# Stripping a roof with Skip Sheeting



## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

The problem I see with your plan is if you let the roofer do it all he will strip, sheet, and get it dried in fast.

If you do the stripping and the sheeting how long before you’re dried in.


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## atmironov (Apr 27, 2010)

kwikfishron said:


> The problem I see with your plan is if you let the roofer do it all he will strip, sheet, and get it dried in fast.
> 
> If you do the stripping and the sheeting how long before you’re dried in.


I am very confident we can get the roof stripped and sheeted in three days....
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, then have the roofer start on Monday...


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

You can remove it all, be careful when losing the shear factor holding the gables plumb. Install a 12' 2x4 on each gable, inside to keep it there, nailed to a floor joist. Cut the roof into 2x2' squares for ease of removal and throwing down with some control..... Remove the sections as you cut them working them from the rafter while rest of rafter is still sheathed so it doesn't twist and break. Cut verticals in between rafters (center of bays) working from inside with a reciprocating saw and a circular saw from above first. If too many nails hold it after tipping one side down and prying on rafter with a short bar, try cutting most nails with metal blade after tipping. Usually the sections will work off with a 2x block wedge near rafter on main roof to pry against. Work carefully and think of what you are doing at all times, no radio, beer, etc. Wear dust masks! Take during and after pictures for us......... 
You may need an inspection, depending on LOCAL B.D.

Be safe, Gary
Be safe, Gary


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## atmironov (Apr 27, 2010)

Thanks for the tips!
The approached you described is exactly inline with what I was thinking.
Also, my though are to demo a 4x8 section and replace it with plywood before I move onto the next section... this way the rafters are never fully exposed.

One last thing...
Do you think 4 people could reasonable get this done in three days (sun up to sun down)?

Thanks again


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

Depends on their experience.... I would remove sections across the roof including the second row of new sheathing spacing from the gutter. Then standing in the second new row space, lay the first row (being held in shear by the fascia and blocking over the exterior wall. Nail 12' 2x4 cleats at the wall line on the new sheathing to walk on. Lay/nail the second row, more cleats across the middle of the sheets. Then remove 1+ more row leaving play room for the sheet on top. So you have 6' vertical exposed- plus overhang with rest of roof intact. Nail new ply, expose 5 more vertical feet, lay/nail row, etc. 
Remember the ridge vent--- baffled is best: http://www.oikos.com/esb/30/atticvent.html
Use a balanced system: http://www.airvent.com/homeowner/products/intakeSoffit-specs.shtml
Seal the air leaks: http://www.rd.com/how-to-seal-attic-air-leaks/article18158.html

Be safe, Gary


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## seeyou (Dec 12, 2008)

atmironov said:


> Thanks for the tips!
> The approached you described is exactly inline with what I was thinking.
> Also, my though are to demo a 4x8 section and replace it with plywood before I move onto the next section... this way the rafters are never fully exposed.
> 
> ...


My 2 cents: Do not remove the skip sheathing. I've done 100's of these type re-roofs. One had seven layers total on it. 

If you remove the skip sheathing you will temporarily loose the shear strength as noted above. There's also a possibility of the roof racking if you tear everything off one side and leave all that weight on the other side. Also, with the skip sheathing in place and using plywood clips, you don't need to end the sheathing on a rafter. This type construction is notorious for having odd spaced rafter centers. If that's the case here, you'll be wasting sheathing material and the time it takes to cut each sheet. 

Pick a plane, tear everything off down to the split sheathing. The split sheathing gives a good sound place to lock your toes into. You can start sheathing at the top so you're nailing comfortably in front of you instead of having to bend back over or having to attach cleats to stand on. We often do the dry-in as well as we come down, especially if we're using 4' tall synthetic underlayment. 

You didn't say how big this roof is, but an experienced 4 man crew would likely get about 25 squares done in three days. An inexperienced crew will get a phenomenal amount done the 1st day. One of them will sustain a minor injury and not be able to work the 2nd day. The other three will be sore and tired and less enthused, especially toward the end of the day when they realize that they got less than half of what they did the 1st day done. 

My advice is to go for it. But, tearing off a 4x8 section and stopping to sheath and dry-in is an enormous time waster. Farting around trying to cut through all of that roofing material and the sheathing with a sawzall will waste an incredible amount of time. The blade will clog frequently with shingle tar. You'll be constantly switching fasteners and tools in your belt. The nail gun will be in the way when tearing off. Tear off one plane, sheath it, dry it in, have a beer, get some rest. Do another plane the next day or check the weather and see if you can get another plane partially done and tarp it over night. You're gonna have a lot of debris to clean up. 

Good luck and have fun.


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## seeyou (Dec 12, 2008)

One more thing: Move everything out of the attic and put down a tarp. You're gonna fill the attic up with dust and small pieces of cedar shingles if you leave the skip sheathing and with chunks of roof if you do go ahead and cut it.


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## framerman (Mar 30, 2008)

seeyou said:


> One more thing: Move everything out of the attic and put down a tarp. You're gonna fill the attic up with dust and small pieces of cedar shingles if you leave the skip sheathing and with chunks of roof if you do go ahead and cut it.


Good call with skip sheathing. 

I would leave the skip and lay the ply over that. However, that may create an issue at your gables and you may need some rake moulding to hide the edge of the ply.


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## Lulimet (Jul 26, 2010)

How many squares of roofing are there?
I too recommend not to remove the skip sheathing. You're asking for trouble because of your rafters are 2x4. I actually can't believe some genius thought that 2x4 is ok to use as rafters. That's pretty crazy if you ask me.

Good luck and be safe. :thumbsup:


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## atmironov (Apr 27, 2010)

The roof is about 1700sq ft... That's 17 squares right?
As for the spacing on the rafters they are at 32" on center... So an 8' sheet of plawood will fit nicely on three rafters. 

How do you Guys recommend taking off the roofing layers? Just get a roofing shovel and go at it? (assuming we are goingto leave the skip sheeting)


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## OldNBroken (Jun 11, 2008)

Did you ever consider paying him the $6500 to t/o and resheet and you shingle it? :laughing::laughing::laughing: You may be better off. 

Is 1700 sq the footprint of your house or is it the actual square footage of the roofdeck? I'm thinking it's footprint. If it is the roofdeck I'm headin to the bay area. $400/sq for a tearoff and $450/sq to shingle it? Sign me up! What kind of shingle is he putting back on? 

BTW, don't re-invent the wheel. It will take you just as long (if not longer) to do it your way than if you do it the way we've all been doing it for decades. Also your way will cost you more in material on top of that. 

Best of luck. If you've never done a tearoff before, you're in for a real treat. Keep us posted on progress

OnB


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

I tore 5 layers off my old house
Lotsa fun
I could literally just grab the shingles & peel them back
Top layers were just in tar...not sheathing
Get plenty of gatorade & water


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## OldNBroken (Jun 11, 2008)

Ya'll coulda got some practice on this 4-layer tearoff! :thumbup::thumbup:


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## Lulimet (Jul 26, 2010)

LOL
what type of building was that?


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## OldNBroken (Jun 11, 2008)

It's a dam.


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

Darn big, too!

So were you one of the dam roofers pictured?


Be safe, Gary


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## OldNBroken (Jun 11, 2008)

Atmironov, how goes the project? 

GBR, I was taking the pictures. Crews dread it when I get involved anymore because generally it means I'm pissed at the way they are working. Customers just expect me to make their project turn out like the last picture.


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## atmironov (Apr 27, 2010)

Alright...
The roof has three different sections.
The first section is 20' wide with 7' of head room and is about 40' long
The second section is 17' Wide with 5' of head room and is about 10' long
The third section is 13' wide with 4' of head room and is about 10' long

I think that I will leave the skip sheeting in place and just strip the roofing off of it.
I am in San Francisco, and my house touches our neighbors house on the 20' long section. (and the peek of the roof is over 30' up)
For the other two section, I have no problem just pushing the debris into our backyard, and our neighbors...
What would you suggest for the part of the house where I can't just push it off the side?
All the debris need to go one of three ways...
1. Off the front of the house. (That means renting a debris bin, and chute)
2. Off the rear of the house. (That means protecting a small portion of roof on the 1st floor, and pushing debris into the neighbors yard on the other side
3. Into the attic and bucketed down 2 flights of stairs.

Also, what tools do you guys recommend I get for the work...
I already have an air compressor and nail gun for the plywood...
I know I need some tools to strip... but what would you recommend. 

Finally, any suggestions on how to easily get the plywood up to the roof?


Thanks for all the help, and am starting to get really excited for this project.
However, it probably won't happen until October. Right now we are replacing all the brick foundations with Concrete, adding a garage and living room... The contractors doing the concrete and steel work won't be out until October... and thats when we can start on the roof.
If anyone is interested, I am posting lots of pictures of the work here:
www.mironovcentral.blogspot.com


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## OldNBroken (Jun 11, 2008)

Wow, you've got quite the project there. Think you can post a street-view picture of the whole house? Can't really tell how to get the debris off the roof by just a description. As far as getting plywood and material on the roof, best bet would be possibly seeing if your roofing contractor's supplier would be willing to come boom the plywood up for you all at once. Don't know how friendly they are down there but up here our suppliers usually do odd things like that for us to keep us happy. 

I can tell you you DON'T want to put the debris in the house and carry it down. Sounds like you aren't comprehending just how much debris you are removing. It doesn't look like much while laying flat on that roof, but once you tear it up it grows exponentially. If you can at all help it, don't let it touch the ground either. It's really miserable having to handle it more than once. If there is any way to stage a dumpster or dump truck somewhere you can move it across the roof and straight into the truck, it will save you a TON of labor.


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## atmironov (Apr 27, 2010)

I am having a terrable time getting a google satellite view jpeg, but the address is 639 central ave, San franciso, ca 94117, so check it out. 
Do u have suggestions on tools?


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## seeyou (Dec 12, 2008)

atmironov said:


> I am having a terrable time getting a google satellite view jpeg, but the address is 639 central ave, San franciso, ca 94117, so check it out.
> Do u have suggestions on tools?


Here you go:


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## atmironov (Apr 27, 2010)

Here...
The roof isn't modeled exactly correctly, but it give a pretty good idea what I'm up against.




































And one from across the street


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## Luv2Roof (Apr 22, 2010)

Another option is that you could contract directly with a tear-off contractor . I know that would deny you the fun and games of a roof rip 
laughing but you would be amazed at how fast they can go! I dont know what the SF premium is, but the rates are real reasonable in the central valley.


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## Robert F (Aug 18, 2010)

That is not a job for diy,if someone falls from that height thiers going to be problems.:whistling2:


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Robert F said:


> That is not a job for diy,if someone falls from that height thiers going to be problems.


With proper gear & safety harness it is very much a DIY job


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

I’d rent a Sky Trak for a few days, build a box for debris that you can dump.
You have to get the plywood up there anyway.

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&...ource=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=910&bih=602#&prmdo=1


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## Jim F (Mar 4, 2010)

By the looks of things, you can't just push your debris of the slope side of the roof. That is going to create a lot of labor. I don't envy you that tear off. Plus, it is a long way down if somebody falls. I don't know about SF weather but around here the roofers prefer to work in late fall to early winter due to the heat up on a roof so your Oct. start date is probably a plus.

Here is a question you should ask some pros: Are 2x4 rafters 36 inch on center adaquate for this roof and what could be done to beef up the roof if not? Actually, that's two questions.

It will be easier to view your pics if they are just posted on this thread. You might think about asking Dave to move this thread over to the project page under maybe a different title.


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## Lulimet (Jul 26, 2010)

Jim F said:


> Here is a question you should ask some pros: Are 2x4 rafters 36 inch on center adaquate for this roof and what could be done to beef up the roof if not? Actually, that's two questions.


Actually I looked at the pics again and it looks like the rafters are 2x8 but I agree that I would add more rafters to beef up the roof structure.


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## OldNBroken (Jun 11, 2008)

Lulimet said:


> Actually I looked at the pics again and it looks like the rafters are 2x8 but I agree that I would add more rafters to beef up the roof structure.


As long as there were no issues with it holding up the existing roof, why would you suggest it is not adequate for the new roof? That doesn't make sense. 
Looks like he's got enough work cut out for him without adding unnecessary stuff.


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## Jim F (Mar 4, 2010)

Well he's at least got to address the one that's broken. They look bigger that 2x4 to me also.


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## atmironov (Apr 27, 2010)

Jim F said:


> Well he's at least got to address the one that's broken. They look bigger that 2x4 to me also.


They are only 2x4s...

Anyways, I think we are getting ready to pull the trigger.
I managed to get the roofer to agree to set up a chute for us for an extra $200.

The plan is to start next Friday, but the long ranger forecast doesn't look too good.

I'll keep everyone posted.


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## WillK (Aug 29, 2010)

If you leave your skip sheeting, you can probably use a lighter thickness of plywood. Maybe less of an issue if you have 4 people, but when I was doing that by myself 3/4" would've been a no-go.


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