Ok to replace roof in winter?

[RogertheShrubber]

Hi all, I have an 80 year old house with three layers of asphalt shingles. A few, 2-3, shingles had come loose during the fall and I decided that it would be a good idea to replace the whole thing. I was hoping to make it until this spring/summer, but in the last week we have had some storms with very high wind gusts (Westchester County, just north of the Bronx, NY) which pulled off a 4' x 20' section of the top layer of shingles. No visible leaking has occurred yet, even with downpours, but I do not want to risk major damage.

I'll need to strip off all the old layers and probably will go with asphalt shingles.I called a contactor and told him the situation. He said that I should wait until it gets warmer because the shingles will break more easily in the cold weather.

Was wondering if the above statement is true? If there were a week long period without snow or rain could I get the job done? Would it be better to try and fix the spot where the top layer shingles have fallen off and wait until warmer weather to redo the whole thing? Is it ok to wait without doing anything because I still have two layers underneath?

Maybe I just got unlucky with this 1st contractor and should seek out more bids/recommendations.

Thanks for any help/advice.

RCH

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, In cold weather shingles will not stick togehter after installed. As long as there is no leak, doing in warmer weather is better. Tony

[RicodJour]

I'm on LI and your area is only a couple of degrees colder than here, generally, and the temperatures we've been experiencing would be no problem for shingling. Here's a link to the weather for Mount Vernon for February.

The tear off will take a day, and the shingling shouldn't take more than a couple or three depending on the complexity of your roof and what repairs to the sheathing need to be made.

The shingles will seal better in warm weather, but they're unlikely to blow off even if they haven't fully sealed unless there's a major wind storm.

You should probably look into the difference between asphalt shingles (relatively rarer nowadays) and fiberglass shingles (more common) and make sure you're asking for the correct item.

That's an awfully large section of lost shingles, and there are going to be a lot of holes. I wouldn't wait too long to fix it. If you decide to do a temporary repair, ask the roofer to nail up some roll roofing - it's cheap and quick and will keep you water tight in the interim.

R

[I R Baboon]

when you do replace it, use architectural shingles and not the cheap 3 tab ones

[Al Bundy]

We're having a mild winter here and still I see lots of roof jobs pending. That is, they have covered leaky portions with blue tarps and are waiting for spring. Roofing is done all year long though. New houses are constructed and they sure don't wait for spring to shingle them. The ideal condition is spring or fall type weather. A lot depends on the integrity of the workers to use care and not go ahead and apply a cracked new shingle and not walk on the new shingles and so on. Don't worry so much about leaking because of a missing shingle on a roof that has three layers anyway. Remember, the water has to penetrate the paper underneath before it can leak. If the missing shingles are up high and there is a good slope to the roof, there is far less chance of a leak. All in all, I'd wait until the weather improves before having it done. This is a job where estimates can be high or low by a factor of 100%. You want somebody with a good reputation at a reasonable price. Unless you know what the average cost per square should be, you need to get several estimates to get a feel for the pricing.

[trader4]

"All in all, I'd wait until the weather improves before having it done. "

I agree with that. If you can easily get by with a temp fix until spring, that's what I'd do. Soemone pointed out that it's unlikely the new shingles would get blown off, even if they don't seal for months because of cold temps. That is true, but if high winds from say a northeaster were to come along, which isn't all that uncommon, you could have a real problem. Why take a chance?

[RicodJour]

All the water has to do is find one of the thousands of nails to create a leak. The missing shingles have exposed an upper edge of one or more courses of shingles - this is effectively a dam and water will work it's way under.

True.

Another reason to look into it now. Come the warmer weather everyone will be looking to have their roofs done and the prices will most likely be higher.

My take on it is the OP should start getting estimates now and leave it to the roofer to keep him dry until the roofer feels comfortable doing the tearoff and finishing it.

R

[HotRod]

I prefer to lay shingles in cool weather for several reasons.

1) They don't stick together or get soft when you are working with them. 2) They come apart easier.

The shingles will not "Seat" untill you have had a few nice hot days though. BUT it wouldn't stop me from shingling in the winter.

[lwhaley]

I have worked on a roofing crew in very cold weather (Minnesota winter). We were willing to work anytime the high temp would be predicted above zero. The problems suggested are true but should not prevent you from performing this task. Cooler weather can actually be easier on the workers because heat exhaustion is a real issue for roofers. More and more contractors find it neccesary to work the year round despite the weather and are finding creative ways to get the job done. Ice and snow are the major drawbacks to working on the roof in the cold but are not a problem after the tear off is done. When it gets below zero we would run into problems with compressors, tools, and hoses but bringing them inside each night mostly solved the problem.

[Dan_Musicant]

:Hi all, :I have an 80 year old house with three layers of asphalt shingles. A :few, 2-3, shingles had come loose during the fall and I decided that it :would be a good idea to replace the whole thing. I was hoping to make :it until this spring/summer, but in the last week we have had some :storms with very high wind gusts (Westchester County, just north of :the Bronx, NY) which pulled off a 4' x 20' section of the top layer of :shingles. No visible leaking has occurred yet, even with downpours, but :I do not want to risk major damage. : :I'll need to strip off all the old layers and probably will go with :asphalt shingles.I called a contactor and told him the situation. He :said that I should wait until it gets warmer because the shingles will :break more easily in the cold weather. : :Was wondering if the above statement is true? If there were a week long :period without snow or rain could I get the job done? Would it be :better to try and fix the spot where the top layer shingles have fallen :off and wait until warmer weather to redo the whole thing? Is it ok to :wait without doing anything because I still have two layers underneath? : :Maybe I just got unlucky with this 1st contractor and should seek out :more bids/recommendations. : :Thanks for any help/advice. : :RCH I was hoping to make it through my winter before a total tearoff of my

95 year old house's roof, but an early storm convinced me to get it done, when I couldn't figure out how to stop a leak. It was, just prior to the rains when they did the job, and mostly it was quite dry and warm. In that, I was lucky.

You could get more recommendations, but I think you can wait until warm weather. A 4' x 20' section of the top layer is exposed. You don't detect leaks. You are probably alright. I assume you are going to tear off everything down to the skip sheathing and lay on CDX, felt and shingles. If there's any problems, they will fix them, but you probably won't have any. Maybe you have good plywood over your skip sheathing already, but in an 80 year old house, I doubt it. If there's some damaged ply, they can just replace it. If it gets all new ply (the CDX), then it's all new anyway. I think you'll be fine. You could try tarping that small section, if you are nervous. Trying to get it all done in a short dry spell sounds risky to me and nervewracking. Yes, they can tarp against rain/snow, but it will be easier on everybody if you wait for warm weather. Good luck.

Dan

[Dan_Musicant]

:We're having a mild winter here and still I see lots of roof jobs :pending. That is, they have covered leaky portions with blue tarps and :are waiting for spring. Roofing is done all year long though. New :houses are constructed and they sure don't wait for spring to shingle :them. The ideal condition is spring or fall type weather. A lot depends :on the integrity of the workers to use care and not go ahead and apply :a cracked new shingle and not walk on the new shingles and so on. :Don't worry so much about leaking because of a missing shingle on a :roof that has three layers anyway. Remember, the water has to penetrate :the paper underneath before it can leak. If the missing shingles are up :high and there is a good slope to the roof, there is far less chance of :a leak. :All in all, I'd wait until the weather improves before having it done. :This is a job where estimates can be high or low by a factor of 100%. :You want somebody with a good reputation at a reasonable price. Unless :you know what the average cost per square should be, you need to get :several estimates to get a feel for the pricing.

I second the notion of getting multiple estimates. I got 4 and if I were to do it again I think I'd get at least 10! Try to make sure you get good references and check them out. You want to be confident that your roofer and his workers know how to do the job right and will be committed to doing it right. In my case, I believe the company that did the job was just too big, with too many crews (12). I'd go with a small, but experienced and highly reputable company who also has a reputation for very reasonable bids.

I did get architectural shingles. They cost a little more, but are thicker and solider.

Dan

[hallerb]

A landlord of mine once replaced my roof in the late fall. the self sealing tabs never got hot enough to seal that winter and by spring there was dust between the shingles. just try sticking masking tape to dust and you get the picture:(

3 years later the shingles were lifting despite liberal doses of roof cement and he was forced to replace the entire roof again...

he readily admitted he waited till the weather was too cold to reshingle.....

dont make the same mistake

[RicodJour]

I can't tell what happened in your situation, but I can tell you that dust wasn't working it's way up under the shingles and interfering with the bond. Where would the dust come from and how would it get up under the tabs (assuming tabbed shingles)? What's the motive force carrying the dust? There's no air blowing up under the shingle and no water flowing there either.

I've removed/patched shingles that were everywhere from a week old to years old, and never seen a difference in the amount of material/dust under the shingles. There was basically none.

Again, I don't know what happened in your particular situation, but I've roofed and reroofed at all times of the year. I've found shingles on north facing slopes that never sealed, despite years of exposure. I've installed shingles in near freezing temperatures that sealed perfectly when the weather warmed up and the sun hit them.

The sweet spot of the year for shingling is spring going into summer. Roofing requirements, as well as business concerns and contractor scheduling, often dictate a much broader time period.

R

[RogertheShrubber]

As a follow-up, I've started to check out contractors. I was told by one that I have a "tongue and groove" roof under the shingles. The house was built in the late 20's. This meant that I would not need to have plywood added. Just the winterguard, underlayment and shingles.

Should I be worried about possible replacement of these T&G boards? If they are original to the house, they could need replacing which sounds expensive. Can I put plywood over the T&A boards or is this excessive?

Thanks for all your advice!

RCH

[RicodJour]

Probably not necessary. Replace the boards as necessary.

BTW, the boards are probably shiplap, not tongue and groove - much more common for sheathing back then.

R

[lwhaley]

Without tearing off, I don't know how this person could know what type of roof deck you have. Whether it is "tongue and groove" or just skip sheathing you can be pretty sure they are solid boards and not plywood due to the vintage of the house. Modern houses have plywood, old ones solid boards. If replacement of the boards is neccesary you might be able to replace just some of them. Replacement of the boards can be tricky though because the thickness of modern boards is usually different than the old ones and because of the cost of solid boards. This is why it is common to put plywood over compromised sheathing and it would not be considered excessive to do so. This may add more to the cost than replacing a few boards but should be quite an structural improvement over 1920 vintage sheathing.

Here is a relevant link:

[Norminn]

What are architectural shingles?

[RicodJour]

aka dimensional shingles. Not three tab.

R