I’m planning to replace my whole roof but someone suggested me to cover the existing roof with the new one I’m not sure that it’s good for my home or not I f you guys have some knowledge about this specific issue kindly share it with me.

Reroofing generally involves removing the old shingles and installing new ones. Doing it that way allows you to make any changes to your roof, such as adding more ice & water shield or drip caps or an additional attic vent, or whatever.

However, shingling over shingles is done all the time too. If I recall correctly, it's not a good idea to have more than three layers of shingles on a roof because the weight of the shingles (plus the potential snow load, IIRC) can get close to the roof's load bearing capacity. That's something you need to discuss with your roofing contractor. But, removing the old shingles and cleaning up can be a fair bit of work, so your roofing contractor should offer you a lower price for just putting new shingles over what you have now.

You can also put torch down roofing over old torch down roofing on flat roofs too.

On Tue, 21 May 2013 08:50:57 +0200, dereklawler
wrote:


I’m planning to replace my whole roof but someone suggested me to cover
the existing roof with the new one I’m not sure that it’s good for my
home or not I f you guys have some knowledge about this specific issue
kindly share it with me.

Can be done. If the existing shingles are not curled and the roof
deck is in good shape with not leaks yet, you can do it. There is
some savings for the labor and cost of hauling, but keep in mind, if
you are still here for the next roof, it will be more costly to haul
away a double roof.

In any case, be sure to use a good 30 or 40 year shingle. Same labor
costs for the good stuff so it is a better value if you are going to
live there for a while.

On Tue, 21 May 2013 08:50:57 +0200, dereklawler
wrote:


I’m planning to replace my whole roof but someone suggested me to cover
the existing roof with the new one I’m not sure that it’s good for my
home or not I f you guys have some knowledge about this specific issue
kindly share it with me.


Depends on the structure but most homes can withstand a new layer of
roofing on top. Personally I prefer not to do this because I think
the new roof is still depending on the roof underneath to a degree and
if you have any rotten wood, you may not know it. This is what
happened when I reroofed my home 2 years ago...discovered some rotten
wood when removing the old felt paper. At the time, I did not have
any leaks.

On Tuesday, May 21, 2013 1:50:57 AM UTC-5, dereklawler wrote:
I�m planning to replace my whole roof but someone suggested me to cover

the existing roof with the new one I�m not sure that it�s good for my

home or not I f you guys have some knowledge about this specific issue

kindly share it with me.









--

dereklawler

We had a steel roof put on over shingles and there are not dents or ripples....even after all the walking the 4 people did up there. It's been nearly a year and has been great through the winter.

On Tue, 21 May 2013 08:50:57 +0200, dereklawler
wrote:


Im planning to replace my whole roof but someone suggested me to cover
the existing roof with the new one Im not sure that its good for my
home or not I f you guys have some knowledge about this specific issue
kindly share it with me.

Ask the roofers bidding on the job. If any say they can cover the old
roof, ask the cost difference for a tear-off.
Always have 4-5 bids on the job unless you know it yourself.
Don't know if the roofer population supports that where you live.
Nobody here can see your roof.
Personally, an extra few hundred bucks for a tear-off is worth it to
me. The roofer can see and replace any rotted boards/sheets, and the
new shingles will lay better and look better. Have him put in a new
roof fan if you have one.

On 5/21/2013 5:47 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Tue, 21 May 2013 08:50:57 +0200, dereklawler
wrote:


I’m planning to replace my whole roof but someone suggested me to cover
the existing roof with the new one I’m not sure that it’s good for my
home or not I f you guys have some knowledge about this specific issue
kindly share it with me.

Can be done. If the existing shingles are not curled and the roof
deck is in good shape with not leaks yet, you can do it. There is
some savings for the labor and cost of hauling, but keep in mind, if
you are still here for the next roof, it will be more costly to haul
away a double roof.

In any case, be sure to use a good 30 or 40 year shingle. Same labor
costs for the good stuff so it is a better value if you are going to
live there for a while.


That's what I did, over twenty years ago, and it still looks great.
I was told you could re-shingle over existing shingles once.
The longer warranty, textured type shingles that I got hide defects like
curls in old shingles.

On 05/21/13 07:56 am, Bob_Villa wrote:
On Tuesday, May 21, 2013 1:50:57 AM UTC-5, dereklawler wrote:
I�m planning to replace my whole roof but someone suggested me to cover

the existing roof with the new one I�m not sure that it�s good for my

home or not I f you guys have some knowledge about this specific issue

kindly share it with me.

We had a steel roof put on over shingles and there are not dents or ripples...even after all the walking the 4 people did up there. It's been nearly a year and has been great through the winter.

Most of the steel roofs I'vee seen are much too shiny. Are there some
with a truly matte finish?

Perce

On May 21, 7:49*am, "Doug" wrote:
On Tue, 21 May 2013 08:50:57 +0200, dereklawler

wrote:

I’m planning to replace my whole roof but someone suggested me to cover
the existing roof with the new one I’m not sure that it’s good for my
home or not I f you guys have some knowledge about this specific issue
kindly share it with me.

Depends on the structure but most homes can withstand a new layer of
roofing on top. * Personally I prefer not to do this because I think
the new roof is still depending on the roof underneath to a degree and
if you have any rotten wood, you may not know it. * This is what
happened when I reroofed my home 2 years ago...discovered some rotten
wood when removing the old felt paper. * At the time, I did not have
any leaks.

+1 Re-roofing is a major job. The additional cost of doing
a tear-off is significant, but it's not huge, maybe 10% or so.
It gives you the advantage of fixing any rotting wood, inspecting and
fixing the flashing. It reduces the chances of having problems
with the new roof later.

On May 21, 8:14*am, Vic Smith wrote:
On Tue, 21 May 2013 08:50:57 +0200, dereklawler

wrote:

I’m planning to replace my whole roof but someone suggested me to cover
the existing roof with the new one I’m not sure that it’s good for my
home or not I f you guys have some knowledge about this specific issue
kindly share it with me.

Ask the roofers bidding on the job. *If any say they can cover the old
roof, ask the cost difference for a tear-off.
Always have 4-5 bids on the job unless you know it yourself.
Don't know if the roofer population supports that where you live.
Nobody here can see your roof.
Personally, an extra few hundred bucks for a tear-off is worth it to
me.

I agree it's a good idea and I would do the tear-off.
But it's more like $1000+ for the an average home.
Just the cost of the disposal of the old shingles, typically a
dumpster, is a few hundred bucks. The you have all the
labor. And on top of that, beside
what they quote you, roofing contracts have a charge of about
$50 a sheet for any plywood replacement. Without a tear-off,
that won't happen. With it, good chance they will find a couple
sheets that need to be replaced, depending on the age of the
house and that gets added at the end.





*The roofer can see and replace any rotted boards/sheets, and the
new shingles will lay better and look better. *Have him put in a new
roof fan if you have one.

On Tuesday, May 21, 2013 8:10:54 AM UTC-5, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:


Most of the steel roofs I'vee seen are much too shiny. Are there some

with a truly matte finish?



Perce

Mine is light gray matte.

thanks to all of you guys its a great response from you all thanks again for your valuable words.

Have you installed the new roof already? Can you post some pics on here and also share with us which contractor have done this.

Back in Dallas, Champion Windows did a great job on our roof. They covered by old roof with the new one. It's very common and actually adds more protection. Check out this: http://www.championwindow.com/dallas...t-windows.aspx

On May 21, 2:50*am, dereklawler
wrote:
I m planning to replace my whole roof but someone suggested me to cover
the existing roof with the new one I m not sure that it s good for my
home or not I f you guys have some knowledge about this specific issue
kindly share it with me.

--
dereklawler

As many others have said, adding a second layer can be done but a tear-
off is far better. Checking for bad sheathing, installation of ice
shield, a truly flat surface, etc. can all be accomplished better with
a tear-off.

In addition, some shingle manufacturers have better warranties on the
same product if it is the only roof on the house and the installation
instructions for the "system" - ice shield, proper weight felt or
other underlayment, shingles, etc. are followed precisely.

In addition, additional layers can impact how your gutters work, how
your trim fits, etc. since you are raising the height of the roof by
the thickness of all the new materials.

I would get 4 - 5 quotes for both methods as well as the thoughts of
those giving you quotes and then weigh the advantages of a complete
tear off against the cost.