Do it Yourself Roofing Replacement

Place tarps around the house against the base of the wall to catch shingles, nails and other debris. Scrape the shingles and roofing felt loose with a large flat shovel, starting from the bottom edge. Pull nails left behind with a claw hammer as you go. Allow the shingles to slide off the roof into the tarps at the base of the walls. Scrape down to the plywood decking.

Cut roof edge flashing to fit the edge of your roof with tin snips. Nail it to the edge of the decking with 1-inch roofing nails and a hammer. Use one nail every 10 inches. Install the flashing along the entire edge, overlapping it at the seams for adequate coverage.

Roll roofing felt on in horizontal rows, starting along the bottom edge. Cut each piece to fit at the edge of the roof with a utility knife. Nail the felt in place with 1-inch roofing nails, with plastic washers. Use one nail every 12 inches.

Overlap the rows as you move up the roof, with each upper row overlapping the one below it by 3 to 4 inches. Continue adding felt to the peak. Fold the last row over the peak and nail the leading edge down to the opposite face of the roof. Do the same with the opposite face of the roof, overlapping the last row at the peak, folding it over onto the first face and nailing its leading edge.

Align a shingle starting in the left corner of the bottom edge of the roof. Nail it in place with six 1-inch nails, evenly spaced above the black tar line to ensure the nails will be hidden. Add shingles, each butted up to the last shingle and then along its edge, nailing each in the same way to the end of the roof. Use a utility knife to cut a shingle so that it fits from the last full piece to the end of the roof.

Start the next row with the off-cut piece from the last shingle you installed on the first row to stagger the tabs and seams between shingles from row to row. Nail every shingle the same way. Continue adding rows of shingles to the peak. Fold the last row over and nail its leading edge as you did with the felt.

Repeat the shingling procedure on the opposite face of the roof, working up to the peak. Cut single tabs from the shingles and position them, folded over the peak of the roof. Start at the outside ends of the roof, nailing the leading edge of each shingle, on both faces of the roof. Overlap the next shingle to cover the nails and tar strip. Work in from both ends, fitting a single shingle over the seam where the two rows of shingles meet in the center. Nail this last shingle in all four corners.

Fold up the tarps with the shingles inside and pack them in a truck for disposal at the local dump.