When you first bought your house, you never imagined that you would need to do any structural work to it. But then, after a heavy night of rain, you found a giant puddle on your living room floor, and a huge wet spot on your ceiling. That's when you know there's a problem with your roof.
When you're on a tight budget, having a professional fix your roof can get really expensive really quickly. So you decide to do it yourself. Shows like Flip or Flop and Fixer Upper have made it look easier than it is. Even though it isn't easy, it isn't the hardest thing in the world, either. Follow the steps below, and you may save yourself a lot of money, and have a solid, new roof to boot.
This step is the most important one because you need to know how labor intensive your job will be, and how much of your roof needs to be fixed. You'll have to climb up and see what you're working with. If you're lucky, it's only a small area, and if you're unlucky, it's the whole roof.
The average person can spend anywhere from $300 to $1,100 to fix a portion of their roof. If you have to replace the whole thing, you could spend between $3,000 and more than $7,500. The easiest way to not spend more than you have is to set a budget. All your materials will be factored into this budget, and since you're doing all the work, you won't have any labor costs. You've already saved money!
Now that you have a budget, you can start looking at materials. One type of roof style that is popular on a standard ranch-style house is an asphalt roof. Let's use this as an example. Materials you will need are as follows:
Step 4: Build Your Roof
Before laying new shingles, first tear up old shingles with the crowbar and shovel. If the wood underneath is damaged, replace with new plywood. You'll then put down the felt or tar paper and make a chalk line as a straight edge. Then cut shingles to size before nailing in place. Attach drip edge to edge of roof. Place boots on anything attached to roof, such as pipes. Place the venting system over the top of shingles and secure. If ice shield is needed, install where needed.
Step 5: Admire Your Handiwork
You did it! You built a roof. Good job. Sit back and enjoy what you have accomplished. Maybe use some of the money you saved by fixing it yourself to buy a nice celebratory dinner. You earned it!
