I am wondering if its realistic to re-roof my 1400 sq ft home myself. Its a one story property with 2 layers of shingles; shake with comp on top. I do have some general construction experience and pick up on things quickly from reading books and watching videos. I want to 1. learn how to do this on my own and 2. save money. Although I could pay someone to do this, the going rate in my area is 14000. Any advice would be helpful thanks.
residential re-roof myself
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What are you putting back down? Most won't allow for more than two layers. Sounds doable given your skills if you can follow directions.
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Direct experience here......having done it.
Do NOT even think of putting another layer on what you have. You can put a 50 year shingle on there but don't expect to get more the 20 years from it....and it will look like crap from the first day.
Pay someone to remove the existing roof. It's pure grunt work. There are crews that do it for a living. Some things are just not worth your time.
Once you expose your roof, you will most likely find damage that needs repair. Chances are your first roof was not flashed properly and you have facia board damage...as well as sheathing damage. I'm guessing you have 1x6's for roof sheathing.
When I did mine I hired someone to remove the old 2 layers.
I took a week off from work and had a friend helping me. At the end of the first week I had all the damage repaired and only 1/5th of the shingles put on. It took me another 3 weeks to get the rest of the shingles on.
It should be noted my roof is a bit more complicated than most and it took a lot of shingle cutting.
All said and done.....I saved maybe $1000 in actual roofing costs. Maybe another $2000 because I had a lot of wood repair to do. I took a week off from work.
Did I save money? Debatable. Did I learn a lot? Hell yes. I'll never do it again. When it came time to do my addition, I hired it out. It was done in 2 days.
Do NOT even think of putting another layer on what you have. You can put a 50 year shingle on there but don't expect to get more the 20 years from it....and it will look like crap from the first day.
Pay someone to remove the existing roof. It's pure grunt work. There are crews that do it for a living. Some things are just not worth your time.
Once you expose your roof, you will most likely find damage that needs repair. Chances are your first roof was not flashed properly and you have facia board damage...as well as sheathing damage. I'm guessing you have 1x6's for roof sheathing.
When I did mine I hired someone to remove the old 2 layers.
I took a week off from work and had a friend helping me. At the end of the first week I had all the damage repaired and only 1/5th of the shingles put on. It took me another 3 weeks to get the rest of the shingles on.
It should be noted my roof is a bit more complicated than most and it took a lot of shingle cutting.
All said and done.....I saved maybe $1000 in actual roofing costs. Maybe another $2000 because I had a lot of wood repair to do. I took a week off from work.
Did I save money? Debatable. Did I learn a lot? Hell yes. I'll never do it again. When it came time to do my addition, I hired it out. It was done in 2 days.
Assuming you are fit and have good balance and endurance so that a walking on the roof etc. will be reasonably you safe, and you can carry the weight there is no reason you can't do it. However it's hard work and will take a considerable period of time for one person. Just watching the guys who did my roof tire me out. And that was only a single layer. You will need a helper. If you're find repairs needed and if it's plywood sheathing you need to get the plywood on the roof. You need to get the new material on the roof and bundles of shingles are not light. Plan on taking time off work and plan for protecting the roof from rain during the project. The guys who did my roof only spent two and half days, but that was a crew of 5. I imagine I would have taken a month.
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If that house was in Michigan with cedar shingles at the bottom 99% chance its on spaced boards which we would then slap 3/8" ply or 7/16" OSB on top of.
Ddawg makes a point that you could probably hire the tear off. The downside to that is you can't do your house in chunks over time.
You need to get in the attic and see if the roof deck is spaced boards. That way you know if you need to deck the whole thing. If you do 3/8 plywood weighs a lot less than 7/16 OSB.
Ddawg makes a point that you could probably hire the tear off. The downside to that is you can't do your house in chunks over time.
You need to get in the attic and see if the roof deck is spaced boards. That way you know if you need to deck the whole thing. If you do 3/8 plywood weighs a lot less than 7/16 OSB.
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I assume by "shake" you mean cedar shingles?
As I mentioned above in my area cedar almost always means spaced boards which would be 1x6 with a gap of about 2 inches between each. Around here, in SE Michigan the standard is to put 3/8 plywood straight over those boards.
I have done quite a few like yours, all like Craig said, under the shakes were anything from 6" to 12" boards with spaces between them, which we sheathed with 3/8" plywood, then shingled. One heck of a lot of work, but manageable with the right help. Plan on going through a pair of boots and a pair or two of pants by the time you get the shakes off. You want a dumpster as close as you can get it, and, with any roofing job, but more so with shakes, make sure that someone keeps the site cleaned up as you go, mindful of course of not working beneath someone above. Being the vintage of shakes, do you have a noticeable sag when you look at the roof line? That is characteristic of ballon framing, which there is not a whole lot you can do about as far as the roof, but it can make it a bit more of a challenge to get the sheathing to lay the way you want it. Depending on what you have as far as insulation, vents, etc., this may be the time to install rafter baffles, as long as you're that close to where they go, so something else to consider. Back to the roof though, the instructions on the shingle packages are typically very good, but you do have to read them.
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Take a couple pictures front and back from your yard and post them.
We can offer a lot more advice on how to approach it if we can see the project.
We can offer a lot more advice on how to approach it if we can see the project.
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Like Ddawg, I've done it on my own home also. I had THREE layers on. The previous owner said there were only 2. Anyway, that took longer than expected (more and longer nails).
You will definitely have repairs to do and maybe even have to re-sheeth the whole thing depending on the condition.
The newer architectural shingles actually make it a bit easier to install them. They are more forgiving than the old 3 tab system.
Here's where it gets tricky......yes, you can save money, especially on labor, but, remember, you will want to buy all the tools, etc to make the job go smoothly. Air compressor, roofing nailer, shovels to remove old shingles, hammers, etc. After doing mine, I vowed I would never do it again. It's time consuming (how valuable is your time?), difficult, expensive if you buy tools and don't have a way to dispose of the old shingles, and, what if you fall?
In the end, I would rather hire it out. Most roofing companies are done in a day or two, they're properly insured, they are much cleaner (covering the ground, picking up nails, etc.) and they do a better job than a one-man DIY operation.
Just my two cents'.
You will definitely have repairs to do and maybe even have to re-sheeth the whole thing depending on the condition.
The newer architectural shingles actually make it a bit easier to install them. They are more forgiving than the old 3 tab system.
Here's where it gets tricky......yes, you can save money, especially on labor, but, remember, you will want to buy all the tools, etc to make the job go smoothly. Air compressor, roofing nailer, shovels to remove old shingles, hammers, etc. After doing mine, I vowed I would never do it again. It's time consuming (how valuable is your time?), difficult, expensive if you buy tools and don't have a way to dispose of the old shingles, and, what if you fall?
In the end, I would rather hire it out. Most roofing companies are done in a day or two, they're properly insured, they are much cleaner (covering the ground, picking up nails, etc.) and they do a better job than a one-man DIY operation.
Just my two cents'.
I'll have to echo the other DIY roofers here, where the general consensus is "You can do it, but having done it ourselves we would never do it again..."
I re-roofed my own house five years ago. Would I do it again? Not just no, but hell no!
http://www.diychatroom.com/f9/diy-roof-replacement-80614/
I re-roofed my own house five years ago. Would I do it again? Not just no, but hell no!
http://www.diychatroom.com/f9/diy-roof-replacement-80614/
I'd agree with a lot of that except this
A few years later another neighbor hired his out, they had it done in a day but the place was a mess and I'm still picking up nails in my yard, never mind the fact my wife getting cat called when she got home and the physical confrontation that almost was when I got home and "talked" to them about it. The crew and the company they represented had complete and udder disrespect for the property they were on and the neighbors (blocked driveways ect.) Being in the trade I had a chat with the owner of the company, it went no where. Same crew did another neighbors a time later, same issues for the most part.
In general someone working on their own property will have more respect for what they are doing.
But the risk of a fall is real, any money saved by doing it your self will quickly be eaten up by medical bills and other stuff from being out of work.
I have to add, my wife and I had this discussion when we were going to do ours, I explained the risk involved if I fell and such. We came to agree that hiring the sub we use for shingles was the better option at that time.
I helped do my neighbors, he tore it all off with some help in a couple of days, one Saturday about 8-9 AM I sauntered over there with a gun a hose and compressor and banged out one side with someone feeding me and a lower level over the garage, while two other guys did the opposite side. Wrapped up and walked 2 houses down to my own and put stuff away. While we were working others in the neighborhood were cleaning up, getting lunch ect. They came out with a much better product then 75% of the shinglers around here.
A few years later another neighbor hired his out, they had it done in a day but the place was a mess and I'm still picking up nails in my yard, never mind the fact my wife getting cat called when she got home and the physical confrontation that almost was when I got home and "talked" to them about it. The crew and the company they represented had complete and udder disrespect for the property they were on and the neighbors (blocked driveways ect.) Being in the trade I had a chat with the owner of the company, it went no where. Same crew did another neighbors a time later, same issues for the most part.
In general someone working on their own property will have more respect for what they are doing.
But the risk of a fall is real, any money saved by doing it your self will quickly be eaten up by medical bills and other stuff from being out of work.
I have to add, my wife and I had this discussion when we were going to do ours, I explained the risk involved if I fell and such. We came to agree that hiring the sub we use for shingles was the better option at that time.
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suddenly I've lost interest in pictures of the OP's house....:whistling2:
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Its my belief that in my neck of the woods flat roofing companies tend to have much better trained employees overall than steep pitch companies.
Its a no brainer that the deal with more complex products and much more valuable property underneath.
Here in SE Michigan as auto plants shut down over the years a lot of those laid off auto workers already had pickup trucks....all they needed was a ladder rack and suddenly they were painters, siders, roofers. :surprise:
Its a no brainer that the deal with more complex products and much more valuable property underneath.
Here in SE Michigan as auto plants shut down over the years a lot of those laid off auto workers already had pickup trucks....all they needed was a ladder rack and suddenly they were painters, siders, roofers. :surprise:
It looks like I'm the exception here, but I've worked on five different diy roofing projects and wouldn't hesitate to do another. In fact, I intend to redo my own house either this summer or next. When I was younger, whenever one of family members needed a new roof, we all went over to help.
That said, honestly the answer question is going to depend on how much experience you have (or if you have someone experienced to help). I think I'd be hesitant to re-roof an entire house if I'd never done any roofing before. Obviously a lot depends on how complicated your roof is too.
It really helps to have a couple of people to help too. Its probably much safer not to work alone too. This might allow you to borrow tools if you don't own them. I borrowed a gun and roof jacks from my dad for the last job I did and I already own a compressor. (I'll probably be criticized for this, but hand nailing isn't that much slower. I did an porch myself this way once, and it take a little while to get in the groove, but it can be reasonably quick after that. I still wouldn't do a hole house this way).
I'm surprised to see people bring up the issues of falls and medical bills. I've generally assumed a fall from a roof to likely be fatal (not trying to be morbid, just honest). With shingles, tear off can be tricky since loose granules can make things slippery. Fall kits really aren't that expensive. Just remember that you need a plan to recover a person though.
That said, honestly the answer question is going to depend on how much experience you have (or if you have someone experienced to help). I think I'd be hesitant to re-roof an entire house if I'd never done any roofing before. Obviously a lot depends on how complicated your roof is too.
It really helps to have a couple of people to help too. Its probably much safer not to work alone too. This might allow you to borrow tools if you don't own them. I borrowed a gun and roof jacks from my dad for the last job I did and I already own a compressor. (I'll probably be criticized for this, but hand nailing isn't that much slower. I did an porch myself this way once, and it take a little while to get in the groove, but it can be reasonably quick after that. I still wouldn't do a hole house this way).
I'm surprised to see people bring up the issues of falls and medical bills. I've generally assumed a fall from a roof to likely be fatal (not trying to be morbid, just honest). With shingles, tear off can be tricky since loose granules can make things slippery. Fall kits really aren't that expensive. Just remember that you need a plan to recover a person though.
Hey guys sorry for not responding earlier. I want to thank everyone for there input and responses. I work the next three days and leave when its dark and return home when its dark. Happy to pop on the roof early next week and post some pictures. Under the shake roof is 1x6 boards that the shake sits on. I would plan to lay down OSB or plywood and lay comp fiberglass shingles over the top. Thanks
A good hand nailer can go quicker then a fair guy with a gun. Back when I was knee high to a grass hopper when my father started all of this we were still doing shingles, there was a few of the guys who were blazing fast hand nailing, and 3 times as accurate on nail placement also. One of the guys had been with us up until a few years ago and he could still hand nail very quick, I could go faster hand nailing then him, but I couldn't keep up a pace for more then a few minutes, he could just keep going. For the little bit of shingles we did I could still far out run him with a gun.
Depends on a lot of factors, I figure anything 25-30' and it's game over, under that there is still a chance. Unfortunately I have seen a couple falls over the years, fortunately none have been fatal.
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I was on the job when 4 guys fell over 25 years. Three fell from 1 story roofs and didn't miss any work. One guy fell from a 2 story Colonial. It was shortly after lunch and he actually finished the day. But his knee swelled up and he went to the hospital after work where they diagnosed some sort of ligament strain. He hobbled around on crutches for a couple weeks and missed maybe 4-6 weeks of work if memory serves me.
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