What Steps Will Your Roofers Follow To Replace Your Roof?
It's pretty awesome that you can hire a roofing company to replace your roof rather than having to climb up there yourself. Still, it is nice to know what they are doing as they work. Here's a look at the basic steps your roofing company will follow when replacing your roof.
Tear-Off
First, the roofers will strip all of the old shingles off the roof. They will do this using a special shovel called a roofing shovel, which hooks onto the edges of shingles and peels them off. The old shingles will be collected in a dumpster and hauled off-site for disposal.
Decking Repairs
The decking is the wooden surface that actually forms the roof. The roofing company will look the decking over, and if there are any boards that need to be replaced, they will replace them. Often if you replace your roof before it gets too bad, the decking will be perfectly fine, and the roofers can basically skip this step.
Underlayment and Drip Edge
Once the roofers are sure your decking is ready to go, they will put down a layer of underlayment. This is basically special, waterproof paper that they nail to the decking. It helps keep any moisture that seeps through the shingles from seeping into the decking. They'll also install drip edge, which is a piece of plastic or metal edging that goes along the edge of the roof to prevent water from seeping up and under the edges of the shingles.
Flashing
After the underlayment and drip edge are in place, your roofers will put down flashing. This is metal sheeting that goes around the edge of the chimney and other projections. They will likely also put a layer of flashing down in any valleys in the roof, as it prevents leaks in these ares.
Shingling
Finally, it will be time to shingle. The roofers will start at the peak and put layer after layer of shingles down, working their way toward the edge of the roof. This part goes surprisingly fast, since roofers are pretty adept at swinging a hammer and putting nails through shingles. Typically, they will put three nails through each shingle.
Once the roofers are done shingling, they will clean up and be on their way to the next job. You have a nice, new roof, and it should last for a couple of decades so long as you take care of it.
Contact a roofing company if you need roof installation services.