof top and the ultimate completion.