When your shingles remind you of Curley of the Three Stooges, you know it's time for a new roof. In keeping with my newfound motto of self sufficiency (plus being broke) I've decided to shingle the roof myself (or at least with friends). In order to learn how to do this and to get a few help credits from friends I decided to pay it forward by helping Dave Murphy on a roofing job of his. So there I was bright and early at 7 AM watching the delivery truck booming the pallets of shingles onto the roof. First lesson, get the shingles delivered and put on the roof so you don't have to carry them up.
The first task is to strip the roof of the existing shingles and the best tool for this is a flat bladed, long handled shovel. With Dave on the shovel lifting the shingles I grabbed a couple of rows and pulled backwards. This way we were able to take off great swaths of shingles in a bunch and drag them to the roof edge where they were dropped into the back of Dave's dump truck. A big black garbage can on the roof collected up all the smaller bits and pieces and made dragging to the roof edge easy. We started on the far side of the roof (other side of the dump truck) so I had to haul uphill. The front side went much easier and quicker.
Next step is to sweep down all the residue off the plywood, either pull up or pound down any roofing nails sticking up and inspecting the plywood for rot. This roof had to have the thinnest plywood on it which buckled and cracked each time we stepped off a rafter but there was no rot to deal with.
Next you lay down a roll of ice and water shield along the roof edge and then comes a row of starter shingles (shingles installed upside down) 1/2 inch over the bottom edge and along the roof sides. This is when Don showed up so then you start laying down courses of shingles, two or four at a time (we did 2). You have to cut a tab on the first shingle of every second course as you go along so that your edges fall on a shingle below, not at the edge. Using a nail gun is quick and easy. I can't imagine pounding in nails by hand. Once to the far end of the roof, lay the last shingle over the edge, score the edge with your knife, take it back, flip the shingle over, use a straight edge to make a straight line and score the backside. Crease the shingle until it breaks and then replace and nail it down. Voila you have finished a course, now repeat until you reach the top of the roof. Actually you have to stop whenever you hit a chimney, pipe, etc and that is where Dave's expertise come in as he cut and glued shingles around the obstruction so Don and I could continue laying shingles. Actually putting down and nailing shingles is the easiest part.
After a day and a half of this I figured I was ready to lead a crew and with Dave at Owls Nest to help with the difficult parts I feel pretty confident it will go well. I have a gang of 4-5 lined up for next weekend so we will see.
The first task is to strip the roof of the existing shingles and the best tool for this is a flat bladed, long handled shovel. With Dave on the shovel lifting the shingles I grabbed a couple of rows and pulled backwards. This way we were able to take off great swaths of shingles in a bunch and drag them to the roof edge where they were dropped into the back of Dave's dump truck. A big black garbage can on the roof collected up all the smaller bits and pieces and made dragging to the roof edge easy. We started on the far side of the roof (other side of the dump truck) so I had to haul uphill. The front side went much easier and quicker.
Next step is to sweep down all the residue off the plywood, either pull up or pound down any roofing nails sticking up and inspecting the plywood for rot. This roof had to have the thinnest plywood on it which buckled and cracked each time we stepped off a rafter but there was no rot to deal with.
Next you lay down a roll of ice and water shield along the roof edge and then comes a row of starter shingles (shingles installed upside down) 1/2 inch over the bottom edge and along the roof sides. This is when Don showed up so then you start laying down courses of shingles, two or four at a time (we did 2). You have to cut a tab on the first shingle of every second course as you go along so that your edges fall on a shingle below, not at the edge. Using a nail gun is quick and easy. I can't imagine pounding in nails by hand. Once to the far end of the roof, lay the last shingle over the edge, score the edge with your knife, take it back, flip the shingle over, use a straight edge to make a straight line and score the backside. Crease the shingle until it breaks and then replace and nail it down. Voila you have finished a course, now repeat until you reach the top of the roof. Actually you have to stop whenever you hit a chimney, pipe, etc and that is where Dave's expertise come in as he cut and glued shingles around the obstruction so Don and I could continue laying shingles. Actually putting down and nailing shingles is the easiest part.
After a day and a half of this I figured I was ready to lead a crew and with Dave at Owls Nest to help with the difficult parts I feel pretty confident it will go well. I have a gang of 4-5 lined up for next weekend so we will see.
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