Talk to me about DIY roofing!

[Jenny Wren]

2018 has to be the year of the new roof. We've been debating doing all or part of it ourselves after a neighbor last year did his own roof tear down and hired a crew to put the new one on. Seems like it would be a good skill to have! We're both relatively handy and we have most basic tools on hand and could rent or borrow anything we don't.

Anyone done this or have any good DIY books/videos/websites on the process to recommend? Figured I could use winter to do some research and to price out various options. If it matters, we are looking at asphalt shingles (we're selling in a couple of years so no need to invest in a roof for life, like metal). The house is 1200 SF and its a cross gable roof. We'd also need to do the gable roof on a small detached 1 car garage.

[GuitarBrian]

I did my own roof. Asphalt shingles and torch down roofing over the back patio.
It is a lot of hard work. But it isn't difficult. I tore off 2 layers of 3 tab, honestly this was the hard part. It took much longer than I had anticipated. I was limited in time, and only had 10 days.
I worked every day. My mom helped most every day and my brother helped towards the end.

I kept good records, with every purchase listed. Total cost was $3,743. ~20 squares of shingles and ~650sf of flat torch down roof.
I already had some of the tools. The roofing nailer and nails (from Harbor Freight) I borrowed a roofing and nail remover. And I would buy one in a second if I was doing another removal.  3 bundles of shingles went back, and I exchanged them for ridgeglass, it was at the end and I lost the receipt, it was basically the same price so I didn't update that on the list.

Base for Flat roof           3 24.8   74.4
APP Tan Bitumen 100sf  7 57.2  400.4
feltbuster                      3 76.5  229.5
Shingles                      85 24   2049.35
Quick start roll               5 15.86  79.3
Drip edge RE22WH     16 4.54    72.64
drip edge RE23WH         9 6.34    57.06
Ridgeglass                     2 54.8  109.72
Vents hard type             2 7.98     15.96
T top vents                    2 12       24
primer                           2 13.81  27.62
Valley Flashing               1 41.4    41.4
flahing brown                 1 12.28  12.28
flashing L 4x4                 1 10.78 10.78
flashing L 3x3                 1 8.78     8.78
torch                              1 30     30
roof jack rubber type       3 6.53    19.59
trowel                            1  4.38     4.38
Nails 1.25                      2  46.72  93.44
204 henry                      2  13.73  27.46
sheeting                         4  21.03  84.12
         
                                  3472.18
With Sales Tax                            3743.01

Sorry for the screwy columns... first number is quantity, second price paid, third total price.

I opted for the Timberline UltraHD shingles... They were 24.11 per bundle... but, 4 bundles per square instead of the regular 3.


I had 3 quotes done. 7,300 and 8,040 are the two I still have documents for... not sure on the 3... it was higher. Overall, about 50% labor and 50% materials.

Obviously the above is just my experience and your roof will undoubtedly be different. But those are real numbers from Nov. 2015.


My biggest recommendation would be to get yourself some Lowes 10% off coupons. Probably on eBay. You can use these to order the materials online and either pickup or have it delivered. If you order a large appliance they will deliver for free (if you are close to a Lowe's).

[ManyMountains]

Where are you located? The costs vary wildly. We're in the SF bay area and are looking to get our roof redone (or DIY). We've gotten an estimate of $28k for rolled on roofing and $38k for metal roofing. This is for a 1200sq ft A-frame house and 400 sq ft garage, low pitch, single story, and adding 2" of XPS insulation. It seems outrageously expensive.

I'm going to get more quotes, and am doing a lot of research myself. If we could swing the time, this could be a DIY project I think. I'm following this thread to see what else people suggest. 

[lthenderson]

Reshingling a house isn't hard mentally but it is hard on the body.  There are tricks of the trade to get everything sealed up tight and the shingles looking nice and straight on your house but they are readily found if you do you research ahead of time. I reshingled many a house when I was younger and of more supple back. These days I prefer to hire it done. A professional crew can come in and have it done in a single day versus me taking a week and then another week to heal up all my aches and pains.

[hoosier]

How many square?

Roofing is easy, most of the time.  It can get tricky around valleys and any protrusions if you don't know what you're doing. 

Make sure sure you use flashing where needed.  Ice barrier in valleys at a minimum.  A roll along the gutter line is good insurance depending on climate and if you have ice dam problems.

It is a lot easier to snap chalk lines every 5.5" to keep things straight and make any adjustments as needed so you come out even on the top and bottom.

[paddedhat]

Where are you located? The costs vary wildly. We're in the SF bay area and are looking to get our roof redone (or DIY). We've gotten an estimate of $28k for rolled on roofing and $38k for metal roofing. This is for a 1200sq ft A-frame house and 400 sq ft garage, low pitch, single story, and adding 2" of XPS insulation. It seems outrageously expensive.

I'm going to get more quotes, and am doing a lot of research myself. If we could swing the time, this could be a DIY project I think. I'm following this thread to see what else people suggest.

No "outrageously expensive" isn't quite the term you are looking for, it's more like, "Holy fuck, are you serious?"  Minus the foam, the shingle job is worth about 1/3 of that quote,  in these parts.

[ManyMountains]

LoL, so true. I'm trying to talk my handy family members from the midwest to spend time out here working around our house (for pay of course).

The roof pitch is too low to use shingles, but your point is still valid as the rolled roof / built up roof is about the same cost as shingles, as far as I can tell. So, labor costs are super high. Construction costs were already really bad before the fires hit nearby napa/sonoma two months ago.

[Jenny Wren]

Wow, thanks for all the info/advice/insight!

GuitarBrian: Your list and details are very helpful!

ManyMountains: I'm in eastern WA. The prices you quoted (a third the total value of my home!) could buy me a nice chunk of land or even a small house just the other side of the state line. An online calculator for a local roofing company is telling me $3995, but I'm sure that is a lowball estimate. I've heard around $6k from people I've talked to in the neighborhood, unless it's a windstorm year then it soars to $10k since the insurance companies are paying.

I'm going to research methods (thanks for the youtube links). I'll get quotes once the threat of snow is past. That will make it easier to compare costs between pro job, semi-DIY, or full DIY. Taking into account the value of our time, of course!

[Papa bear]

How steep is your pitch and how high is the roof?  I've done a handful of roofs, all ranches with less than 6/12 pitch. I HATE roofing, despise it passionately. It's damn hot, the sun beats down on you, I don't really like heights, bundles are heavy, ladders are wobbly, unexpected rain can do damage or be dangerous, I'm a whiney complaint pants.

I personally would only consider doing another roof if it's easy with a low pitch.  Easy being not many valleys or funky architectural roofs or a ton of flashing around lots of skylights and things. And it's got to be cloudy.  And 70 degrees.  And for sure you need to get those bundles of shingles lifted up for you. Pay the extra few bucks to have the distributor roof drop. 

In the grand scheme of things, roofing isn't mentally difficult.  It's just horrible to do.

I do, however, know way too much about shingle pricing from a "secret shopper" project I did a few months back. I'd be happy to tell you about what was recommended in the PNW and what general pricing was from some of the area distributors.






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[10dollarsatatime]

I had to replace my roof just after I purchased my house a few years ago.  Luckily, I have a brother who worked at a roofing company, so I got materials just above cost.  He was also able to borrow the company truck to lift the shingles and all the other crap onto the roof.

It took us about a week of mostly afternoon/evenings to get it done.  There were anywhere from 2-5 of us working on it at any one time.  I provided a lot of food and caffeinated beverages.

Had to peel 3 layers of asphalt and a layer of 80 year old cedar shingles.  We put up new ply and new vents.  I found the process fascinating and kind of fun.  It did rain the night we got the last of the old roof off, so we made a home depot run for some heavy duty plastic and covered the house.  Should have taken pictures.  I think we were all getting sick of it by the last day, so my brother called in a favor with one of the contractors he works with to help us lay shingles.

My house is small (862 sq ft) and has a shallow pitch (as in, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to fall off and die).  Taking all the debris to the dump over the next couple of weeks was pretty awful.  Hindsight is 20/20... I would totally pay for a dumpster if I were going to do it again.  At that point I had a short bed truck and a 6' trailer.  I think I ended up making 5 or 6 trips to the dump to get rid of it all.

[mousebandit]

Lichen, my husband and his buddies just literally came down 20 minutes ago, after replacing our roof yesterday and today.  We are in SW Oregon. Materials from Home Depot, delivered, were just under $2000.  We bought a crapload of food and snacks for the guys and that's our labor costs.  Brother in law has a big dump trailer, so they parked that next to the house and shoved stuff off into it.  I assume we will have to pay a couple hundred for his dump fees. 

Not brainiac work, but hard work.  Our place went fast, manufactured home, so low pitch and minimal valleys or weird stuff.  8 guys, only two who knew what they were doing, and done in two good work days. 

It is such a huge relief to have it done!  And it looks gorgeous!

[Sibley]

The only thing I can add is do not cheap out on flashing. Just, don't. Spend extra to get the better version if you need to. I have a 10 yr old roof and had to redo a bunch of flashing this year (just bought the house) because it wasn't designed to last as long as the shingles. Surprise - it didn't.

Also be careful in valleys, I had a problem there too.

[JustNeedsPaint]

I agree with others have said already. My other advice: if you have a low slope roof and/or just want additional peace of mind consider ice and water barrier across the entire roof instead of tar paper. I was surprised it was only an additional $300 for the upgrade on a 1500 sqft house.

Really consider DIY. I've only hired it out twice, but both have similarities I'd rather not deal with again.  Roofers who don't want to pull out the remaining staples and nails, insisting on a stop work and hiring a carpenter for questionable decking, not wanting to replace decking, arguing about shingle mould being a part of the roof and installing whirlybirds out of level so they stop working. I totally understand most people just want the job done cheap and quick, but those last little details are the difference between a roof lasting longer and another repair in the near future.

For more motivation you can check out my full on description here.

I swear I'm doing the next roof myself.

[mountainfamily]

Well, I just got quoted $29,000 for a high-quality job on a metal roof in Seattle for my low-angle roof rambler (3x12 pitch, 1100 square foot house but the roof covers a 600 square foot carport, so total area is about 1700-1800 feet.

Being 6 months pregnant, I don't know if a DIY roof is that realistic with a new baby, my husband's busy job, etc., but I'm sure considering it now!

[mountainfamily]

Where are you located? The costs vary wildly. We're in the SF bay area and are looking to get our roof redone (or DIY). We've gotten an estimate of $28k for rolled on roofing and $38k for metal roofing. This is for a 1200sq ft A-frame house and 400 sq ft garage, low pitch, single story, and adding 2" of XPS insulation. It seems outrageously expensive.

I'm going to get more quotes, and am doing a lot of research myself. If we could swing the time, this could be a DIY project I think. I'm following this thread to see what else people suggest.

feel your pain! Our house *could* work for many years if we added another bathroom, and people in Seattle tend to get stuck in their houses cause it's so difficult to trade up. $29k for metal and $18k for patriot certainteed shingles.

[Fishindude]

If you are young, healthy, relatively handy and have some friendly volunteers DIY is not a problem for a fairly low slope simple shingle roof such as a ranch house.   Biggest challenge is getting the tear off done in one dry day, then getting the deck covered with new felt paper before days end.  You' don't want to take a chance leaving things exposed to the elements overnight.  Do not install a layer of shingles over the old, you are just wasting money as they will not last nearly as long.

If you have a steep roof, lots of hips, valleys and tricky flashing details, I would leave it to a pro.

[ManyMountains]

Where are you located? The costs vary wildly. We're in the SF bay area and are looking to get our roof redone (or DIY). We've gotten an estimate of $28k for rolled on roofing and $38k for metal roofing. This is for a 1200sq ft A-frame house and 400 sq ft garage, low pitch, single story, and adding 2" of XPS insulation. It seems outrageously expensive.

I'm going to get more quotes, and am doing a lot of research myself. If we could swing the time, this could be a DIY project I think. I'm following this thread to see what else people suggest.

feel your pain! Our house *could* work for many years if we added another bathroom, and people in Seattle tend to get stuck in their houses cause it's so difficult to trade up. $29k for metal and $18k for patriot certainteed shingles.

Thanks for posting. Let me know what you end up doing. Seattle is supposed to be one of the other HCOL areas, but it's crazy to think that I'm basically seeing a $10k surcharge on our slightly smaller house, just due to our area. Maybe I need to make a post for Mustachians looking who want to live in the bay area for a bit, in exchange for helping us with some DIY construction.

[Jenny Wren]

Not a lot of hips and valleys, but a 7/12 pitch. At this point we are thinking of doing our garage first (detached single garage, set back, already doesn't match design of the house, so no need to match shingles to house shingles perfectly). If that goes well, we will proceed from there.

Thanks for all the input!

[Dancin'Dog]

Well, I just got quoted $29,000 for a high-quality job on a metal roof in Seattle for my low-angle roof rambler (3x12 pitch, 1100 square foot house but the roof covers a 600 square foot carport, so total area is about 1700-1800 feet.

Being 6 months pregnant, I don't know if a DIY roof is that realistic with a new baby, my husband's busy job, etc., but I'm sure considering it now!

Stay off of roofs while pregnant.  ;)

Metal roofing is very simple.  The panels are full length and 3 feet wide and very lightweight compared to shingles.  You use a cordless drill to screw it down.  The finished roof will last longer than you'll live there.  I've done 3 of them.  Watch Youtube for details.