How to Lay a New Roof

Home repairs can be quite expensive. Replacing your own roof can save you thousands of dollars by doing it yourself. To replace your roof you will need shingles, shingle scraper, tar paper or felt, drip edge, ice and water shield, roofing nails, tar, flashing, ply wood, a rip claw hammer, nail gun, staple gun, and a dumpster for the old shingles.

Remove old shingles from the roof with a shingle scraper. It is a tool that looks like a flat shovel with teeth on the end. There may be more than one layer but going over the top as a short cut could cause you problems down the line.

Remove any old flashing, tar paper and other debris. Use a Rip Claw Hammer is remove any protruding nails and replace with new nails. Clean any remaining debris as well by sweeping over the area as you inspect.

After you remove all the shingles and debris check all your boards. Remove boards that are rotten or wet and replace with new ones. Secure any boards that are loose. Replace any rusted nails.

Once you've replaced all the bad boards, secured new and old boards, removed all remaining debris it is time to install the drip edge along the eave. Going over the corner, lay the drip edge along the sloping edge over the top of the eave's drip edge and nail. By overlapping the pieces you will force them to butt up together.

The next step is to install the ice and water shield. This is very sticky and you cannot bring it back up and reposition. So make sure to get it right the first time. Secure flashing around chimney and plumbing vents. Cover with felt or tar paper.

Cover any holes that are bigger than the size of a quarter with flashing and secure. Any holes that are smaller than a quarter you can leave open. You can use a hammer tacker or a staple gun to secure the tar paper. Overlap your rows of tar paper by a couple inches to prevent leakage.

Start installing your shingles by working from the lower corner upwards toward the right. Arrange shingles so that the ends and tab notches do not form any gaps in the shingles below. Overhang the edges by at least an eighth of an inch. Using a nail gun attach each shingle just below the tar strip. The amount of the shingle not covered should be around five and five eighths of an inch. Lay shingles overlapping all the way to the peak of the roof.

Now you are ready to install your ridge cap shingles. Secure with nails and a dab of tar where needed. Your job is complete!