HOW TO FELT A SHED ROOF – Felting a shed roof properly prevents water from entering your shed and potentially ruining all your garden tools and furniture. In this useful guide we show you how to felt a shed roof the right and easy way.
Step 1
Place a ladder on the side of your shed. Make sure the ladder is sturdy before climbing up. Walk up a rung or two to test that is doesn’t move about. A shed roof is not that high but accidents do happen and even at small heights injuries can happen, so do be careful when using and climbing any ladder.
Step 2
Inspect your roof for cracks and old deteriorating felt. These are easy to spot and often than not a felt roof, that is deteriorating, will start lifting or bubbling in certain areas.
Step 3
Remove all the old felting, including all the old nails, completely from the roof. Clean up as you go, as this will make the area much easier to work with.
Step 4
Calculate the amount of materials you need. Measure the width and length of the roof and add an overlap of about 8 inches on the overall length and width for the front and sides.
Step 5
Once the old felt has been removed check the roof timbers, the plywood or timber sheeting and roof joists, to make sure they haven’t sustained water damage or have termites. If the timbers have been well treated in the past you should have no problems.
Step 6
If your roofing timbers are fine, consider giving them a coating of wood preserver. This doesn’t take long to do and will ensure the timbers last a long time – remember, it’s better to take the time to preserve the wood than it is having to go out, spend a lot of money buying a new shed and then having to take the time to erect it.
Step 7
Lay your first strip of felt by starting from the side. Don’t forget to overhang this by about 8 inches as this overlap hang will be folded down and nailed into place to protect the eaves and fascia boards.
Step 8
On each strip you lay overlap the strips by 6 inches. This will create a nice water barrier, but make sure you overlap and not under-lap it.
Step 9
Smooth out your felt using a plank of wood the width of your felt strips. Start from the middle and work your way out.
Step 10
Once you have covered your entire roof it’s time to secure it in place with galvanized nails. Tack the felt to the roof every 3″ or 4″ and work along each of the overlaps that you have.
Step 11
On the side and front overlaps nail these down the felt every inch or two to ensure it is secure and won’t rip up in a heavy wind.
Helpful Tips
It’s a good idea if you seal any felt joints the bitumen. This will definitely stop any rain water from seeping under the felt and rotting the shed roof timber boards.
Acknowledgements: Video - B&Q
