If you have an air compressor, a coiled roofing nailer will be priceless. I love the Bostich a division of Stanley. You can get a reconditioned one on Amazon for about $155 or so.
As for the supplies, if you are taking off the shingles, don't even think about going back together without replacing the tar paper too. There are a bunch of theories on how to do it, but here's what I do. I put my drip edge on first. then staple the tar paper starting at the bottom and working to the peak. This lets you overlap the previous layer. Where I differ from most is how I run the shingles. I run a layer of mineral paper along each lower edge. This is also called rolled roofing. This saves having to mess with a second layer of shingles. When this is in place, I run my shingles along the bottom row. Let the first shingle hang off the end and over the edge by about 2 inches or so. Then instead of going up the roof at an angle I put the next shingle right next to the first one and so on. They have to overlap the prior shingle and you don't want the grooves to line up with each other. So try to split the last third of a shingle in half when you start the next shingle. As you start the next row you have to pay attention to where the first row ended and start the next row accordingly. By arranging the first shingle in the second row so it keeps the rows below it split evenly by the grooves. The correct term escapes me right now. Also it's easy for a blind person to line up the second row and those following because there will be a line of cement on the shingle's top side. Make sure to bring the next row down over that line of cement. It's a good idea to drive the nails through that line so the nails can seal. To save a few bucks you can take a shingle and break it at each groove. These can then be used to make the cap shingles instead of paying for the special ones that cost more than the regular shingle... Hope this helps and I'm sure others will have things to say as well. ----- Original Message ----- From: David Sexton To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 9:06 PM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Replacing a roof Lucky me! I get to replace a shingle roof this summer. I have basic idea of how to go about this, but if y'all can send me some articles, tips, and what tools would make the job easier I'd be ever so grateful. This is the standard tar shingles not sure what they're called. I need to take off what's there, and put new shingles on, don't know if I need to replace tar paper, wood or anything like that. Maybe there is something better than shingles that is about the same price? David [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
