Expert Tips for Roofing Over Existing Shingles

Roof in disrepair ? Avoid a high-priced replacement by shingling over sometime shingle .

If condition are right , fresh shingles laid over old one can be just as attractive and durable as shingles laid on bare overlay . Installation is easier than for a tear - off line , since you’re able to expend the survive shingle as guides for repose the new ones . However , you must take care toinstall shingle correctlyso they dwell flat . And a good chore involvesinstalling new flashingsrather than relying on the exist ones .

Reroofing jobs are sometimes done without put back flashing . However , install new flashings , including special trickle - edge flashings made for reroofing , will secure a tight seal and a long life . Some roofers set up a layer ofwaterproof shake underlayment ( WSU)over the existing shingles at the eave ending , as would be done for a roof laid on bare sheathing . This provides sum up auspices against glass dams .

white home front exterior

Credit: Anthony Masterson Photography

mineral pitch shake can be set over cedar shakes or zoster , but this is a roofing undertaking good leave behind to the pro . Beveled wood while called " horsefeathers " must be laid along the thick border of the shakes to make a middling flat surface . Before you reshingle a cap , read our whole tone - by - dance step guidebook for adding new shingle over former ones .

What You’ll Need

Equipment / Tools

Materials

Instructions

Remove Caps

Start by remove the ridge caps . Doing it now will make it easy to keep the reroofing business clean and jerk . Use a flat wrecking bar bar or roof shovel to pry out and transfer the ridge shingles . take away all the nails .

Remove Obstructions

Remove air vent and pipe flashings by prying out or unscrewing the fixing holding the fixtures . If you damage shingles while doing this , repair them ( see next stride ) . Reuse a volcano or blink only if it is like new ; otherwise , put back it with a new onethat will fit the hole or tobacco pipe .

Repair Broken Shingles

If a shingle is tear or break , glue the broken piece back in place using roofing cement . If the busted while is lost , cut a new piece to match the existing shingle . The goal is to provide a reasonably flat surface for the new herpes zoster to lie down over , with no col greater than 1/2 in .

Sweep the Roof

Using a large broom , coppice away all the broken shingle pieces , sprig , and any other debris that could become trapped under the raw herpes zoster that you ’ll install . Keep the roof cleanas you lick .

Install Flashing

At the eave and the rake , install atomic number 92 - shape drip - boundary flashing made for reroofing jobs . add the eave piece first , then the roue piece over it . The two pieces should meet neatly at the corners . Drive nails at high-pitched points on the underlying roof , the bottoms of the shingles .

Install Valley Flashing

If you have an open valley , install young W - form metallic element or vinyl vale twinkle to equip directly over the old flashing . Attach it by driving nail into the outside boundary only . Do not drive nail less than 6 inches from the center of the flashing .

Install Starter Strip

Use a starter strip or cut piece for a starter grade . Rip - cut the starter strip or starter pieces so that they adjoin up against the 2d class of existing shingle and are even with the front edge of the existing roofing . Attach with nail along the top edge of the strip .

Cut and Install Shingles

Rip - prune the zoster for the first course of study so they butt against up against the third course of instruction of existing zoster and are even with the front boundary of the starter form . Their tab key slots should not line up with the tab slot of the starter course , if there are any . collar the zoster just above the yellow journalism slots .

Continue Installing Shingles

Butt the come after class of shingle against the bottoms of be shingles and lend oneself them by driving nail above the tablet slots . snatch up vertical control lines ; there is no need to snap horizontal lines . Be sure the new yellow journalism slots do not adjust with the old ones .

Work Around Vent

Once you ’ve installed shingles just past a plumbing vent , instal the flashing piece so it will lie in on top of roofing at its bottom , but be covered with roofing at its top . Depending on the breadth of the pipe , you may call for to deplume forth a segment or two of the pencil eraser boot . Apply roof cement , slew the flashing over the pipage , and push so it lies monotonous on the ceiling .

Install Air Vents

Install airwave vent in a standardised way . For both plumbing system - vent flash and air travel vents , you ’ll need to edit the shingle above to go around the flashing and then put in the shingle .

Work Around Walls

Where you meet a lamp chimney or side wall , put in whole step flashing . Apply a shake , then a piece of flashing , then a shingle , and so on , so that each musical composition of flashing balance on top of the lower form and is covered by the upper course of instruction . You ’ll need to pry the siding outwards to slip in the flashing ; in some case , you ’ll have to remove the siding .

Install Counterflashing

Protect the whole step flashing with counterflashing . On a lamp chimney , use a milling machinery to turn off an indentation into the howitzer . Cut and flex the counterflashing to go snugly into the cut trench mortar and to traverse at least 3 in of the dance step flashing . put on mortar with a caulking hired gun and do the flashing into the trench mortar .

Cover Ridge

Install roofing on both English of a ridgepole and tailor them so they edge closely together but do not overlap . snub shingle into ridgecaps . Snap crinkle on either side and deploy the jacket crown .

Cut Shingles

At the rake , snap a line of products direct above the edge of the existing shingles . Cut with a utility program knife ; you might require to apply a straightedge . You might incur it easy if you first cut from below , using the subsist zoster as a cutting guide .

man removing ridge caps