I am preparing to roof a turn of the century victorian and have concluded composition shingles are my best bet.
The cedar shingles I put up 21 yrs ago are so eroded that you can see daylight thru them in 100 or more spots. I hope to never reroof this house again in my lifetime and it seems the simplest means of getting a long lasting roof is to go with high end composition.
My question is, should I resheet with plywood or just fill in the gaps between the redwood skip sheeting?
I don’t question the increased strength a continuous layer of staggered plywood sheets would give, I just don’t know if it is necessary considering the house was built without it and even if I sheet the roof with plywood the house still has so many other structural limitations that I question whether the increased roof strength would ever amount to a tangible benefit. This reroof will not be inspected by a building dept.
Does anyone see any problems installing comp shingles over 1 by plank sheeting with minor variations in plank thickness?
Finally, to any respondents, what is your recommendation for best/longest lasting comp shingle?
Thanks in advance,
Karl
Replies
Without seeing the actual project, I'm pretty sure plywood or osb over the skip sheathing is going to be the best and least expensive option. There shouldn't be a problem with dimensional shingles over 1x but, to nail down a 32 sq. ft. sheet of plywood would be about the same amount of time to rip and fill 2-3 8' gaps. You don't need to break the plywood on rafters if you go over the split sheathing. Time will surely be an issue to dry in the roof. Start at the top and tear off what you can re-sheath and felt in a couple of hours. Dry that in and decide whether you feel like tackling another chunk. Good Luck.
I agree with "greencu"
If you can spring for a "tab" or "laminated" or "architectural" shingle, the look is more in keeping with a victorian. Also the weight will give some additional longevity you want. If not, than definitely go with a higher rated (class and type) shingle and one with a longer life expectancy, 30 year.
"A contented man enjoys the scenery of a detour"
When he said composition shingle I had fake slate in mind. I have limited exposure to these products, but I thought that there were several manufacturers wh o offered 'composition' shingles that were similiar to slate.
I don't know if this is what Karl was referring to.
The reason I ask is I would think that skip sheathing would be fine for this shingle.
What exactly is a 'compostion' shingle?
Eric
Thanks for all the reply's.
I suppose the quickest thing is to just throw down some 1/2 inch cdx though this roof has two turrets that have step shingles under the siding that are good enough to reuse. If I add plywood I will end up with a height variation that will require a lot of additional work to step shingle/flash them.
Does it seem nuts to consider putting down 1/8 ply on the roof plane butting into the turrets so I won't create problems reusing the step shingles yet I will still avoid the tedium of ripping filler strips?
There are also a lot of valleys (ten total) which will make laying the plywood a bit more time consuming.
Most of the roof is a twelve twelve pitch so I have a slight preference to avoid wrestling sheets of ply for that reason as well.
When I said composition shingle I was referring to the asphalt based shingle with a granular coating that is approximately 36" by 12". Essentially the roofing material that I see on 90 percent of homes these days.
Thanks again,
Karl