Big mistake… I asked my neighbor to re-roof my porch. He’s a carpentar so I thought he could handle it, but he did a bad job on the roof. He tore the new granular surface he was working with and tried to cover it up by putting roofing tar on it. He also tried sealing the seams by putting roofing tar on top. He did a number of other things wrong that will have to be fixed, but right now I’m wondering about the tar. I guess maybe he used the wrong kind of tar, because every day the sun hits it and it melts. There are many rivers of tar draining into the gutter. I can see using tar to temporarily patch an old roof and buy time, but he was trying to cover up problems with his installation, as far as I can tell.
The roof is pitched 12/3, so I am going to have someone else put shingles on top of the granular surface. Seems like that would be ok. I’m just worried about the tar coming out from under the shingles when they get hot. It wouldn’t affect the waterproofing but it would not look so great. It’s a front porch roof so aesthetics do matter.
Do you think it’s ok to put shingles over top? I guess I should ask this new guy to remove as much of the tar as possible first?
I have checked references on the new guy, and they checked out well, but you never know. He says putting shingles on top will be fine. I do know that my neighbor put down paper under the granular surface, because I was watching at that point.
A lot of real professionals do bad work, unfortunately. Like I said, I’ve checked references on this new guy, and from talking to him he seems to have a better technical understanding of how roofs work. But since I can’t afford to make another mistake, I thought I would ask if the idea of applying shingles over top of tar patches seems doomed… or if it can work, like he says.
It depends on what those “tar patches” were really made with, but the fact it migrates now doesn’t bode well for the future. It is obviously heat that makes the “tar patches” migrate into the gutter, and sandwiching the “tar patches” isn’t going to make them cooler; that is for sure.
I’d be curious to know what your carpenter buddy used.
Shingles on top? That’s the question. I realize it’s not standard. But can it work? To put the question another way, why tear off what’s there? It doesn’t have any width to it, so it seems like you could nail through it the same as paper. Thanks.
I’m not talking about the flashing. The flashing will get torn out.
Do you want the right answer or do you simply want someone to tell you to shingle over what is already there? I believe you already got the correct answer but if you keep this thread topped long enough, I’m sure a couple of people will give you the answer you obviously would like to hear.
Here is why these pro roofers recommend that you should just rip off the bad roll roofing:
It won’t cost much of anything to tear it off and haul it off by a decent roofer.
The tar is an awful mess, and it may keep oozing down the gutter. It already virtually ruined your gutters.
From your picture, it looks like there is a bubble in it (maybe more than one). If that is not removed, your roof will look awful as long it is on your house.
Believe me, the guys who posted absolutely did give you the correct advice. They always do. Please have your roofer tear off the roll roofing (and the felt if it is wrinkled). Then, any decent roofer can put down the right roof for you.
The answer to your question is NO it will not be ok to install shingles over what you have there. The shingles will blister where all the roofing cement is built up.
If the roofer you have lined up said it would be ok to install shingles over what you have there then I disagree with his opinion.
