DIY Roofing advice?

Hi all.

My house (bought less than a year ago) has a wood shingle roof that is 'servicable', but has missing shingles (Inspection stated approx 90), and its about 16 years old (house is about 40). Its looking rather worn out, so I'd rather replace the whole roof this summer than patch up and just postpone the problem. Money (of course?!) is an issue, so I was considering doing the job DIY. However, if I'm not likely to save money (eg a pro can get materials for much less, as well as renting a nailer and garbage disposal etc) vs the longer time it would take me to do it, I'm not married to the idea. I feel quite capable of doing it, but the main thing I'm a concerned about is the original roof sheathing appears to bewhat I think is called 'skip sheathing'? Its strips of 1x3 (or maybe 2x4) rather than OSB or plywood sheets. I don't know whether this is a suitable sheathing surface nowadays, the strips are spaced with gaps between the same size as the strips (ie its not a solid surface of sheathing, its like 'stripes' of sheathing strips).

So,

- Is DIY roofing much of a money-saver? It sounds hard work, but its not too difficult techically for a typical ranch style gable roof plus garage, is it?
- Would I have to re-sheath? If so, remove the existing strips, or OSB (or plywood?) on top them?
- Don't you have to get permits from the building dept for re-roofing?


Thanks for any advice!
Mark

 

I am assuming that you want to reroof with a comp. roof. Given that, let's start at the top.

First, a permit to reroof is probably needed. That's not a big thing. Check with your local bldg. dept. They will tell you how much it will cost, and will tell you to call for a roof nailing inspection. They want to see the nail pattern of the new sheathing. You will need this inspection after the new sheathing is nailed off, BEFORE the paper is rolled out.

Next, wood shingles are installed on skip sheathing (1X4's with a 3-1/2" space between them is the most common). Tear off the shingles and leave the skip sheathing in place. Put your OSB or plywood on top of the skip sheathing.

Now the cost -- Get estimates from a couple or three roofers to do the entire job. Now find out how much everything will cost you if you do it youself -- disposal costs (renting a 30 yard dumpster), the material DELIVERED TO YOUR ROOFTOP, rental of the stapler (and compressor to run it, if needed) and the staples. Also, ask the bldg. dept if the sheathing can be attached with roofing staples, or in it needs to be nailed. You may be looking at renting a nail gun, too!

The time involved -- a roofing contractor is going to send a crew of 3 or 4 people out to do this job in 2 or 3 days. How many friends and neighbors do you have available, and how much will they cost?? (Dinner for the crew and their wives, and a case of beer AFTER they are done for the day might be pretty cheap!!)

Technical assistance -- YOU'VE GOT US!!!!

 

If you ve never done any roofing forget it...
If you have some experince do yourself a favour and give it to a contractor...
Sure you ve got us, but when it rains, IT RAINS.
Should you and you deal with that...

[Edited by sergio caccese on 02-17-01 at 01:33]

 

It is my opinion that you should probably have it done by a professional. There are several areas no one has mentioned yet. Flashing, drip edge, sealing around vents etc. and one more little item. It is easy to get the shingles from the store to your house. Quite another story, getting them onto your house. Also, a good roofer never takes off more in a day, then he can replace in a day. In other words your house is always protected. If you have the shingles off, and it rains, your screwed with no recourse. If a roofer allows water to get in he is at fault. Now you can make a complete decision.

 

Jack and Sergio raise some good points. You need to take a realistic and objective look at how much experience you, and whoever would be helping you, have with roofing. Pretty much anybody could snap a line and nail down shingles. But it's when you get to the edges, the flashings, the valleys, etc., that you need to know how to do things so you don't have leaks. If you don't have any roofing experience yourself and don't have any friends who do either, then certainly leave it to a pro. One mistake will lead to a leak that can do thousands of dollars in damage. You won't save enough doing it yourself to pay for that. But if you can count a couple or three roofers (or ex-roofers) among you friends, and can enlist their help, you might save a few hundred dollars. Roofing contractors don't get any big breaks on their material costs. The biggest portion of the material expense to reroof your house will be the sheathing. At best, a contractor might be able to get it for 2% or 3% less than what you pay for it. If he can get the shingles and paper for 5% less than what will pay for it, he did well.

 

That's all really good advice - thanks a lot (all these forums are great, lots of really helpful people).

My biggest concern was getting the new sheathing up there. Once that was up I could have the shingles roof-delivered, but that would be step two on this job. I wouldn't be doing this til the summer, so hopefully rain would not be a problem. But yes, it would likely take me at least two or three times as long to do it myself.

I had a Four Seasons contractor come round yesterday to give me an estimate for a sunroom, and he suggested I find either a non-roofer contractor or a very honest roofer to give me the low-down on if I even have to re-roof, vs patch up the existing wood shakes. If I can get another couple of years out of it, I might be in a better financial position to get the whole thing taken care of by the pro's.

Thanks again
Mark