Any roofing expert?

[gonefishie]

Well the time has come for me to do something about my roof. It faded and some of the shingles kind of curl up. There's no leak that I know of, don't know the shape of the whatyamamacallit between the shingle and the OSB. The roof only have one layer of shingle. The question are should I remove the old shingle which require lot of works and renting a dumpster? Can I get away with just putting new shingles on top of old? Professional advices would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dolluper]

Re: Any roofing expert?

Little story here ..we doubled up the roof at the hunting camp 5 years ago with 30 year shingles and guess what they look almost as bad as the first layer now...so to do it right scrap her off apply new felt paper and shingle unless it's the hunting camp and who cares....Shingles need a good flat surface as the sun will shape them to the surface

 

[204 Escape]

Re: Any roofing expert?

I'd tear it off, and go back new. ALSO, I'd use the heaviest felt paper that I could get !!!!!!

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Any roofing expert?

Little story here ..we doubled up the roof at the hunting camp 5 years ago with 30 year shingles and guess what they look almost as bad as the first layer now...so to do it right scrap her off apply new felt paper and shingle unless it's the hunting camp and who cares....Shingles need a good flat surface as the sun will shape them to the surface

sorry but I disagree, well most of the time you can just put another one right over it and it looks great , but if they are curled really bad then you have to tareoff !!! and also by law here in mich, you have to tare off with two already on, but i have done one that had to tare off 4 layers !! that stunk wrote the estiment [sp] four 3 layers !!! so it can be done just has to be pertty flat and warm and the shingles wll stick !! John

Ps I amnot claming tp be the expert on this , just talking from experence , done 15 ,16 roofs !! just do it as a side job, and if your going to do it rent a nailer it make it go so fast if you can get some one feeding you shingles !!!!! John

 

[aspeck]

Re: Any roofing expert?

I'd tear off the old before putting on the new. Or, if you don't want to tear off the old, then install a metal roof - 2x4's over the shingles and the metal sheets on top. Easy, quick, and will last long time, and probably a lot cheaper (depending on grades of materials you are comparing). Just make sure you have some breathing room between the metal and the old shingles.

 

[Bass Man Bruce]

Re: Any roofing expert?

Also while your up there be sure the attic is well vented.
If you don't already have ridge vent and soffit vents, now is the time to install them.

btw, no amount of beer, music, or pretty women can make a roof tear-off fun!!

 

[Booberdoo]

Re: Any roofing expert?

Like everyone else said, do the tear off. You stated that your shingles are curling which is not a good surface to lay new on.

Do yourself a favor and pick up a shingle remover from Home Depot...it looks like a flat shovel but the leading edge has notches that pull the nails (most) along with the old shingles and a brace under it to make things easy.

Lay a big tarp on the ground to catch the shingles.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Any roofing expert?

btw, no amount of beer, music, or pretty women can make a roof tear-off fun!!

That's why I am pondering the tear off or no tear off.

 

[Pony]

Re: Any roofing expert?

Like everyone else said, do the tear off. You stated that your shingles are curling which is not a good surface to lay new on.

Do yourself a favor and pick up a shingle remover from Home Depot...it looks like a flat shovel but the leading edge has notches that pull the nails (most) along with the old shingles and a brace under it to make things easy.

Lay a big tarp on the ground to catch the shingles.

I second that for getting the shingle remover. I did the roof at my parent's house a month ago and the work went tons faster with that tool. We know some roofers so we had 6 or 7 people going at the roof with the shingle remover. We removed 2 layers......its a real pain.

I agree with cutting a ridge vent as well. We went with this http://www.mongooseproductsinc.com/installation.html It came highly recommended from numerous roofers.

We went with 6ft of Ice and Water shield instead of the normal 3 since our winters are pretty bad.

 

[Pony]

Re: Any roofing expert?

That's why I am pondering the tear off or no tear off.

Think of how bad it will be if you end up having to tear off both layers 5-10 years from now.

 

[arboldt]

Re: Any roofing expert?

I'm not a roofing pro, but hope I can shed insight anyway.

Previous owners put a second layer on the house, using 30-year shingles. After 15 - 18 years, they were shot. As we got bids to re-roof, every pro we talked to, along with several home-improvement newsgroups and magazines, all say that putting a second layer on will drastically shorten its life. As I looked at our roof, I believe them.

So we reroofed our house 6 weeks ago. My son (who had been involved with a half-dozen other reroofing projects over so many years) assured me we could do it ourselves, and I listened to him. MISTAKE! The couple thousand I "saved" by doing ourselves would have been a wise investment, IMHO. Yeah, we got the shingle shovel and other tools we needed. But my son estimated he and I could remove the existing two layers in one 10-hour day. After 12 hours, we'd only gotten off about 1/3! It seems the house was originally built by a high school building trades class, and the kids apparently thought their grade depended on how many roofing nails they used.

Anyway, my suggestion is to hire it done, and specify a tear-off.

 

[Pony]

Re: Any roofing expert?

I'm not a roofing pro, but hope I can shed insight anyway.

Previous owners put a second layer on the house, using 30-year shingles. After 15 - 18 years, they were shot. As we got bids to re-roof, every pro we talked to, along with several home-improvement newsgroups and magazines, all say that putting a second layer on will drastically shorten its life. As I looked at our roof, I believe them.

So we reroofed our house 6 weeks ago. My son (who had been involved with a half-dozen other reroofing projects over so many years) assured me we could do it ourselves, and I listened to him. MISTAKE! The couple thousand I "saved" by doing ourselves would have been a wise investment, IMHO. Yeah, we got the shingle shovel and other tools we needed. But my son estimated he and I could remove the existing two layers in one 10-hour day. After 12 hours, we'd only gotten off about 1/3! It seems the house was originally built by a high school building trades class, and the kids apparently thought their grade depended on how many roofing nails they used.

Anyway, my suggestion is to hire it done, and specify a tear-off.

You probably saved WAY more than just a couple thousand.

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: Any roofing expert?

I have done it both ways. The catch is when doing a personal home, we remove the old and start new. When doing a "project" house we over shingle.