How to Cover Wood Shingles with Asphalt Shingles

Leaks in your roof require immediate attention. Sometimes, though, the expense of tearing off the old roof, disposing of the waste and installing a new roof is too much at one time. It is possible to re-roof over existing shingles. If you have a wood shingle roof, it is a bit more complicated than just laying asphalt shingles on top of the wood shingles. Covering wood shingles with asphalt shingles requires leveling the roof between the shingles. This provides a smooth surface for your asphalt shingles as if installing directly on the sheathing.

Things You'll Need

• Broom
• Hammer
• Beveled 1-by-4-inch feathering boards
• Tape measure
• Utility knife
• Roofing nails
• Hammer

Instructions

1. Sweep the roof with a broom to remove all dirt and debris. Drive in any loose nails with a hammer. Replace any broken or missing wood shingles. All of this provides a clean foundation to lay the new asphalt shingles.

2. Nail beveled 1-by-4-inch feathering strips at the butt of each line of wood shingle with finishing nails and a hammer. Feathering strips are beveled pieces of wood. When you install them, it levels the roof plane between the front, or butt, of one line of shingles and the line of shingles below.

3. Measure from the edge of the roof to the first butt of the wood shingles. Cut the width of the new shingles to the measurement with a utility knife. This is your starter strip of asphalt shingles. Place the starter strip against the first butt row. Nail the strips into place with roofing nails 1-inch below the butt.

4. Take the measurement from the edge of the roof to the start of the second row of wood shingles. Cut your asphalt shingles to the measurement. Install the second line of shingles against the butt of the second row of wood shingles. The shingle will overlap your starter strip. Start at the opposite side of the rood so the notches in the shingles do not remain in a single line. Drive roofing nails through the shingles and into the wood shingles, placing the nails 1-inch above the shingle notch.

5. Install the remaining rows of shingles using full shingles. Remember to start each row on the opposite side of the roof.

6. Overlap the ridge line on both sides of the roof with the last row of shingles on each side. The ridge line is the peak of your roof. Install a row of asphalt shingles along the top of the ridge line.

Tips & Warnings

• Feathering strips are available through roofing supply houses and home improvement centers.

References

• "Roofing Construction and Estimating"; Daniel Benn Atcheson