My friend is planning to take a week off in July to replace the shingles on his house. He’s looking for help.
The house is a typical 1960s-style suburban bungalow. The steps as he has described them are:[ul][li]Remove eavestroughing.[]Remove old shingles, starting from the top.[] Remove whatever’s sealing the roof under the shingles.[]Inspect roof sheathing, and replace or repair as necessary.[]Lay new sealing stuff.[]Lay new shingles.[]Attach new eavestroughing.[/ul]Obviously there are lots of details I’m omitting, like flashing in the valleys, around chimneys and vents and the edge of the roof, etc, and the huge tarps to cover the roof if it rains while the shingles are off, and any necessary repairs to the soffit and fascia. My friend also wants to reinforce the roof structure somewhat. [/li]
My question: What can we expect if we decide to take this on?
How many people does it take to reshingle a house in a week? What tools are needed? Do you need scaffolds? Harnesses to dangle from the roof peak (and, if so, how do you fasten them)? What are common pitfalls? How much is this going to cost with a crew of volunteers? And how does that compare to a crew of professional roofers?
Only on topic in the widest sense here…
For my old house it took five men four days to remove and replace a steel roof.
Cost: $16,000.
Not something you want to leave to amatuers (IMHO) if you screw it up and don’t find out until the next big rainstorm that can cause some serious damage.
OTOH, if you guys know what your doing then get to it. And don’t drink the beer until you’re OFF the roof.
An informative site.
If you’re handy with tools, you (and a few friends) could take the job on yourself.
Get a few estimates and compare.
Assuming that ‘eavestroughing’ is equivalent to guttering in US terms, I’ve never taken off guttering unless replacement was part of the total quote. If you’re faced with ordinary 3 tab asphalt shingles, they come off much easier working from the bottom up. A 1960’s bungalow has already been reroofed at least once, so many variables exist. Most professionals agree on use of a rubberized bituminous membrane instead of felt paper at rake and eave edges, as well as valleys and any other intersection of planes. They are likely leak sites, and it is cheap insurance.
Without knowledge of area, pitch, and other salient details no reasonable quote can be determined. From the OP, you’re in Canada so I don’t know if American OSHA regulations regarding fall arresting harnesses apply to a bunch of your friends.