How to Re-Roof My Slanted Roof House

Position a dumpster under the area where you'll be working so you can throw debris directly into it. Place loose boards against your house under the area where you'll be working and lean them against the side of the house at a slant to protect it from falling debris.

Set up a ladder then climb up onto the roof with a shovel and pry bar. Remove a ridge cap on the end and then start prying up the old shingles with the shovel. Throw the old shingles into the dumpster with the shovel. Carefully remove old flashing with a pry bar. If you can avoid damaging the flashing during this process, you may be able to reuse it later.

Inspect the exposed decking. Check for any weak or warped areas that have been damaged by water. Conduct your inspection from the top and from underneath the roof.

Cut out any damaged areas from the decking with a circular saw. Use a hammer to pry up the old nails that hold the decking in place. Cut a new piece of decking from plywood and nail it in place.

Nail a drip edge at the bottom of each slanted portion of your roof. You do not need to install the drip edge on a "gabled end," which is an end of your roof that cuts off without slanting toward the ground. Nails should be installed every 10 inches along the drip edge. When placing two pieces of drip edge side by side, overlap them by an inch.

Install an ice and water shield on your roof, if necessary. These shields are only needed in cold weather climates. Check your local building codes to find out if you need to install an ice and water shield and, if so, where on the roof. To install an ice and water shield, pull off the backing and lay it sticky side down onto the decking.

Lay down roofing felt paper, according to your local building code. Roofing felt paper comes in large rolls. Start at one end and roll the felt paper to the other end so that it covers the length of the roof. Overlap the edges of the roofing felt paper per local building codes. Some building codes require that the felt paper cover up the ice and water shield; others will not.

Nail down a drip edge to the gabled ends. The drip edge should overlap with the end of the roofing felt paper.

Install a starter strip of shingles so that they overlap with the edge of the roof by 1/2-inch. Nail the starter strip to the roof with a nail at the top of each end of the strip and two nails through the middle. After the starter strip is installed, the next course of shingles will cover the starter, and each subsequent course of shingles will overlap with the course beneath it. Move upward from the bottom. Stagger the shingles so that they appear to overlap in a stair-step fashion, like bricks on a wall. Once you reach the ridge in the middle, nail down the shingle caps with a nail on each side of the ridge. Overlap the ridge caps by 2 or 3 inches and proceed down the ridge until it is entirely covered.