This is the 7th post in a series for the DIY She Shed. In this post, I’ll show you how I installed asphalt shingle roofing. And yes, this can be a one-person DIY project.
If you want to start from the beginning of the shed build, you can find the planning post here. Then check out the foundation build here, the DIY brick floor here, the wall framing here, the siding here, and then the roof framing.
OK, now let’s get to our DIY She Shed Roofing. Here is our starting point with the roof all framed.
Disclaimer: I’m showing you how I installed this roof for informational purposes only. Please do you own research and make sure you understand how all roofing parts work together before attempting your own roof. I learned most of what I do from this great roofing installed guide from GAF Roofing.
Roofing Basics:
Remember this one rule of thumb with roofing: Upper sections overlap lower sections!! This way, as water flows down-slope, it will always stay above the roofing. Got it? Cool. That’s the main thing you need to know. Remember it!
Drip Edge:
Start with installing your 2 inch x 2 inch minimum drip edge along the eaves. This is very bottom element so it needs to be installed first. That way, upper elements overlap it! Leave the gable or rake drip edges alone for now. Here is the drip edge along the short eave. It’s a bit tough to see because it’s white and I primed the fascia board before nailing the drip edge in place to help protect it against rot.
Here is the drip edge at the long eave.
Underlayment Ice & Water Barrier:
The roof needs a protective layer called an underlayment before laying down the asphalt shingles. There are many products out there now that will work. The more old-school option is felt paper. I opted for some more modern products that I had leftover from a previous roofing project.
The most protective underlayment (and most expensive) is a sticky asphalt-based, peel-and-stick, underlayment referred to as Ice and Water barrier or Stormguard. It comes in long, heavy rolls with the sheet about 3 feet wide. I measure out the length I need on the ground and hoist the heavy cut section to the roof. The full roll was too heavy for me to manage on the roof. Just remember to cut the section slightly longer than you need. You can always remove the excess once it’s up.
First, I applied this on the low-slope long eave as that area is more susceptible to water issues. The ice and water barrier I had happened to be gray. You can see it on the low slope eave here. It extends up the main roof a bit to provide a good underlap.
Then, I applied it on the opposite side. I saved a small bit to use for skylight flashing later.
Underlayment Feltbuster:
Next, to finish off the underlayment on the roof ridge, I used what I had left of synthetic roofing underlayment called FeltBuster from GAF. This is NOT peel-and-stick, so it needs to be nailed down with roofing nails. Read the product directions for nail spacing. This overlaps the lower peel-and-stick underlayment.
Here you can see the Feltbuster on the gable roof.
If you look closely (click on the photo to expand it) on the gable rake (edge of the roof), you can see I installed the gable drip edge. The drip edge goes OVER the underlayment on gable rakes instead of under as you saw on the eaves. This is to prevent sideways wind-driven rain at the gable from getting under the underlayment.
Here is the Feltbuster on the other side. You can see the gable drip edge installed here as well.
Spoilers in the photo above! I started the roof shingles with the starter roll. The starter roll is that black line along the bottom of the eave. You start from the bottom so that upper sections overlap lower sections, remember!
Aspalt Shingles:
Did I mention it gets hot in the summer here? Yeah, it gets uncomfortably hot with 100 degree F days. So while I love a dark roof, I chose form over function here and went the the whitest asphalt shingles I could find, Shasta White laminated architectural roof shingles from Owens Corning. They are “cool-rated” and “energy efficient” when used on a standard home. I installed these on the Main House and did notice the house seemed to stay cooler in the summer.
Follow the directions on shingles for proper installation based on your area’s windspeed. You can use a nail gun to help things go faster. But I didn’t have one on-hand, so I hand-nailed those shingles in place! You can do it. It takes a little longer but really isn’t that bad. Here is the shingle progress on the skylight side. That scaffolding was soo worth it, made this install WAY easier.
I used the starter shingle rolls on the gable edges as you can see in the above photo. They help keep the shingle edges from lifting up under heavy winds.
Next, I installed the two skylights with a lot of caulking on the flange, caulk over the nail heads that went through the flange, and I used that leftover Ice and Water barrier as extra flashing over the flanges. Then I continued shingles as normal. Here are the skylights in place!
Roll Roofing:
I basically did the same roofing process on the other side EXCEPT that I used a roll roofing on the long eave due to it’s low slope. Roll roofing is peel-and-stick, very much like the Ice and Water Barrier underlayment. The only difference is that it has colored granules to match the shingles. I used white to match the Shasta White. Bonus: It goes on super quick.
Here you can see the roll roofing in place. I used two strips that are about 3 feet wide so it extended up unto the main roof quite far. That’s OK, more overlap is good.
Next, with the roll roofing on the long eave, I started the standard shingles on the main gable roof and worked my way up. Here is a progress shot from that side.
Ridge Shingles:
You can buy shingles specifically shaped for the ridge called Hip & Ridge Shingles to install along the very top of the roof. I think they look nice, but they are pricier than typical shingles. For the shed, I opted to save some money and simply use leftover shingles. I cut them in 1/3 lengths and bent them over the ridge line. Then, I simply nailed then down each side of the ridge and overlapped them like you normally would. The very last ridge shingle will have exposed nails. I covered them with large globs of exterior-grade white caulk.
That’s it! Here is the finished She Shed roof!
