DIY roofing?

The roof on the house we bought 2.5-years ago, that the home inspector said had another 10-years left, started leaking in 2 places this spring. I had it fixed, but now one of the areas is leaking again. 

I just got a quote of $7900 to do a layover of new cheap shingles. The roof is under 3000 sq-ft, and by my math materials should be $3k or less for shingles, tar paper(Do I need it? He quoted it.), boots, a nail gun & nails. This is the same roofer who fixed it, and he was WAY cheaper than any of the other quotes I received. 

I have no problem paying for someone’s time/labor/expertise, except I don’t have a spare ~$8k and I’m not too thrilled about taking on debt. I can pay cash for the materials though. Since this is GRM, and I did my own septic system 15-years ago without any relevant knowledge or skill, I figure why not do my own roof?

Our house is a single-story ranch, the pitch is 4/12(if that steep), and the highest point is ~14’ up - in other words, not too high or steep for my fear of heights. I’m sure there are some YouTube vids I can watch to learn the techniques and pick up pointers too. 

Any reason I shouldn’t do this? Any tips?

Yup. But I can’t tell you. 

Anyone can do a roof. Most people never do a 2nd one. 

I’ve done more than 100. I won’t do another (including my own). 

We did our own roof on our last house.  Dr.Linda did most of it, as I was at the hospital most of the time. Bought a nail gun.  Hired a helper or two.  PITA, but saved thousands.

The reason I do not start doing my own is wondering what I will find under the shingles you see !

Probably rotten plywood , some rotten 2x4s  and it will piss off the termites !

then it becomes more than a one man job  :(

Plus here in Los Angeles we can be pretty sure its not going to rain for a few weeks ,  I do not know if  you can say the same....

Ok, slightly more serious answer...

- 4/12 is a bitch. It’s so flat, that you have to work bent over all day.  

- You are a small man. Can you carry a 70 lb bundle on your shoulder while you climb a ladder?  Can you do it all day?  Can you do it for 10 days straight?

- Can you work bent over all day, lifting heavy weight, while being concerned about loosing your footing?

- If you work alone, large areas of your house will be exposed to the weather for extended periods. 

-The sun is a bitch. Picture laying on an asphalt parking lot in the direct sun all day. 

- You will bleed. Both knees, and both hands. 

- You will probably wear out a pair of pants and a pair of shoes. 

- Once you are into it, you can’t stop. And contractors hate to finish work other people start. 

The best way to do a roof is with a large enough crew to rip off the old roof and install a new one in a single day. 

There is a VERY good reason roofers Insurance rates are so high (about 60% of payroll)

As Svrex said you CAN do it but do you WANT  to do it? You will lose a week minimum tearing off and putting new down. When you get the old off plan on 3 three sheets of plywood and new tar paper. It could be done in stages but that will mean Switching gears several times. Roofing is a young man's game. How big a boy are you?

In reply to SVreX :

To be more clear I’m not talking about a tear-off. I only have one layer of shingles now, installed post-Katrina. So there would be no exposed areas. 

I’m sure the work sucks, and adding a good pair of knee pads to my list sounds worthwhile too, but at least most of the roof is shaded throughout at least part of the day. 

I just remembered I did do ~4000 sq-ft of rolled roofing with a friend’s assistance about 14 years ago. I remember the worst parts of it being the heat(there was no shade), and the mess from the buckets of tar. 

I also remember at that time we were able to get the roofing delivered up to the rooftop, so I presumed that’s a possibility with ~90 bundles of shingles too?

What SVreX said. Have you checked your insurance? Ours was covered when it leaked. Insurance companies hate paying for water damage. If you're keeping the house for a while, you should tear it all off, replace the rotten wood, and go back with good shingles.

Most lumber companies have forklifts that can deliver to the roof

It is your responsibility to scatter the bundles. A nail over may take 3 or 4 days, watch a video and see if you're up to it.

Add me to the list of done it once, probably won't again.

I had 3 friends helping me. We did aluminum shingles over the existing asphalt. We didn't have to tear anything off, and we didn't have to replace any wood. It was only 70 or so degrees outside. 

It was rough. I can't imagine doing it myself, since working with long rolls underlayment without a helper and even a teensy bit of wind sounds like a fools errand. Incredible how hot it is on a roof even if it's nice outside.

But it's not difficult conceptually, I'm sure you can do it yourself with a few friends. Buy lots of beer, but probably don't crack em till you're done for the evening. ;)

In reply to NermalSnert :

I talked to our agent, she said the likelihood of them paying out for a new roof is extremely low, and our roof deductible is more than the material cost anyway. 

I don’t think we have any rotten wood. I’ve not found any soft spots & it’s only leaked a couple times during very heavy rains with a strong wind out of the southwest. Both leaks were at boots, which have been replaced, but one boot is next to a valley, which is where it leaked again after the repair(not the new boot, but nearby).

Pete, get a supplier with rooftop delivery.  You’ll need help to get the shingles unloaded as fast as the driver expects you to, but lay them over the peak and there is no carrying bundles.  You can do it, it’s not rocket science.  Most roofers around here spend half the day getting baked in the sun and the other half getting baked in their trucks.  3 tab shingles suck because you have to think about the layout.  Buy a porter cable or other good gun and ebay it when you’re done, cheaper than rental that way.  Pay attention to venting and use the lomanco vent calculator.  Water runs downhill almost always and the usual exceptions involve freezing which you don’t have to deal with.   Flashing is important around chimneys, a quality sealant like clear flash mate is your friend.  The $2 tubes dry out and crack within a year.

I’ll never do another shingle roof, i’ve done too many already.  Putting metal on the house and garage when they need it and never looking back.   I’ve done one standing seam steel roof for a customer and it was awesome other than the least slick way to walk it was barefoot. 

There aren’t any suppliers that i have accounts with near you or i’d tell you to buy with my account for discount and rooftop delivery.  

Headed out of my neighborhood one day and saw my neighbor at the end of the street was getting a new roof.  The crew was about the same size as the population of some third-world countries.  A couple hours later, I drove back in the neighborhood, and the roof was done.  It rained later that afternoon.

I'd do the shingles on a small shed again.  That was fun, sort of.  My house?  NFW!

I considered it on my first house -1200sf house.  It needed a 2 layer tear off so being in my early 30’s I figured my two brothers, dad, and buddies can do the tear off on a Saturday and I would roof it all week by myself.  Material, dumpster, food, beer, shovels and whatever else would be $1000 shy of a local guy. 

My dad talked me out of it.  Six polish guys show up and did the entire roof in one day.  

Best advise was listening to my father.  I spent my week off replacing the rotten fascia boards and starting on putting up aluminum soffits and eaves.  BTW I built a garage with my dad and brothers so I was able to take on these type projects.  

In reply to Patrick :

Thanks Pat! Are you sure you don’t want to “vacation” on the beach for a week?

Ok, here’s another suggestion...

Before you decide, see if you can hire a Hispanic crew directly. 

Most roofing companies are brokers. They don’t employ very many of the people who work for them. 

Find one of their crews. 

You will need a Hispanic friend to help you with this. 

Better check local building codes. Here in S FL a permit is required and can only get a permit if you have a roofers license because of the problems with people getting ripped off after hurricanes.

I lost a lot of the tabs on my asphalt shingle roof during last years hurricane. Insurance says damage doesn't meet my deductible so they won't pay. I built homes as a youth up north and shingled a lot of steep roofs so I figured I'd fix myself even though I'm getting old since it's just a ranch with a low pitch. Heck they don't even weave the valleys here since it never freezes. I asked at city code enforcement and found out the roving code enforcement guys look for people doing roofs without building permits. I know the code enforcement officer for my area (he's a car guy) who has stopped by in the city vehicle on Saturdays and Sundays while on rounds to see what I'm working on, so even trying to sneak the work in on weekends isn't possible. 

I am going through this right now. Like 1988RedT2 mentioned above, a crew of about 200 guys showed up on Thursday morning, ripped the old roof (cement tiles) and by Thursday night they had all the black paper stuff on. Royal pita. 

I been putting it off for the last 3 years since I had no leaks only a bunch of broken tiles, but after last year’s hurricane  something got tweaked and two leaks developed. 

Permits took two weeks. 

Try to patch the leaks and save the money if you dont want to finance it or at least wait until the winter when it does not rain as much. 

I shingled the roof on my 1065 sqft shop myself. 4/12 pitch, L shape structure.  It took me 20 hours working after work a couple days until it was too dark to see. It rained the day after I finished.

By the time it needs replacement, I will be well past retirement and should not be up on a roof.

I had bought two nailers, figuring that either my retired father or my retired father-in-law would be helping with the roofing. By the time the roof was ready to be done, their health and physical stability were such that I wouldn't allow them on the roof.  In fact we had a rule: "Nobody goes on the roof unless there is someone else to call 911."

I'm glad I did it, it saved me a bundle (no pun in tended), but I'll "pay the man" next time.

We had our house roof done through Sears, because we could put it on the Sears card and pay it over of 24 months (at the time).  Roofers come and go, but Sears will always be (I did need some warranty on their roofing). Having said that, Sears has now closed forever, so when the roof on the house needs replacing, it'll go on the Home Depot card, and use -their- pay-it-off-over-18-months-zero-interest deals. Roofers come and go, but Home Depot will always be (cough cough).

Pete. If you still have my number give me a call. I wont talk you in or out of doing it but I can give pointers on the proper way to do it and what materials ate worth spending money on.

SVreX said:

There is a VERY good reason roofers Insurance rates are so high (about 60% of payroll)

I agree about insurance. I’ve read someplace that last year 56 people died doing roofing. The cost of insurance  should tell you how many just fell and were injured, paralyzed  etc. Hence the expense of insurance. 

Having said that I must also admit I did most of my own roof.  Those who have seen my roof understand why.  The street side has two pitches A 27-12 pitch  ( yes nearly vertical) and A 17-12 pitch  oh and 6 dormers at 12-12 pitch. 

There is an easy button and a hard button. The easy button is use equipment.  Put the shingles, tools, etc. on a work platform and raise it with a telehandler.  The steeper the roof the easier the job is. It’s. Like putting shingles on a wall except everything is right at perfect working height. Your feet are always on a nice flat  surface. (I worked on a 20’X4’  platform with the front railing removed)  And as back up your safety harness is  behind you hooked to the railings instead of over your shoulder and constantly in your way.  

No heavy lifting.  to avoid bending I set the working bundle of shingles  up on a work mate.    

However the lake side was only a 4/12 pitch  with 4 dormers at a 12/12 pitch but they were small only about 4ft wide. Easy to do without getting on them. 

By the time I got to the lake side winter was on me so I hired  a roofing crew.  I believe in safety so I put up my scaffolding  as fall protection  because if you fell in the wrong spot it was 30 feet to the ground.   And I had all the shingles already on the roof for them along with Ice and water shield, copper flashing etc.  All they had to do was lay the shingles. 

That’s the only part that has ever leaked.  

In reply to dean1484 :

I do Dean, I’ll give you a call either this evening or one this week. Thanks!

SVreX said:

Ok, here’s another suggestion...

Before you decide, see if you can hire a Hispanic crew directly. 

Most roofing companies are brokers. They don’t employ very many of the people who work for them. 

Find one of their crews. 

You will need a Hispanic friend to help you with this. 

But don't the brokers usually have the insurance?  I'm pretty sure if you hired them directly to do a roof, you'd be on the hook if one of them got hurt.

Tin.  OR check under the area that is leaking /attic IF you are sure the wood is good just re shingle it.pick up 3 guys too work and one that speaks english 100 bucks a day each and re roof that size is 3 days. pawn shop for a compressor and two guns/w hoses,tell them your intensions, they may buy it back for a small adj. in price.