Old House Roof Sheathing

We plan to replace the roofing on our 100 year old house with architectural asphalt shingles that can stand up to the occasional hurricane we get around here.

Old house roof sheathing.

Due to the location of this roof which will receive runoff and snow from adjacent roofs silva ran the ice and water membrane all the way up the roof a belt and suspenders approach lapping it up the sidewalls. Never attach roof sheathing with staples. If your old house has 1 inch dimensional sheathing 1x4 or 1x6 or greater you can use plywood or osb for the replacement even if you re only partially replacing your roof. While heavily embossed metal panels can be laid over old asphalt shingles a full tear off of the old roof is recommended.

Wha to do with old roof sheathing photo by kolin smith. He also carried the self adhering membrane over the joint where the fascia meets the sheathing. The typical thickness range for sheathing is 3 8 to 3 4 inch. While we re at it should we also take off the roof s original board sheathing which is still sound and replace it with plywood.

Tear off the old roof. Shingles which must permit air to circulate under them are now often placed on a special membrane that permits circulation. More recently however most roofers recommend solid sheathing on the roof to give the house additional resistance to movement or shear strength. This old house general contractor tom silva prefers this route even when the roof is just a single layer so he can find the source of any water damage upgrade the flashing and install.

Roof sheathing comes in grid marked 4 by 8 foot sheets and should be installed perpendicular to the frame. More expensive because of the additional labor and materials peeling off the old roof down to the sheathing is your only option if you already have two layers. Sheathing should be a minimum of 19 32 inch thick. The old sheathing boards are likely three quarters of an inch.

8d ring shank nails should be used instead.