roof stripping question

First post here and I'm hoping someone has some suggestions. I own a 1860's schoolhouse that has 2 layers of asphalt shingles on it. It's a 12/12 pitch and the peak is 35 feet high. It has wide vertical boards under the shingles so I know I'm going to have to sheath it with either OSB or plywood before I put the new shingles on. My problem is that I will be doing the whole job by myself with little or no help. I plan on doing this next year and due to the uncertain weather we enjoy here in Maine, I figure I'll have to do this in stages. Has anyone else tried to strip just sections of a roof, install the shingles and then move onto the next section above? My concern is having those old shingles scrape across the new ones on the way to the ground as I tear them off. Any suggestions as to how to approach this job would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

We have a lot of scaffold and we use it! Once you have worked on a job with full scaffold, you wonder how you ever did it without it. It is about like working on the bottom of the roof off from the sidewalk.

Lanny, I'm not familiar with a twenty-four ft plank but I'm sure they exist. I would not dream of setting up my 26 ft. plank that way, or my 20's either, except for the one that is 12" wide. I've done that many times alone and just as you describe. I've also packed a plank up a third ladder set between the other two, what I usually like to have as a service ladder for the staging anyway, but I make sure the other two are secured first before I push against them sideways with the plank. I've added roof docks to that system now. If the plank you are describing is a tapered one with a plywood skin, or a 12" wide one I could see that, but I'm not man enough to do that alone with a wide aluminum plank 24 feet long. I can get my 26 and my 36" 20 on my racks by myself, but I have to steel myself for it first, believe me. I have had a limited number of frames, just over a dozen, for thirty years, and I do use them fairly often for one thing and another, but rarely for a complete set-up. You have to have way more than that to go very far or very high, and a lot of accessories to boot. Hats off to those who keep and maintain an extensive supply. Carpenters I know love and use pumpjacks. I used to have them, too, but always hated them and one of the happiest days of my career was when I gave them away to someone who truly liked them. I often span sections of scaffold with aluminum pics to get more distance, or run an alum pic from the truck to the frames I have, sometimes at full scissor height, sometimes not. Sometimes you can pull the pins and start tilting to dump to achieve a perfectly level approach even. Figuring out how to do these things is at least half the fun, at least for me it is. Very cool. Body harnesses not included.

And by the way, lanny... "The best tool for comp tear offs that I have ever used is the "Shindig." I have roofed for over 40 years and tried every tool out there."

That is a fact. I've been in love with that tool since the first five minutes I used one.

---Yes, Old School, I concede that. As a roofer I do not own construction scaffolding. We always use ladder jacks and planks which I have installed by myself 30 feet up. I just drug the plank up about 15 feet and tied it. I then returned to the ground and took the other end to the top and tied it. I then returned to the first end, untied it and moved it to the top. I was using a 24 foot plank. ---My brother who does not like heights but does like handyman projects decided to replace all the windows in his 2 story house. He hired a scaffolding rental company to scaffold his entire house. They came out and installed it all level and professional with all planks, bells and whistles. It was hilarious to me. However, it made the window job nice and safe for him to pull the old windows, redo the opening and install the new windows and finish the trim. He kept that scaffolding up for 3-4 months.

Lanny

Very good Lanny! The only thing I would change is to use the sectional scaffold along the bottom. Especially if you are working by yourself, the small amount of time you would spend setting this up would save you a lot more time overall than it took originally. You would feel safer too and that sounds like it is important. You could have the lumber company deliver the OSB or plywood to the scaffold too and that would save you the effort of pulling it up to the bottom of the roof. A lot less ladder work too, and since I just had a knee replacement last week, that sounds very important to me. Tidalman, you should sign in on the thread that asks where you are from so that we know. Good luck

Thanks guys for all the really great information. I've been sweating doing this roof since it's so high up and with such a steep pitch and since I've always stripped from the top down I envisioned myself in a safety harness tied to the peak somehow which would be a major pain in the butt, not to mention really clumsy. Your ideas have made this seem quite feasible and safe and I really appreciate all the input!!!

---I have actually done this myself. ---Start at the top on toe jacks about 5 feet down from the ridge. Tear off enough to get 1 sheet of sheathing across the roof. ---Dry that in with a heavier than normal base sheet. I might use ASTM 30. ---Move down for the next row of sheeting. repeat... ---I agree with posts above but I DO NOT start roofing until the entire side is sheeted and papered. I think roofing from the top down is just too complicated and time consuming. How long can one side take to strip and sheet??? Even if it took 2 days you would be roofing on the 3rd day and if you have dried in your work in progress the weather should not be a threat. And I would not start this job in bad weather anyway. ---The best tool for comp tear offs that I have ever used is the "Shindig." I have roofed for over 40 years and tried every tool out there. I started with the Ames shovel with a "V" cut in the blade for a nail puller. Most other tools were just not very good in my opinion. The shovels with the fulcrum are terrible. They weigh too much and I use the shovel with one hand and stack the shingles with the other on a 4/12 tear off. The extra weight from the fulcrum makes one handed use way too tiring. Then the fulcrum makes the angle too steep. I now only use the "Shindig." ---I can haul one sheet of plywood up a ladder all by myself using a "Visegrip" tool clamped on one end of the sheet. It is quite easy as the "visegrip" gives you a great handle to grab with one hand while using the other hand to climb the ladder. I actually sheeted an 8/12 new construction roof with 3/4" plywood doing this all by myself. ---The bottom sheet I install off a ladder and usually I have ladder jacks and a 20' plank. ---I use the sheets of plywood to protect the house and grounds from the tear off falling. I also use a tarp(s) to speed up the clean up. I can clean up quite a bit quickly with a wheel barrow which a set up to roll into my truck off the plank. The tarp speeds up clean up. I also do something to protect the gutter as needed from debris damage. We might set up a row of jacks directly above or nail a strip of plywood over it. I have nailed plywood over the gutter extending out 5-6 feet to direct the tear off over garden/plants/bushes/deck and even into the truck depending on the lay of the land. A little advanced prep work can save a lot of time later. ---You need a nail gun for one handed plywood installation. We use A1-11 tacker tools for felt. ---I back roll the tar paper into 1/3 rolls on the ground for easier use. I cannot handle a full roll myself on a 12/12. I just need a piece to go across the roof once anyway and with a smaller roll I can install that in about 5 minutes. The next piece I install across the first piece at the line all the way to the end. Then I flip the top piece so it overlaps the bottom piece and tack the seem for wind protection. ---Now I have completed the sheeting. My ladder jack plank is set up at the gutter and I am ready to start roofing. I install one piece of the drip edge metal, starter shingles and start roofing. I get up a few courses all the way across and convert to toe jacks. I continue up the roof on more toe jacks until done. I complete the drip edge metal as well while roofing. ---This is a big job for one person especially if you are not an experienced roofer. Even one part time helper or ground person would make a big difference. I would have them cut all the plywood to fit on the ground and then hand them up. Otherwise you are up and down, up and down, all day long. ---Good luck!

Lanny

If you are doing it yourself, that would work fine.

I would just rent some scaffold and set it up along the bottom of the roof with full decking. You can get a dumpster to park along side of it and then throw the junk in as you go. That will give you a place to store your materials and also your new sheeting before it is installed.

Install roof jacks all the way up the roof at 4' intervals and start your tearoiff from the top. You will want to set it up so that the last scaffold jack from the top is about 5' down from the ridge. Tear off the top, strike a line down 48" and set your new decking to that line. If you are installing ridgevent, you will want to measure down 49 1/2 ". Use some good underlayment and dry that in and then repeat the process until you get tho the bottom. NOW, clean off the scaffold and have your shingles delivered on your scaffold. Strike some lines as-per-the-instructions on the packages, and start to shingle. Rrepeat the other side and you are done. That is how I would do it anyway, and we use a crew of about 4 of us.

I like GSD's suggestion, but I would also, before starting get several measurements of the distance between the eave and ridge across the the whole side. Who knows what 1860 tape measures were like? It would be valuable to know any variances that need to be allowed for before you were trying to tie it all together.

A heavier (rated) synthetic underlayment like Titanium 50 would be advised, it would allow more exposure time before you were able to finish a side.

start at the top and work down. Measure 4 ft from the top ridge, tear off all the way across, install your metal drip edge, tar paper and snap a line 3 ft from the top, start your shingles there, only nailing the very top of the shingle and then start shingling to the top nailing the rest regular. The next day, do the same and so on till you reach the bottom.

easy for one guy to do it and not have any leaks.