How to Replace a Roof in Winter

The cold, dry air makes winter roof replacement a more difficult task than replacing a roof in moderate temperatures. Unfortunately, it may be only when winter weather, like snow, occurs that you notice how desperately the roof needs replacing. Though making only minor repairs or replacing a few shingles during the winter provides the best solution for winter roofing, if the entire roof does need replacing in winter, it limits your roofing options.

Roofing felt or tar paper
Staple and staple gun
Wood shingles
Roofing nails and nail gun
Wood ridge caps
Roofing cement

Instructions

- 1
  Install appropriate shingles, such as wood, during the winter months. Avoid asphalt, which becomes too brittle for installation in cold weather.
- 2
  Check the weather before installation. If possible, install shingles when the temperature is at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and make sure no rain or snow is forecasted within two days of installation.
- 3
  Measure the roof from side to side. Cut roofing felt or tar paper two inches longer than the width of the roof from side to side.
- 4
  Lay a strip of felt or tar paper along the eave of the roof. Staple the felt or tar paper to the roof, placing staples 6 inches apart around the perimeter of the strip.
- 5
  Place a wood shingle at one edge of the roof along the eave. Let the shingle hang off the edge and the eave by an inch. Affix the shingle to the roof with four nails through the upper portion of the shingle.
- 6
  Lay a row of shingles directly out from the first. Line the shingles so that the sides touch and secure all shingles with four nails.
- 7
  Place the next strip of roofing felt or tar paper so it overlaps the tops of the shingles by 6 inches and secure the felt with staples. Cut down a shingle to half of its width and install it at the start of the next row of shingles over the roofing felt. Let the shingle hang off the roof edge by an inch and the bottom of the angle hang over the shingles below by approximately one-third of the shingles height, and attach it to the roof with roofing nails.
- 8
  Lay out more shingles next to the cut shingle to create a full row, attaching each shingle with four nails. Work up the roof in this manner, layering roofing felt or tar paper and then a row of shingles until you reach the top. Then, move to the other side of the roof and install shingles with the same process.
- 9
  Install ridge caps that match the wood shingles on the roof peak. Drive four to six nails through each side of the cap, in accordance to the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Apply roofing cement to the nail heads that show in the ridge caps.

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