# Winter time, whats your methods on roofing early with frost?



## NCroofer (Dec 15, 2009)

The best scenerio I like to use is while taring off before we leave that evening we roll run of felt from ridge to where we will place the ladder giving us a walk way to ridge to tare off.

When roofing we make walk way(with run of felt down to ladder) then place a tarp covering whatever section we desire to start at til frost is gone.

Right now it snowed 16inches here and we have a house 3/4 roofed just have garage left and the snow is sitting on a tarp(ofcourse we have triflex felt under the tarp) so in the am were gonna pull the tarp to the ground with snow(hope the gutter doesnt come with it shouldnt though we put new screws in for guttering:yes

Anyone else have any ideas that may help us or any other roofer get an early start?


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## blageurt (Dec 15, 2009)

I always have a rope wherever the ladder will be , and everyone has a harness on and thier own rope after that. I also have my torch with me just in case I need to melt any Ice. Sometimes I will sacrifice some new shingles to nail where it is especially slick. Other than that I usually try not to start jobs in inclement weather...


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

We don't roof below freezing for quality control reasons. The shingles have a strong likelihood of not sealing down and thus increases the chance of blow offs.

As a rule we also do not try to do lay overs so if there were front it'd just be torn of with the shingles, so no worries there. Also as a rule we try to never tear off more than we can roof back in the same day, again there's no frost to worry about on exposed felt or ice shield. 

Always use proper safety precaution weather there be frost or not. That includes roof brackets and 2x6's as slide guards as well as always bungeeing the ladder to the gutter. I have had ladders blow over on me, so I always get in the habit of bungeeing the ladder to the gutter if I am going to step off the ladder and onto the roof.


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## Ronin01 (Feb 3, 2010)

I was running hail claims in Wisconsin, right on the UP border, during the winter a couple of years ago. I met a roofer to look at a job and he was still roofing even though it was about 15* out. I asked him if the shingles would seal down, he showed me the back of his box van he had on site. He had it set up with a pizza oven where he was warming shingles. He told me if he waited for warm weather he would only get to work about 5 months a year.


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## Jasonthompson (Jan 25, 2010)

Im with grumpy on this I never tear off more than I can't seal back up again in a day. Plus I have put on shingles in very cold weather around 0-5 mark no fun at all, but thats what the contractor wanted that i was working for. But now that I have to put my name on the job I try not to go below 32 degrees at least when I'm installing.


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

The majority of the winter time roofing we do is repairs. The majority of the installation jobs we do during winter are new construction. Builders care more about budget and schedule than quality.


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## red_cedar (Mar 9, 2009)

What I did last winter in Feb. Tearoff the whole roof, section at a time waterproof with "sharkskin comp" cap nailed . , then covered the underlayment with tarps for the snow. 
Shingles ( Presidential TLs.) were handnailed. Material was not stacked but each bundle was laid flat.
Worked out very well. little a extra time becusae of the tarps but snow removal was easier.
Colder days worked in the sun, warmer days worked on the north side.

Generaly dont do many shingle roofs in the winter.


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## Slyfox (Oct 30, 2008)

Hope Grumpy don't faint and fall out of his chair when he reads this, but,
I "mostly" agree with him on the winter work.
We seldom do winter time re-roofs but when we do we never tear off more than we can put back the same day.
We do work below 32 F tho, but only with very light to no wind and atleast partially sunny, thus no wind chill effect making it feel even colder than the actual temp. We have worked with temps in the teens.

I just finished a new build and have two more setting under felt waiting for me to start. No way the GC or HO is gonna want me to wait until early March to come out and roof them.


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

32 is only guideline. really everything I say is a "guideline",because EVERYTHING has to be taken on a case by case basis. If it's 25, bright and sunny and barely a wind. Sure you can make that work, maybe, probably. However if it's 35 and a 20 mph bone chilling wind and cloudy, chances are that's a day off. 

For example, if you ask me if we roof in the rain... Well if less than 30% chance of rain forecasted no problem. ore than 30% we make it the customers decision. Chance of 50% or greater no chance of work. Having said that, it's only a guideline. There have been many days where 305 chance was forecasted and you look outside and it's seconds for raining. Then again there have been days where 50% chance was forecasted and it was bright and sunny with not a cloud int he sky. Go figure. You have to take it on a case by case basis on a daily basis. Winter is the same.


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## BBDERR (Feb 18, 2010)

*tarps the night before*

I work in the metro Detroit area where winter weather sucks pretty bad. We start tarping our work area the night before starting around halloween thru april. That way we have a nice dry are every morning to work on. The 10-15 minutes it takes at the end of the day is well worth it the next morning.


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## ronbryanroofing (Mar 25, 2009)

Winter sucks? Where? Here in Vermont we were roofing while it was snowing in South Carolina last week. 32 degrees? We might just loose some layers for that kind of heat wave! 

Seriously frost sucks. here in Vermont we see frost from October and springtime until mid April. We tend to realize what orientation we are in respect to which side gets hit with the sun first... oh the warm illusive sun. Fixing 2x4's to either ends of the tarps make covering roofs fast, even with wind. Same way we hang from facia on multi story tear offs protecting walls and windows. 

Its also nice to leave the buckle and rope dangling for safety first harness up as you skate on the frost.


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## bpcroofing (Feb 17, 2010)

Here in the UK this has been the coldest for 30/40 years, no mortar work, no work on metal roofs, too cold really to torch down felt -8 this morning.Another day taking it easy until the frost lifts.
USA weather on East Coasts are even worse I believe.To let you understand we have had 24 inches snow lying at one point a month ago-thats nothing compared to some states.How do you manage?


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