Instructions

• 1). Gather and purchase the materials and tools you'll need. Shingles are sold by the "square." Start by measuring the length and width of your roof. Multiply that number to get the square feet and divide by 100 to determine the shingles needed. Buy 10 percent more than you'll need and get 2 -1/2 pounds of roofing nails per square. You'll also need ridge shingles, asphalt roofing cement, flashing material, #15 felt roofing, #90 mineral surface roofing, a heavy duty stapler, staples, tin snips, a chalk line, a hammer, ladder, work gloves and a pry bar.
  
  
• 2). Repair problems with the roof's structure. Pull out loose nails and shingles. If you have more than 3 layers of shingles already on your roof you will need to pull them all off. For just a few that are loose and missing, use roofing cement and nails to apply new asphalt shingles.
  
  
• 3). Shingle valleys where two sections of roof meet at an angle. Put mineral surface material over the valley and cover it with an 18-inch wide strip of flashing which you secure to the roof with nails at the outer edges and cement on the center edges. Put down a 36-inch wide piece of roofing felt. Staple it to the roof. Cut asphalt shingles to fit the valley size and use cement and nails to secure shingles.
  
  
• 4). Cover your roof with felt. Start on the edge of the eaves. Roll out the felt and staple it. Move above the felt and roll out another layer. Continue until you have put felt over the entire roof. Make sure to layers overlap each other by two inches.
  
  
• 5). Go the center of the roof and mark with a chalk line. Put down a start strip of asphalt shingle on the bottom edge. Let it hang over by 5/8 inch. Make a chalk line on top of the starter strip and start applying asphalt shingles. Use four nails spaced evenly across the middle of the shingle, hammer directly down, not at an angle. Continue applying shingles outward to the roof's edge. After completing one row, start a new row of shingles, continuing until you finish the roof. Make sure to place the cut-out part on the edge of the shingle directly over the center portion of the shingle underneath it.
  
  
• 6). Take care of chimneys and pipe vents. Start by applying mineral surfacing material around pipes or chimneys, then cut flashing to fit around the chimney or pipe making it wide enough to extend outward by six inches. Cut 7- by 10-inch strips of flashing to go against the sides of the chimney. Use cement and nails to secure the flashing. Apply asphalt shingles over flashing around chimneys and pipe vents using cement and nails to secure them.