Proper roofing of low sloped roof

OldNBroken

Whatever you choose to do do NOT hire anyone who told you this. No roofer worth his salt depends on the underlayment to stop leaks. You are in Northern Cali, not south Florida.

We have successfully converted many roofs exactly like yours to shingles around here and the underlayment had nothing to do with how well the roof performed. As others have said, a single-ply is always a good options also.

mae-ling

Never understood the tar paper for leaks thing, with all those holes it is going to leak

daluu

Thanks for the advice OldNBroken. The roofers didn't specifically say it like that (my bad paraphrasing) but that (1) that is required for the roof materials to be warranty covered by the materials manufacturer (else it would be considered improper installation of shingle roof for the given pitch), and (2) that it would provide better protection against water intrusion. At least those 2 roofers were better than one that came by and said the roof is still good for a few years without mentioning any issues (or guess he too busy to want my business otherwise).

Just curious then, for roof of my pitch, what would one expect a knowledgeable roofer say to me? I was unsure at the time (still am) so when asked what type of roof to replace with, I said shingle since that's what it currently is. So I would assume there response would be in regards to a shingle roof, unless they highly suggest I go with an alternative roof type like the single ply.

GBrackins

daluu,

this information is from the 2009 International Residential Code, which is the basis for the California Residential Code (http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/st/ca/st/index.htm).

R905.2.2 Slope. Asphalt shingles shall be used only on roof slopes of two units vertical in 12 units horizontal (2:12) or greater. For roof slopes from two units vertical in 12 units horizontal (2:12) up to four units vertical in 12 units horizontal (4:12), double underlayment application is required in accordance with Section R905.2.7.

__________________
Gary

"You get what you pay for, and sometimes free costs more!"