How to Tar Paper Roof a House

Start at the apex of your roof. Place the edge of one roll of tar paper 1 foot below one side of the apex. Roll out your tar paper up and over the apex, down toward the edge.

Use your staple gun hold the tar paper in place. Put one staple at each corner, then one for every 3 feet or so of edge. While stapling, adjust the tar paper to keep it straight and avoid any wrinkling or bubbling.

If your roll of tar paper was long enough to reach the edge of the roof, staple it in place at the edge, then cut off the excess with your utility knife.

If your roll of tar paper was not long enough to reach the edge of your roof, staple it in place. Overlapping by at least 4 inches, start another roll at the end of the roll you just laid down. When that roll reaches the edge, staple it in place at the edge and cut off the excess with your utility knife.

Move back to the apex of the roof. Lay down the next roll, overlapping with the existing roll by at least 4 inches.

Repeat Steps 5 and 6 until the entire roof is covered. When you get to the end of the roof, overlapping your last roll is preferable to cutting along the entire end.

Nail the tar paper in place using your hammer and roofing nails. You should put in about three nails per square foot of tar paper.