3 Steps to Ensure Your Roof Replacement Looks Great
Proper roof replacement is the difference between years of a lasting roof over your head and a roof with leaks and other problems. Properly done, your new roof should come out looking nice, and neat, with nothing but straight lines running from top to bottom, side to side. If done wrong, your new roof may end up coming out unlevel and crooked.
Whether you’re getting new architectural shingles, cedar shakes, or regular three-tab shingles, you’re going to want a professional roofing company that knows all the right steps and things to do when it comes to installing your new roof.
The Roof Replacement Process
Before we go in-depth into each step in the roof replacement process, here is a short list of the major steps that are going to happen when you get your new roof.
- Tear Off
- Re-Felting
- Applying New Shingles
Now let’s touch on each subject individually so you, the customer, will have an idea of what exactly is going on when those roofers are up on your roof banging away for hours.
Tearing Off
Often, the most grueling part of the entire roof replacement process is the tearing off of your old roof. Nearly every time, your old roof is going to need to be taken off and eventually hauled away to a dump before you can put your new roof on and fix any problems you may have with your old roof.
Every inch of old shingles must be taken off and the whole roof cleaned and swept away of any loose debris before the next step of putting on felt can occur.
Re-Felting
After your old roof has been removed, and any old nails or loose debris is removed, a clean layer of felt, or tar paper, must be laid down to help prevent your roof from any leaks.
The felt is laid down on top of the roof’s plywood and goes in between the plywood and the final layer of shingles. Felting a roof helps to prevent the ingress of moisture and to further waterproof your roof.
Tar paper or felt is not very wind resistant or sun resistant but does help prevent moisture from being trapped in your roof. The layer of shingles that goes on next will be what is going to protect your roof from the elements really
Application of New Shingles
The final major step in your roof replacement is the application of new shingles over the layer of felt that we just discussed.
The new layer of shingles that are put on must be aligned properly and cut perfectly for everything on your roof to match up and come out looking great. Roofers will often “cut lines” with chalk to ensure a straight roof from end to end.
Customers have choices on what type of shingles they want, and different shingles offer different warranties for how long your roof will last and when your roof will need to be replaced.
Whichever type of shingles you choose to go with, you now know the steps of what will be going on when it comes time for your new roof replacement.