How To Tear Off Roof Shingles

Assess the Job

Before you start tearing into your roof, review the three S’s to ensure that this is a job you want to do yourself.

Savings

You’ll save money by doing your own tear-off, but make sure the savings are worth the strain. The cost of professional roof tear-off varies with location, the style of the roof, and how many layers of shingles it has. Some roofers will give larger or smaller credits to the overall job price, while others only give slight reductions to cover themselves in the case of homeowners who don’t do a thorough job.

Scope

Part of understanding a project’s scope is understanding your own skills and capabilities. As O’Brien points out, “Your roof is high, and it requires ladder safety as well! Many people have physical limitations preventing them from doing this job safely.”

“For your typical homeowner, I’d only recommend tackling a single-story home with a relatively low-pitched roof,” says Consolo. “Anything more challenging, it’s worthwhile calling in the pros purely from a safety and logistical perspective.”

If you have a large roof, it may make sense to tear off and re-roof one section at a time, or it might be more sensible to tear off the entire roof at once.

Scheduling

If you’re having a contractor apply the new shingles, coordinate the tear-off so the new shingles will be installed right away. Keep the time between the tear-off and re-shingling to a minimum, and wait until clear weather is forecast. Although the underlayment should protect against water infiltration, the felt paper can easily tear or blow loose, making your home vulnerable to rain damage.

Lastly, remember that roofing work is extremely obvious from the street, so local inspectors will likely be aware of your work. Before removing a single shingle, ensure you’ve met any permit requirements and local building codes.

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Protect Yourself

Every roofer I spoke to agreed that the number one priority for homeowners should be personal safety.

“As a minimum, invest in a good safety harness complete with hooks,” advises Consolo. “Even more so if you’re going to tackle a relatively steep roof. Make sure you have a support person around to help if needed.”

O’Brien agrees. “I think the main advice every homeowner needs to consider when removing shingles is the aspect of safety. A fall off your roof can absolutely kill you, so this is the most important step and should not be skipped.”

When tearing off a roof, take these safety precautions:

• Wear a safety harness.
  • Both Consolo and O’Brien emphasized how important this piece of equipment is.
  • These are available at safety equipment stores and most roofing and home centers.
  • O’Brien says homeowners may even find a ring already installed from the tether used during installation. If not, it should be installed into the home’s framing, and OSHA-rated tethering gear should be used.

• Set roof jacks and a 2×10 about 3 feet up from the roof edge.
  • These will catch material and act as a last safety measure against a fall.
  • If you don’t have roof jacks, O’Brien says a 2×4 mounted along the bottom of the roof can serve the same purpose in a pinch.
• Wear safety boots with thick soles.
  • Any nails that don’t come up with the shingles can poke through thin soles and into your foot.

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Protect Your Property

You’ll need to protect your home as well as your body.

• Use tarps and light plywood to protect anything near the home’s foundation.
  • Many DIY roofers neglect this precaution and regret it. “If you put nothing down, you’ll damage your landscaping or even your siding,” says O’Brien.
  • I’ve used the tarps and plywood system to protect everything from plants and decks to koi ponds.

Select Your Equipment

Here are some of the tools you’ll need for a tear-off.

• A rental trash container or trailer.
  • Renting a trash container is recommended.
  • A 20-cubic yard container will handle most roofs, costing about $300 – $500.
  • Place it where you can easily throw old shingles directly into it from the roof.
  • If you opt to haul away debris in your own truck, check local laws about disposing of asphalt shingles.
• Garden fork or roofing shovel (sometimes called a “roof ripper”).
  • Garden forks slide under shingles easily, but both Consolo and O’Brien recommend the roofing shovel due to its angle, robustness, and ability to scoop up debris other than shingles.
  • They are available online and run $40 – $75
• Broom for sweeping up debris and used nails.
• Hammer or pry bar to remove remaining nails.

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Strip the Roof, Starting at the Peak and Working Downward

This is the heart of the tear-off.

• Start the tear-off at the section farthest from the trash container.
• Standing at the peak, use a garden fork or roof shovel to tear away the ridge caps and the top courses of shingles.
  • “It’s a simple process of slide, lift, glide, and repeat,” says Consolo. “You slide the tool under the shingles and lift them, ideally removing some nails as well. Then glide along about a foot or so and repeat the process.”
• Work the fork or shovel under the shingles, prying them loose.
• Allow the debris to slide down to the roof edge.
• Remove shingles in a 2 to 3-foot wide section as you work down the roof.
• Not all the nails will come up with the shingles. You can pull them now, but most roofers come back at the end of the job and take care of them all at once.
• Watch for soft areas. The sheathing may be rotted, and you could break through.

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Toss Trash from Roof to Container

As the old roofing material piles up at the roof edges, toss it into the trash container below.

• If you can’t get the trash container close to the house, throw the shingles onto a tarp on the ground.
• Dispose of the shingles before the pile gets too large and they slide off the roof.
• Remember, shingles are heavy!
  • If you’re peeling off two or more layers of shingles, even a small section will be heavy.
  • You may have to pull the shingles apart to make them light enough to carry.

Evaluate Existing Flashing

Many homeowners are tempted to reuse flashing around chimneys, skylights, and dormers. Sometimes it pays off to preserve and reuse difficult-to-replace types of flashing, but in the majority of cases it makes more sense to start fresh. Why sabotage a new roof because you skimped on a $5 piece of flashing?

Valley Flashing

• Valley flashing usually has the same life span as the shingles, so plan to replace it.
• Starting at the top of the valley, pry the metal edges loose.
• Continue working down the valley, lifting the flashing as you go.

Vent Flashing

• Pry flashing loose around vent pipes.
• Use a pry bar to avoid damaging the pipes.

Step Flashing

• Pull nails from any step flashing (flashing that’s interwoven with the shingles, where the roof abuts a wall) you want to save, bend it up slightly and pull out the shingles from underneath.

Repaired Flashing

• Heavily tarred areas usually signal a fix for bad flashing underneath.
• Replace all this flashing and check the decking for damage.

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Clean off the Roof

Once a section has been completely stripped, go back and tidy it up.

• Pull out protruding nails.
• Use a large broom to sweep the roof deck clean.
• Watch your step!
  • The loose shingle granules make the sheathing slippery.
  • Watch for any nails you missed earlier and pull them.

Inspect the Sheathing

When the roof is clean and bare, inspect the sheathing for damage.

• Rotted areas and broken boards are the most common problems.
• Cut out and replace damaged sections as needed.
• Be sure to use new sheathing that’s the same thickness as the old.
• When removing a damaged section, center the cuts over the rafters so you can fasten the new sheathing properly.
• Keep an eye out for loose roof sheathing that only needs re-nailing.

Clean the Jobsite

Roofing tear-offs are messy, so you’ll need to clean your yard and driveway of debris.

• Before climbing off the roof, clean nails and shingle granules out of the gutters.
• Run a broom magnet over the yard to pick up stray nails.
  • Make several passes in different directions. Nails have a way of ending up in the lawn.

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Tips from the Pros

I asked both experts for any parting tips they had for homeowners considering a roofing tear-off.

From Matthew Consolo:

For me, music is the answer. It helps you get into a rhythm. I can really lose myself doing a tear-off.

Being based in Florida, we’re both blessed and cursed with year-round sunshine. Working on a tear-off, we miscalculated the time it’d take and did not pack the sunblock. Needless to say, it was a scorcher, and we certainly got scorched.

From Niki O’Brien:

When removing your shingles, you may discover you have spaced roof decking. In most jurisdictions, this will have to be replaced with a solid surface decking before installation. It’s just a good thing to know when removing your shingles. It’s smart to have a plan in place in case you discover this and are forced to replace it for code reasons. It’s also a good idea to take a look at your insurance coverage BEFORE you start to see if you have “code upgrade” coverage. If you don’t, you will be on the hook for the price of the decking replacement.

About the Experts

• Matthew Consolo is the founder and CEO of Air Force Roofing. With over 15 years roofing experience, Matt sees Air Force Roofing as an opportunity to provide a better level of service for South Florida homeowners and businesses.

• Niki O’Brien with has been in the roofing industry for over a decade. Learn more about her at the Custom Exteriors site.