Before re – roofing your house with a brand new roof, you will want to inspect it for certain signs indicating that it is time to replace your existing roof. If you notice some curling of roofing shingles, chipping and cracking, or evidence of missing shingles, then it is time to replace your old asphalt shingles roof.

As a side note, I would like to say that I’m not a big proponent of the asphalt shingle roofing, because asphalt shingle roofs are inherently poor choice for the environment. Still, I’m providing this do it yourself asphalt shingle roofing installation guide to help you in re roofing of your house.

Before installing a new roof, you will have to find out how many layers of existing asphalt shingles are there on your roof. If there is only one layer, then you can install a new roofing system right over your existing roof. How ever if there are two or more layers of asphalt on your roof, then you will have to strip off all the old shingles before applying new asphalt shingles, or a metal roof for that matter.

In order to perform a roof tear off you will need the following:

The tarp to collect old asphalt shingles, the stripping tool and the safety equipment if you have to be higher than 6 feet from the ground. You can buy all of these at your local home improvement store. Set up a tarp nicely so that it can catch all the falling shingles without causing the damage to the walls of the house, or to flowers in the garden. Use the stripping tool to remove the old asphalt shingles.

When all the old shingles are removed, you will want to inspect the roof deck for signs of rotting and damage. Replace any rotten boards or plywood, and remove any nails left from the previous roof.

Now that your roof deck is ready, you will want to install the roofing trim, which includes gable and starter metal flashing first.

Once that is in place, you will want to install the roofing underlayment also known as a roofing felt or tar paper. If you live in a Northern climate, then you may want to install one layer of ice and water on the eaves of the roof and indeed the valleys. One layer of ice and water is two feet wide. It has to be installed right over the roof deck creating a small 1/4 inch overlap along the eve and the gable. Once that is in place, you can install roofing underlayment which will have to overlap the ice and water by 6 inches. Each new row of roofing felt will have to overlap the preceding row by 6 inches. You will want to use special nails with colored caps to secure the roofing felt and ice and water place.

Once the roof deck is prepared, you can start installing your roofing asphalt shingles. Of course, you will have to obtain roofing shingles from the roofing supply warehouse first, which means that you will have to measure your roof and estimate the amount of roofing materials that will require. Also make sure that you have a sufficient roof pitch that should be in accordance with your roofing manufacturer’s specifications.

roofing shingles installation - gable view

List of tools you will need to install an asphalt shingle roof:

Roofing nail gun, air compressor, air hoses, a pair of gloves, hearing and eye protection, a knife with the removable blade, color string, carpenter’s pencil, and a roofer’s hammer.

Place your first shingle in the left bottom corner of the roof making sure that you cover the gable and starter trim allowing half an inch of asphalt shingle to hang over the gable and starter trim.

Use a nail gun to secure the first shingle in place. You will want to use a minimum of four nails per shingle. The nails will be applied slightly above the tabs and need line of the shingle. Be sure to use that colored string to designate vertical and horizontal lines which will serve as a guideline to make sure that your shingles are laid out in a straight fashion.

Your second shingle will be installed right next to the first shingle. You will once again use a minimum of four nails per shingle. If you live in the area that is prone to strong wind gusts, then I recommend using six nails per shingle, or in accordance with manufacturers specifications to ensure the proper wind uplift protection.

When starting a second row of shingles, you will want to cut off 6 inches from the first shingle, which will make it shorter by 6 inches. This will create the necessary overlap pattern required for water systems, and the smooth water runoff. Install the shorter shingle right over your first shingle making sure that the second shingle will cover the tabs and the nails that hold the first shingle in place.

Now, you should just continue shingling in the full shingle alternated by a shorter shingle fashion. Thus, you will begin every other row of shingles with a shorter shingle. You will find that it is easier to shingle a diagonal fashion. When you cover the entire roof with shingles, you will eventually get to the ridge-line.

If your roof has the soffit vents, then you will want to install the ridge vent before installing ridge cap. However, you’ll want to use gable ventilation if your roof does not have the soffit vents.

If you do have to install the ridge vent, then make sure that you leave a minimum of 3 feet of solid wood on each side of the roof, before making a cut in the ridge. To install the ridge cap, figure out which side of the roof the wind tends to blow from, and start installing the ridge cap on the opposite side. Install the double layer of ridge cap and into roof cement first. Then, overlap by half with every follow on ridge cap, which will have to be secured with roofing nails on both sides. If your roof has a hip shape, then be sure to use nails that are half an inch longer than regular roofing nails. This point you should be all done, but be sure that you practice on a small roof such as a shed or a small garage before embarking on the installation of the roof for your home. Also please make sure that you know how to use safety equipment, and never work alone.