New Roof Over Old Roof

Let s start with the good.

New roof over old roof.

Replacing a roof can be expensive but if a roof contains only a small slope it s possible to raise the roof pitch of a house by building a roof over the old one. Installing a new roof over an existing one also called a layover or nailover is often possible although not always the best option a properly installed layover roof can look and function as well. Roofing over your old roof can save you around 1 000 on installation costs because the roofing company won t have to remove and dispose of old shingles. Asphalt shingles can be laid over cedar shakes or shingles however this is a roofing project best left to pros.

It can save you money at the time but it might actually end up costing you more in the long run. Before you reshingle a roof read our step by step guide for adding new shingles over old ones. Beveled wood pieces called horsefeathers must be laid along the thick edges of the shakes to make a fairly flat surface. Installing new roof shingles over old effectively doubles the weight of the roofing so you have to make sure your roof structure can handle the extra load.

That s also why building codes commonly limit re roofing to no more than two layers. You can save money because there s no dump fee for removing your old roofing and there s no need for additional felt paper over the old roof.