How to Tear Down a Roof

When it’s time to re-roof, you might have to remove the old shingles before you can add the new ones. This is especially true if you have more than one layer of existing shingles on the roof or if local building code requires you to tear off the old ones. It’s a messy job, and if you’re not comfortable working at heights, call a roofing contractor. Since you’ll be exposing the roof sheathing to the elements, it’s essential that you only tear off as much of the old roof that you can cover with roofing felt before nightfall. Work in stages to protect the roof from rain.

Tear-off fork
Square-end shovel
Heavy gloves
Nail bar
Hammer

Instructions

- 1
  Remove the ridge shingles first, wearing heavy gloves. This is the row of shingles that bends over the ridge of the roof, capping the top edge of the side shingles. Wedge a tear-off fork beneath the edge of the ridge shingles and pry upward to remove.
- 2
  Pry the upper edge of side shingles loose with the claw end of your hammer. If you’re comfortable standing on the ridge, you can wedge the tear-off fork beneath the top row and pry upward on the handle to loosen the top row of shingles.
- 3
  Work from the top down, loosening one row at a time and folding or rolling it forward. If the shingles are old and brittle, they may break and crumble, but if possible, try to get the old shingles to roll. It makes removal much less messy. Continue from side to side until one entire side of the roof is uncovered.
- 4
  Throw roofing debris away as you remove it.
- 5
  Pull remaining nails or staples out of the sheathing using the claw end of a hammer or a nail bar before installing new felt paper and shingles.

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