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Is it okay to leave the old felt on?

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#43 ·
outlaw said:
I know of roofers around here that word their contracts "new felt as nessecary". These guys will try to save the old felt and even go with the old chalk lines if they can. Ride around all summer with the same 5 rolls of felt in the back of the truck.
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Handyman4u said:
I have done numerous tear off roofs and the felt usually would stay on. If some came off, then we would patch it where the felt was missing.
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Two more in Witness Protection.
Damn, those marshals must be
busy "around here." :whistling
 
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#44 ·
When I do a roof, as with a few other boys on here it is also in my contract that a COMPLETE strip down of ALL old roofing material, down to the sheathing to ensure that my customer gets the best possible roof for their dollar, meaning if there are any current or developing problems with the sheathing they are taken care of before they become a problem. I mean seriously, with what a roll of felt paper costs, and how long it takes to rip off, and clean up I kinda find it lazy when someone doesn't?! just my .02 cents
 
#45 ·
I see no harm in leaving the felt or the fasteners. He found rot and showed you, I like to nail my seams off so I would have pulled it. Too cold the shingle shatters, too hot it scuffs. There are hundreds of nails being punched in a sweeping motion not all will land flat. Underdriven nails are a bigger issue, they become exposed to the weather as they melt through the surface come summer. What I can see and I hate is such a close seam with a Timberland style. I three step, I thought I saw a seam like 4 inches away.
 
#47 ·
Since I woke up with a headache I thought I'd muddy the water. For those tearing off the old felt, how many go back and hammer flat/pull every old staple (assuming the felt was stapled)? My pet peeve is seeing rusty old one-leggers sticking through the new underlayment.
 
#48 ·
davitk said:
Since I woke up with a headache I thought I'd muddy the water. For those tearing off the old felt, how many go back and hammer flat/pull every old staple (assuming the felt was stapled)? My pet peeve is seeing rusty old one-leggers sticking through the new underlayment.
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*raises hand*

I do it at the same time as I'm pulling nails that the shovel didn't get and re-nailing the sheathing.
 
#49 ·
MJW said:
I agree with inspecting the sheathing.
Just depends on how new it is. :laughing:
Most good roofers will see and notice bad rotted spots without removing even the shingles. :laughing:
It won't hurt anything to leave it on.:laughing:
Alot of our roofs we just did a few years ago.
We don't waste the time tearing all the paper off all the time.
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:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Do you waste time getting a permit?
Tear off means just that.
Sheathing inspection comes before any ASTM felt.
 
#50 ·
What about possible damage

The only thing I could think of that would potentially be a problem is this. If you do not remove the old tar paper you will not be able to see potential damage hiding under it. There have been plenty of times that we've torn off and noticed ice and water damage on decking that needed replaced.
 
#51 ·
To the smarty pants' out there...............

Do you tear off the I&W too?

If you can't see water damage without looking directly at the sheathing, you aren't much of a roofer. It should be obvious.
 
#53 ·
to superman with x ray vision

yes I do tear off Ice and water whenever possible. and also replace dripedge. Valleys and some peaks are also completely stripped. When the roof is stripped I take 10 min to make sure there are no nails, staples or uneven boards sticking up that could take away from the finish product. Then I redu all I&W, dripedge, and tar paper to give my customer a complete job. We've done plenty of roofs and have never had a single leak or call back. I wonder if you can say the same thing?:jester:
 
#54 ·
We do hundreds of squares a year (for 20 years) and have had very few call backs or leaks. Have never had a call back or leak that ended up to be our fault.

If you are removing the I&W, you are doing more damage than good. I hope you have inspectors in your part of the country. We have inspections on everything.
 
#57 ·
JMWconstruction said:
yes I do tear off Ice and water whenever possible. and also replace dripedge. Valleys and some peaks are also completely stripped. When the roof is stripped I take 10 min to make sure there are no nails, staples or uneven boards sticking up that could take away from the finish product. Then I redu all I&W, dripedge, and tar paper to give my customer a complete job. We've done plenty of roofs and have never had a single leak or call back. I wonder if you can say the same thing?:jester:
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Not a single leak or call back,how many roofs you done.When you do several hundred a year,see if you can say the same thing.It happens to even the best of us,its part of the biz.
 
#58 ·
haha its funny. Every guy out there who doesnt have a job becomes a roofer. Why? Because its not rocket science. I did the roof on my own house with no prior roofing experience. Guess What? No Leaks! and its been 5 years! Saved thousands of dollars too! :D There were a couple company's localy that were doing roofs in my neighborhood, so I had them leave estimates. 5,000? I dont think so. These guys had Mexican's working for them that didnt speak a word of english. Now how much experience do you think those guys had before swimming the river? Exactly. Point being? Are there hacks out there who screw stuff up? Of course...but it doesnt take doing "hundreds of roofs a year!" to do a good job.
 
#59 ·
I agree with you about the mexicans and hacks, there are plenty of them especially now........That being said...yes it DOES take hundreds of squares to do a good job. If someone disagrees with that, they either have a simple house or they themselves are the hacks or scabs.
 
#60 ·
ok bud

That is not the face of someone I'd consider the "best of us". I guess looking like a complete Jack:censored:, cutting corners, and a farmers tan is something you have in common with these other posters. I'd take one look at your crazy mug and go straight to the local home depot and hire 5 of my own mexicans to do the roof.

I've been in the business long enough to know there are hacks out there who charge for materials they dont use, cut corners to get the job finished quicker, and are dishonest with the homeowners. Thanks for the business, I'm the one they call to come fix there leaky roof.

So in closing, it's probably not that big of a deal to leave the felt on. If you charge the homeowner to lay the felt then lay it. If they agree its not neccessary than f it. But don't reply to my post to patch your busted up consience for 20 years of jipping the customer
 
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