Hi Victor, There shouldn't be any problem with shingling a roof this time of year so long as you aren't doing it over snow. RJ said he thought that shingles are less likely to be damaged in cool than hot weather, I am not sure I agree entirely with that, it is probably a matter of degree, in my experience cold asphalt shingles get pretty brittle. The ears are easier to press to speed alignment of the shingles when they are warm but that is the concern of the contractor. If they are stripping the roof first that should go a little easier.
It is probably a slight advantage that the sealing strips don't get well stuck down too early on as well, the shingles will settle and shape before the hot sun fuses them. These days the crew will probably have power nailers and those shingles will go up really quickly. While they are at it you should probably ask about ice dam. This is a three foot wide strip of rolled material like the shingles which is rolled out along the bottom edge of the roof just at the eve, the part of the roof deck that hangs out over the edge of the house and in most cases some distance above that. The bottom most several courses of shingles are laid over this. It prevents any snow melt from freezing as it passes over the edge of the building and forming a dam ultimately allowing water and subsequently ice to creep back up under the lower courses of shingles and lifting or otherwise damaging them. The cost is about nothing. It may be code where you live, apparently it is code here in new construction but oddly, not in renewing. Ask too about inspection and repair or replacement of any failing roof decking. Depending on the age of the house it may be shiplap boards or more likely these days it will be plywood but have them replace any bad looking pieces while the shingles are up. Don't think I can think of anything else, there are things like ridge vents you might want to add particularly if you will be adding more ceiling insulation to be sure any moisture will be evaporated before it freezes and accumulates over the winter and drips through the ceiling. If this hasn't been an issue to date and you aren't about to be making other changes then this will not be necessary. Hope this is helpful. Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype DaleLeavens Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. ----- Original Message ----- From: Victor Gouveia To: Blind Handyman Listserv Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 9:43 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Laying Down a Roof Hi All, I have hired a contractor to lay down a new roof on my house. While I realize that the best times and climate is to do it in the summer, is it still possible to do a good job when temperatures are sitting close to zero degrees Celsius, or 32 Fahrenheit? Unfortunately, due to other stuff that had to be done in the house, we have had to postpone the roofing to later this month. While we have not had snow yet, and the temperatures are still above freezing in the daytime, we are hitting close to freezing at night. Is this still doable, or am I looking at something bad happening if the roof gets laid down now? Any help would be appreciated. Victor Gouveia [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
