Metal Roof Installation Over Shingles

Bored of seeing those shingles covering your roof? May be it is time for a change! What do you think? When you are talking of that, how about having a metal roof over those shingles? Just a metal roof can be a good alternative to roofing shingles. But in case the arrangement is not like that, you can still have metal roofing over shingles. Although there are a few architectural and construction related concerns, they will be described as the article progresses.

Installing a Metal Roof over Shingles

Earlier, metal roofs were a part of houses which were designed only by architects. Recently enough conventional houses too have metal roofing. But as mentioned earlier, even if the house does not have a metal roof and there are shingles, the roof can be built over it. Take a look at the metal roof installation instructions.

#1
Gathering the supplies and tools is the fundamental task at hand. You will require -

• Pine boards
• 3-inch wood screws
• 1 ¼-inch roofing nails
• Hammer
• Drill or screwdriver
• 5/16-inch lap screws
• Notching scissors
• Closures

#2
Begin with making a slat board base on top of the shingles and then you will have to lay some 1 by 4 inch pine boards in length on your roof at every 2 feet. These will be attached to the roof with the help of 3-inch wood screws in each corner. The boards have to be laid from bottom to top.

#3
Now around the perimeter of your roof, install a metal edging. For every 4 to 6 inches nail the edging to the roof using 1¼ inch roofing nails. The next thing to be done for installing metal roofing over shingles is to install metal roofing sheets, one by one. On a single section of the roof, lay the sheet from top to bottom. Once again you will require 1¼ inch metal wood screws for fixing the metal sheets with the wood slat board base.

#4
With a distance of two feet, place the screws on each side with the screws in the center just for the first metal sheet on the roofing. The next sheet will ideally overlap the first one and this pattern will be continued every time when you install a new sheet.

#5
The next thing on the cards is installation of overlapping screws, post covering of the roof with metal sheets. Fix the sheets with the help of 5/16-inch lap screws, where there is an overlapping of the metal sheets. The distance between the screws has to be four feet. Installing the metal trim along the edges of the roof and the top ridge follows the fixing of screws.1/4 inch metal wood screws, 2 feet apart have to be fixed for this. For making the metal bend over the ridge, use notching scissors for notching the metal in the center. This is important when installing metal roofing over shingles.

#6
The bottoms of the metal sheets have to be closed now. That portion will not be totally attached to the roof unlike other parts. 1/4 inch metal wood screws, fixed at every 2 feet can be used for fixing the bottoms of the sheet to the roof.

#7
Last, but not the least for installation of metal roof, install closures by just pushing them in the openings. They will seal themselves as they are self adhesive on a side. These are useful as these prevent water and insects and other unwanted material from getting through openings.

This was a basic overview of metal roof installation over shingles. When you actually do it, it might turn out to be more difficult than reading about it! But no worries! You can always hire someone to do this for you! But remember there will be some pros and cons of installing a metal roof over existing shingles. You can think of installing a metal roof over shingles if there are less than four layers of shingles on the roof. Otherwise drop the idea. You can talk about that to a concerned professional. He can also tell you about the installation cost and allied costs.

However, last but not the least, if you are going to turn this into a DIY project, remember to take all the precautionary and safety measures. This is where I sign off!