How to Install a New Roof

Roofing is hard work. You will need to tear off the old roof, put on the new one, clean up very well so that no one gets hurt on the nails. Roofing takes practice, so if this is your first time, be very careful and move as slowly as the weather and time permit.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Nail bars
• Pry bars
• Roofing shovels
• Gloves
• 30-weight roofing paper
• Shingles
• Nail magnets
• Nail guns
• Hammers
• Wheelbarrow
• Trash trailer
• Tarp

1. Tear off the old roof. To do this, use the combination of a roofing pitchfork, roofing nail removers, pry bars, and shovels. Start by grabbing the corner of a corner shingle and peeling upwards by hand. Try to peel off in large chunks. This will save you time and effort.

2. Once you have torn off the shingles which can be torn off by hand, move on to the pitch fork and roofing shovel. Tear off any remaining shingles this way, all the while uprooting the old nails. This may take a long time, depending on how much manpower you have at your disposal. Get the roof perfectly clear.

3. Waste can be thrown off the roof onto a tarp, or pushed off the edge into a trailer to be taken to the dump.

4. When finished tearing the old shingles off, use a nail magnet to pick up as many stray nails as possible from the property.

1. Install the roofing paper. Use black 30-weight paper. Start at the bottom edge of the roof. Unroll the paper and let it over hang the roof by no more than 1/4 inch.

2. To secure the roofing paper to the roof, use roofing tacks either by hand or with the use of a nail gun. Along the bottom edge, space the nails four feet apart. Along the middle of the paper, space the nails two feet apart. The top edge should have the nails spaced only a foot apart.

3. The second row of paper should overlap the first row by one line. The lines are marked on the paper. Secure this second row the same as the first.

4. Continue on up until the entire roof is covered. Cover the crest of the roof with one more row of paper, letting the sides come down evenly over the crest.When papering, when you get to a roof hip, overlap the hip. When coming to a valley, overlap the valley. Herringbone the paper so that the hypothetical water could trickle down it without ever touching the wood planks of the roof. The key is to create a waterproof sheath before placing shingles.

1. You are now ready to shingle. Start at the bottom of the roof in a corner again. Overlap any hips and valleys, using the herringbone technique. Cover the roof with shingles.

2. To "cap off" the roof, use single shingle tabs, overlapping them along the length of the crest, hips, and valleys.

3. When you are done shingling, you are done roofing.

Tips & Warnings

• Wear good construction gloves to make things easier on yourself.

• Wear a tool belt to carry rolls of nails for your nail gun to save time and energy running back and forth to the nail box.

• Roofing is dangerous. It is no place for a child.

• Clean up after you are done roofing. Use nail magnets and go over your yard three times to get all the nails.