Hi David, Most of the roofers around here use a square nosed shovel to remove the old asphalt shingles from the roof. You start at the edge of the eve and work under the shingles prying up and if you are half way lucky you get a lot of the roofing nails at the same time.
I like to use a flat bar to get the nails missed, the sort which includes a tapered slot a short way along the shaft you can hook over the head and pry more or less straight up out of the decking. Depending on the age of the building the roof decking may be boards or usually half inch plywood. Inspect this for rot, it doesn't matter a lot if there is a little rot so long as your nails will hold but 20 or 25 year shingles will probably outlast any failing decking material so it is best replaced. Cleaning up as you go along really helps. You might consider having a skip delivered to the site and spend a few bucks on tarpollens to lay along the ground and over any bushes and shrubs you want to preserve, it helps a lot when cleaning up. There usually isn't any requirement for builders felt or tar paper, maybe some building codes want it, some people like it, particularly the lined paper I suppose it can help to keep the courses of shingles straight but I can't really see any other purpose for it except perhaps to provide a reservoir for any water that might blow up under the odd shingle. In freezing climates most people recommend ice dam, this is a 30 inch wide strip of roll material much like the shingles which gets rolled out along the bottom edge of the eve. It protects against water freezing and backing up under shingles in the winter where the roof hangs out over unheated fresh air. Most, maybe all shingles are tabbed, that is, there are usually three though there may be more tabs along one edge separated by a cut about quarter of an inch wide up the shingle one third of the distance. These are called, believe it or not, three tab shingles. Above the end of the slits, about half way up the shingle is located the point where you nail through the shingle, some have this dimpled nearly through. Along each end of the shingle just about one third down along the end there is a slight short cut into the shingle. You can press a point just above that cut to bend the upper part in forming a small ear. More about the ear in a moment. The usual way to lay shingles is to lay an aluminum or steel drip edge along the eave and up the end of the rake if a gable roof. This isn't much more than a rolled strip of 'L' mold which you nail to the deck and which raps over the edge of the deck. The fascia fits under this drip cap. The first course of shingles overhangs the drip cap by some arbitrary amount, usually three quarters of an inch or a little more but the first row is laid with the tabs up. You allow the same overhang at the ends of the rows at each end as well. The second course is staggered by one tab only this time the correct way with the tabs facing down and lined up with the eve edge of the base row making this a double layer. Now you lay the subsequent rows overhanging by two thirds and you stagger them lengthways by the width of a tab. You usually take a sharp utility knife, fold the shingle over to weaken it then cut that tab off. Remember the ears I spoke of? These are about a third of the way down the edge of the shingle and when you bend them over that little bit you can then use them to hang and position the course above as they catch the top edge of the last laid row. Makes keeping the courses straight a lot easier. I did not know about these ears until the last time this roof was done. I had to hire some help to get it done ahead of the snow and the roofers showed me, I had seen these little nicks but never knew they had a purpose. For a simple gabled roof you run up from each eve to the peak three nails in each shingle. If there is a ridge vent then you end there, if no ridge vent then you begin cutting shingles in thirds at the tab lines then beginning at one end of the ridge you fold the third of a shingle over the peak and nail it, laying the next over the first again over lapping two thirds snugging them firmly down over the other all along the ridge. You probably select the direction of these ridge shingles according to the probable prevailing wind so it doesn't tend to get up under the ends and lift them. If you have a hipped roof you lay the shingles over the hip in the same way up to the ridge where you cover the end with the ridge run. Valleys are handled differently and there are different ways of handling valleys. Usually a strip of sheet metal about 16 inches wide and scored in the middle is folded into the valley before shingles are laid, the shingles may be interlaced but I see now a lot of roofers lay them up close to the valley then take a sharp knife and cut them off in a straight line about three inches from the crease of the valley exposing the metal flashing allowing water to shed to the flashing and run down it in the valley. There are probably other ways but these are what I see commonly used. I think when it is time to renew this roof probably within the next couple of years I will install rolled steel. They paint it now and rate some of it for 50 years. My little experience with steel roofing though has taught me you need the roof to be very square and pretty darn true or the panels won't align what ever you do. Snow slides off of it readily and it doesn't curl in the hot sun like asphalt shingles do. There are other shingles, slates, now there are some rather wonderful looking cementatious products with little ears which can be hooked over strapping and nailed down. So long as the wind doesn't take them they should last really well, you don't want to be under any which come free I don't suppose and you really want to insist the supplier delivers to the roof. Flashing around penetrations like skylights, chimneys and sewer stacks requires special care, let us know if you need any help with that. I probably haven't covered everything but hopefully it helps. ----- Ori 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.24.6/1482 - Release Date: 6/4/2008 7:10 AM [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
