Going to reroof the house and was wondering if anyone had suggestions on what the best tools are to use for doing the tearoff. Also what is the best way to get teh Ice & Water shield off the sheathing. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

A plain ol' spade works well for taking off old shingles.

Potato fork works the best(if they are broken in). I&W should stay on.

My best recommendation............leave it to the pro's.

I use a square sand shovel with a piece of angle iron welded on the underside for leverage it works great.

DIY its way less expensive and easy

How many square or how big of a job is it?

You may save money but I'll guarantee you half way through the tear off process you'll wish you hired it out!

I hope you have somebody that knows what they are doing.

I'll let the pro's explain the ramifications and mistakes that can be made by the Do It Yourself-ers!

Good Luck!

Like Roofer said, Potato fork and leave the ice & water on. Use a flat pry bar to remove all the nails. I've used the shovel too but after years of jolts from hitting nails, it takes a toll on the joints.

Remove the cap and work your way down taking a 10' swath all the way to the eve. As you go don't remove individual shingles, let them stay together as they roll over in a mass. Don't pick at it, go after it like an animal. That rolled over mass of shingles will actually help pull up shingles and gives a nice footing on steeper roofs.

Lay down a tarp under the eve for everything to drop on. Protect windows, electric and water meters with sheets of plywood. Ladders will deflect debris into the house so don't send off shingles where theres a ladder.

Depending on the hight and pitch you might be using a tether or roof jacks or both. If you slip it'll most likely be from stepping on a rope or compressor hose.

It's nothing impossible, anyone can do it. Just ask the DIY'ers.

The possibilities for problems are endless. I wouldn't know where to start. I've been watching some sorry sap the last couple weeks trying to reroof his own house. It is a simple split level house, but, I'm sorry, he has no idea how to work. He is not done yet. He has some of tore, some not, some shingled, and it has rained on it a few times already. The guy was trying to remove shingles while standing on a step ladder. It looked ridiculous. Of course, I would probably look kinda funny trying to do whatever he does for a living.

On the other hand, I have seen a few homeowners that have done a decent job. The biggest problems is they buy cheap materials alot of times and have no idea about flashings. I have seen plenty of so-called roofers that were just as bad though. I can normally pick it out by looking from the street, who did the job.

Good Luck to you anyhow. Hopefully it isn't a wet fall.

Surface good tips. Just not what we do. I usually take 2-3 shingles at a time depending on how they were laid. Put them in piles and bring to the dumpster after tearing a whole roof. When we do most jobs, we don't drop a shingle to the ground. Whether it's a new shingle or old, none of them even touch the ground. After it's cleaned, we pull the nails and roll up the felt. Now the deck is nice and clean and everything is picked up.

Surface Tension's tips are also a good way, just kind of a mess, IMO. Although it is probably the best way if it is steep and dealing with multiple layers. It also can be quicker to getting to the shingling part, but then you still have to clean up the ground. On average, you can figure 1 square per hour per man off and on.

They do make a shingle remover that works a little better then the potato fork. I use when I remove shingles I just can remember the name. It pulls the nails as you go but its not the shovle like talk above. You can tear off just as fast as the fork and pull the nails at the same time and save time. I pertty much do it the same as Roofer!

Thanks for all the input guys, much appreciated.

Roof is approx 27 sq. We have all shingled houses before, just not done a reroof. Just bought the bulk of the materials today to beat the price increase next week, GAF Timberline shingles so the material shouldn't be an issue.



When you say "I&W should stay on" are you saying that you don't have to put new on? If your putting new I&W on wouldn't you want it directly on the sheathing and not on old I&W?

The point is the old Ice and water won't come loose...just throw another layer on.

This depends on what your inspector wants. To be honest, if it was my house and I could legally do what I want, I would just put I&W on the north facing roofs. You just have to make sure that your I&W seals to the drip edge. Sometimes you can just leave the I&W and re-shingle it. If it's an insurance claim, you put another layer on, unless they pay to remove sheathing and start over.
Other times you can just put new HIGH GRADE tarpaper over it. Certainteed allows it, but not sure about what your inspector wants to see.

With GAF's, I would make sure the underlayment is as water tight as possible. GAF's Shinglemate tarpaper is some of the best I have seen. Just as good as Roofer's Select.