Replace an Old Roof With New Shingles

I’m what you call a generalist when it comes to remodeling activities: If it’s made of wood or you nail/screw it down, I pretty much build or install it. This means when the call comes to do a roof, I usually say yes.  

My custom builder and high-end remodeler friends, however, look at me like I have three eyes when I tell them that I’m taking on a roof project. “Why?” they ask. Surely they’re thinking of the often lower margins and highly physical work. Part of the answer is, of course, revenue. I’m in business to make money, and as a home-improvement contractor, that often results in working on just about every kind of project. But the other part of the answer might be a little darker: I like it.  

It could be the adrenaline-addict rugby player in me trying to break a tackle and get out. It might be that I’m a little crazy. Or it might be that I’m seriously passionate about home improvement, which is true.  

Whatever the reason, a customer called and told me their roof was leaking. What’s more, they couldn’t find a roofer who wanted to take on the project. See, in the “nothing’s ever easy in the land of old houses” department, this roof was really only half a roof—one side of what we call a “twin” near Philadelphia, and what most others call a duplex. For reasons no one ever gave me, other contractors wouldn’t touch it. So the customer called, and my dark side answered.  

The re-roof job was hardly brain surgery. But it wasn’t a conventional roof, either. Because of that, it became more remodeling than straight roofing and therefore—like all good remodeling projects—took lots of forethought. Most of mine went to determining how to handle the 2 tons of roofing material that I would strip and dump in the yard, how to store the new shingles prior to installation, and how to keep the customer’s house dry during the tear-off. Ironically, putting on the new 30-year architectural shingles I had spec’ed for the job was the least of my worries.  

Prepping the Site

If you haven’t done much roof replacement but are inclined to take one on, know this: Tearing off shingles is pervasively messy. Shingles break into little pieces, nails fly everywhere, and try as you might, the shingles don’t simply fall straight down off the edge of the roof. Instead, small chunks of shingle and paper catch an updraft and sail into the neighbor’s yard, nails get projected into the customer’s driveway, and heaps of falling asphalt-laden debris crush flower beds.  

200 Feet of Black Plastic. To combat the total chaos that happens when you remove a roof system from the roof deck, I laid a 10-by-80-foot sheet of 3-mil black plastic around the base of the house. To do so, I cut the sheet from a 20-by-200-foot roll and folded the 20-foot dimension to create a double-layer, 10-foot wide length. It worked as a great gutter for almost everything that came off the roof.  

Between Me and the Ground. Safety is pretty much my main concern once I’m on a roof. And this one was a strong 8-pitch roof, meaning it was barely walkable. To add insult to potential injury, the asphalt shingles crumbled underfoot, which amounts to walking on a layer of tiny ball-bearings. So I spent a lot of time working on my knees. My main priority was to keep something between me and the ground–to create a work platform. To that end I used The Roofers’ World Extreme Bracket, which I really liked. It’s easily adjustable and can brace a 2-by-10 or 2-by-12 board.  

I use an L-Bracket of 2 x 4′s when I work on a roof. It provides better footing and a better gutter for tools and other items that would slide past a simple 2-by on the edge walk board. I also had to wear a mask on this roof for the asphalt as well as the asbestos. The shingle backings had turned to dust and every time I pried them up, a cloud of dust blew in my face.

I also used my own version of a walk board I call an L-bracket. Now, this has hardly been vetted by OSHA, but it beats a 2-by fastened to the roof deck for footing, which I see all the time. And it’s simple: On my sites, I screw two 2-by-4s together in an L shape, and then screw them right down to the roof shingles or deck with 3-inch deck screws. Since the roof is coming off anyway, I don’t care about the holes this causes. I like using the L-bracket because if I drop a tool, the addition of the vertical 2-by-4 usually catches it, while I’ve seen roofing guns skate right over a plain ol’ 2-by walk board.  

The L also provides surer footing, and I can lay a flat bar, cordless drill or shingle stripper on it without fear of a slight nudge pushing it off the roof. And as I move up the roof, the L-brackets are light and easy to re-position. I can also use them as a guide for rolling out tar paper.  

Tools. I like that you don’t need many tools to tear off shingles. I used The Roofers’ World Red Ripper tear-off bar, and I really liked it compared to other strippers I’ve tried. I also ran the Bostitch RN-46 through the paces as my main nailer. I got the air that powered it from a Maxus X-Lite compressor, which was also aces. And I found a pair of safety glasses made by Head that I didn’t mind wearing all day. (I bought the glasses for cheap in the racquetball section at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Ironically, I don’t really like them for racquetball.) For cutting the shingles, I used the RoofMates Shingle Saw—what a time saver.