Roof

[JimCNY]

Is it wise to re shingle over an existing shingle roof The three tab ones that are on there now are showing their age, but they are intact My home is a 89 Champion DW
Northern zone roof. I really don't want to take them off due to the ton of staples that they used. I counted ten in one shingle alone.

[Yanita]

Hi,

Personally I would remove them, that's a substantial weight load.

Hopefully JD will see this thread and respond.

~Yanita~

[JD]

Hi Jim,

I totally agree with Yanita. Although it does make for more work and a run to the dump, there are several reasons to remove the existing roof. First, it may very well be a code issue where you live. Here in California, only one layer of shingles are allowed. Stick-builts can have up to 3 layers.

Then there is the quality of the install and the life of the new roof. Installing shingles over shingles (laying felt down first), you will end up with a very soft substrate to nail the new fasteners into. A pneumatic gun will not have enough control to set each nail. When a nail penetrates the surface of the shingle, the shingle is seriously compromised. These would be the shingles that blow off first. If you lighten up on the gun, some staples will not seat completely, causing it to eventually work its way through the shingle on top of it.

Another problem with two layers of shingles is the original layer of shingles will tend to hold heat, drying the top layer and causing curling on the edges of the tabs. Even in a Northern climate, it is the sun that does the most damage to shingles.

Most roofs I have done has had a least a small amount of water damage on the sheathing. Removing the shingles allows you to find and replace this damage.

The weight is also a concern. If the mobile home was not originally built to have a shingle roof, then it probably should not have shingles at all. If the home was designed for shingles, it was probably only designed to have one layer. Too much weight on the roof will cause trusses and rafters to bow.

Just my thoughts on it.

JD

[JimCNY]

Thanks for the quick reply.Thats what I thought about the weight. Plus with the snow. Although I do make it a habit to clean it off.