Before beginning a do it yourself roofing project, you should make arrangements either for a dumpster to be placed where you can easily get your old shingles into it, or for someone cart them away at the end of each day. After the old shingles and roofing nails are gone, you will lay down 30-pound roofing felt and your asphalt shingles, and your do it yourself roofing project will be done!

Look Forward To Do It Yourself Roofing Jobs

When the roof of the house needs replaced due to age or damage, there are a couple of options. The first is to contract the job to a professional, which may be a good idea if the roof is steep and difficult to walk on or if it is high and the homeowner is afraid of heights. Secondly, do it yourself roofing is possible, depending on the type of roofing material you choose to use and how handy you are with tools.

Replacing the roof of a house is not an easy job, but certainly one that can be done by the home handyman, depending on their fear of heights and having enough strength and stamina to carry bundles of shingles onto the roof. However, it must first be determined if the old roof needs to be torn off before the new one is installed. Typically, if there is currently one layer of asphalt shingles on the roof, a second layer can be put on. With do it yourself roofing jobs, it is not advised to add a third layer, mainly due to the weight on the roof structure.

Tearing off the old shingles can be done with a pitch fork or a flat shovel and will leave a mess in the yard around the house. It’s a good idea to contract for a dumpster in which to place all the old roofing materials or arrange for someone to clean up the mess when you are done.

Keeping It Straight On Do It Yourself Roofing Projects

Once the old roof is off, insure there are no old roofing nails sticking up and take any errant ones out with a claw hammer or nail puller. Once the roof is cleaned off, including swept with a broom, you will need to lay down a layer of 30-pound roofing felt. Most felt is printed with lines for lining up the new shingles for a do it yourself roofing, provided it is applied straight with the roof edge.

There should also be metal roof edging installed around the perimeter of the roof to give the roof a finished appearance as well as to help prevent leaks from water wrapping around the edge and working its way under the first row of shingles. The first row of shingles on the do it yourself roofing, should be placed inverted, meaning the solid edge should line up against the edge of the metal strip. Subsequent layers are put down with the cut side in the right direction.

But knowing the correct roofing terms will also help you communicate with a roofing contractor, should you decide to hire one. Being able both to communicate your wishes to a contractor and to understand what a contractor is telling you will ensure the best possible outcome for your roofing project at the lest possible expense to you.

Knowing Roofing Terms Makes Homeowner Look Smart

The two main roofing terms that homeowners need to know are leaks and solid, both are self-explanatory. However, for the do-it-yourself types there are other roofing terms that will be good to know if you every need to buy replacement pieces at the hardware store. Knowing some of the basic terms needed when discussing new roofing materials or roof repairs can help a homeowner explain exactly what they need, as well as help them understand what another person is talking about.

One of the first basic roofing terms is roofing material, which is what the roof is made of. While the majority of houses have asphalt roof materials, other used include slate, tile, rubber and steel. Roofing nails is the most common application method but steel is held down by screws and a rubberized roof, usually for flat roof or roof with wings, can be glued down or held down with ballast, which is weight kept on the roof until the glue dries.

Roof edging is a metal strip, usually aluminum or thin steel that is applied around the perimeter of the roofline to present an even edge as well as to provide support to the shingles overhanging the extreme edges. Other roofing terms such as the overhang of the shingle is typically about two inches. It is also used to secure the edge of roll roofing, a flat felt material impregnated with tar to help prevent the roof from leaking and is rolled out before the shingles are installed.

Roofing Terms Defined For Other Than Shingles

Where the roof material meets a roof obstruction such as a chimney, a vertical wall for another story, around vent pipes or roof vents, a thin piece of metal is often attached. These are roofing terms for this metal, bent at 90-degrees to go under the shingle and up the vertical obstruction to help prevent water from seeping under the shingle and through the hole in the roof through which the obstruction passes.

The very top of a peaked roof is called the crown and the edge on either the sides of a gable or near the gutter, in professional roofing terms, is called the edge. The term overlap refers to how much of one shingle is placed over the edge of the one under it and roof glue is one of the roofing terms pertaining to roof cement, a tar-like substance used to seal shingles to the ones under it or around edges where nailing is impractical.