Should You Put a New Roof Over Cedar Shake Shingles or Take Them Off?
Many types of roofing, including roll roofing and asphalt shingles, should never be placed over the top of wood shingles, such as cedar shakes. If you must reroof directly over cedar shake shingles, you should do so only with new wood shakes, though reroofing over old shakes still isn’t advisable. If you would like to put a new roof onto a roof that already has cedar shake shingles installed, you should take off the old shakes first. Does this Spark an idea?
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Why You Shouldn’t Roof Over Shakes
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When you apply many types of roofing, such as roll roofing or asphalt shingles, the success of the installation is based as much on the preparation of the roof as the roofing materials themselves. The cleaner and flatter the surface over which you install the new roof, the better the new roofing materials will adhere, which provides better protection from rain and snow and prevents damage in heavy wind and other inclement weather.
Taking Up Old Roofing
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Begin removing cedar shakes at the peak of the roof. Start at one end of the roof and wedge the claw of a hammer or a crowbar beneath the first shake to pry the shake upward until it comes free. Continue over the peak of the roof, removing all of the top shakes on either side of the peak. Work your way down from the peak of the roof on each side, prying up each shake. Once the shakes are removed, pull up all roofing felt and go back over the roof to pull out any staples or nails left behind.
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Installing New Roofing
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Start installing the new roofing at one eave of the roof. Lay roofing felt out along the eave of the roof so that it overhangs the eave slightly, and secure the felt to the roof with staples every 2 to 3 inches. Lay the first row of new shingles at the bottom of the roof, letting the shingles hang off by 1/2 to 1 inch, and continue up the roof, laying shingles in rows with each row overlapping the row below by about one-third of the width of the shingles.
What To Do With Old Shakes
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When you take cedar shakes off a roof, you may be able to find new uses for them around your property. Cedar shakes can be used as wood in any kind of project that requires small wood pieces, and can also be reused as roofing on structures that don’t need the kind of waterproofing that your home requires. Good reuses for shingles include the roofing of sheds and doghouses.
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