Things You'll Need:
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Step 1
The first step to metal roofing installation is to acquire help. You should have two on top of the roof to receive the material, and one on the ground to pass material from the ground. Another person also serves as an emergency backup incase something goes wrong. This person should be able to deal with heights, ladder, some heavy lifting, and hand or powered tools. Seek someone who is available and reliable.
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Step 2
Screws are recommended over nails for a more secure installation. Corrugated just requires basic hand tools. The variations would depend on whether you were going to nail down or screw down the sheets. If you use nails, the nails go into the ridges. If you use screws, they go in the flat area between the ridges. Screws come with rubber washers for a watertight seal. Nails do not; hence the reason nails are put in the ridges.
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Step 3
Remove older layers prior to installing your metal roof. Besides, having two layers to work with requires more energy, since you're only dealing with the basic tools of hammers and nails, or screws. Because the weight of metal roofing material, it's just plain common sense to take the time to strip off the old roofing material. Most local building codes only allow two layers of roofing material. Ask a home improvement expert for special tools if you need to remove a layer.
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Step 4
Inspect and replace any rotten wood board. A metal roof like any roofing material can "sweat" or collect condensation during the course of a year. If the underside of the roof is open like in a shed or a garage that is not insulated, the natural airflow will take care of the sweat. However, if the roof is on a house or other structure with restricted airflow around the roof, condensation will build up eventually causing the wood materials underneath to rot.
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Step 5
Waterproof the roof using roofing paper, tar paper, or felt paper. Roofing paper acts as a water barrier, thus lessening wood board rot, which can be costly to replace. Starting at the bottom make rows horizontal to the roof. Overlap each row so that as water runs down the roof, there is little chance for water to get underneath the lower rows. As always work from the bottom up when layering.
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Step 6
It is ideal to start from the bottom and work up. Since corrugation acts as a hook, you simply lay the other sheet to overlap and start nailing or screwing it down. When installing metal you need to keep it aligned as you go. Failure to do so can gain or lose width easily by pounding nails in too tight. This is where the pliers come in handy. Use the pliers to hold the overlapped lower corner in place on its fastened-down connecting sheet. Doing this will allow you to use that point as a pivot point from where to align the sheet. Fasten along that first ridge or flat to keep the sheet in alignment. This provides the correct overlapping and a better direction for rain to flow.
