Cleaning Of Your Roof: Learn How to Clean and Inspect the House Top
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It´s best if you look for any nails sticking up on your roof while you´re tearing off. On your way down, constantly scan for nails sticking up and pop them out, trying to get them in the trash bin. Make a game of it. You don´t want any nails from the shingles left. Nails that are not in rafters will tend to pop out and will come right through your shingles.
Once you have an entire plane cleared, go over the ridge and lay down. Site down the newly cleaned plane and look for any nails that may have been missed. Chances are your back side will find a couple on the way down, but you´re looking for the ones your back side missed. Certify that the plane is clean before you move on to the next one.
As far as keeping your house dry inside, let me tell you that it´s all about layers of protection. No one layer does it all! What that means is, if any layer is compromised, you have that much less protection and will be depending even more on subsequent layers. So start clean, the felt will do better, which means the shingles will do better. Accidents happen. If someone tears your felt and puts a hole in it, don´t throw them off the roof. Patch the hole and go on. The point is though, do your best to limit those ´accidents´.
Once you have an entire plane cleared, go over the ridge and lay down. Site down the newly cleaned plane and look for any nails that may have been missed. Chances are your back side will find a couple on the way down, but you´re looking for the ones your back side missed. Certify that the plane is clean before you move on to the next one.
Roof Inspection
While you´re tearing things off, look for water damage in the underlayment. Now´s your chance to fix any structural problems, take advantage of it. It´s also a good time to add a skylight. If you have a chimney or other roof protrusion, like a vent, take a look at the flashing. With chimneys, try to save the old flashing. Not to reinstall, but to use as patterns for the new flashing. For roof vents, try to preserve the flashing if it´s in pretty good shape. Don´t bend it unnecessarily or puncture it.Sweep Your Roof Clean
If everything looks good and the whole roof is ripped off, get a push broom or a yard blower and sweep or blow the roof clean. Any pieces of debris, no matter how small, should be removed. Little slivers of wood, no matter how ´flat´ they look, tend to push through felt (especially when stepped on) and then later through your shingles. You want that roof clean! (Ladies, if you´re reading this, don´t let him skimp on this step.)As far as keeping your house dry inside, let me tell you that it´s all about layers of protection. No one layer does it all! What that means is, if any layer is compromised, you have that much less protection and will be depending even more on subsequent layers. So start clean, the felt will do better, which means the shingles will do better. Accidents happen. If someone tears your felt and puts a hole in it, don´t throw them off the roof. Patch the hole and go on. The point is though, do your best to limit those ´accidents´.