Bought a house and going to make it a rental.

Pitch of roof is 1.5:12 and should never had shingles put on it. Prohibited by state building codes. It is 2000sqft, has one ridge, no valleys and has 3 layers of shingles on it. Needs replaced.

Going to go with a metal roof. Estimate(s) call for removing at least 1 layer so was thinking of DIY to cut some costs. Can dump the shingles at a local asphalt plant.

Seems fairly simple to remove them but is it?

Anyone with experience please chime in.

MANY years ago I helped a neighbor do shingle removal. We used flat shovels and once you got under the layer you could just work up prying as we went.  I was mid-teens and it was summer in alabama. Sweated my ass off. Then there was cleanup...loads of work. Enough so that the guy I was helping stopped us after we had one side done (full day btw) and let the pro roofers do the other half and reroof.

Point being the pros probably aren’t charging you THAT much extra for the pull off. Metal roofs are expensive enough that doing the pull off probably just isn’t worth your time.

Since it’s for a rental (business) you can likely deduct all that prep work. But your call.

I wouldnt hire anybody that had removing just one layer as an option.

If you're going to do it, you go right down to the deck and start fresh.

The worst part is cleanup. There will be nails everywhere. The make shovels designed for removing shingles. You might call around and see if you can find a shingle hog to rent. You will need an air compressor to run it.
Actually removing the shingles isn’t hard unless you have never worked and are completely out of shape.

A Spading Fork is what you seek.

Lay tarps or dropcloths on the ground, if you can, to catch all the nails and other crap.

You can't really just take one layer off.  That decking hasn't been seen in AT LEAST 30 years (probably closer to 50). you WANT to get all the way down to the decking (and plan on replacing some).   And yeah, it's just work.   They make special roofing shovels.  You'll need dumpsters (or dump trucks), tarps, magnets, cat's paws (to get the nails out of the deck).   Just pay the roofer.  but make sure you inspect when it's cleared.  so to ensure that any boards that need replacing get done.   This is really your only shot to fix/repair/replace the decking.  do it right.  The decking protects the  house, the tar paper protects the decking, the shingles protect the tar paper.  

You'll probably want/need all new flashing too.  This is a major job that has been put off for years and years.  Hope you got your money's worth when you bought.  

Remove all 3 layers.

I prefer this type:

This

Removing even 3 layer of shingles is just time and labor with the right tool they leverage up easy.
Once you get in a rhythm it goes quick.
Pick up takes longer if you just huck them off the roof, if possible pre-stage and dump right in the truck or dumpster.  

One of the issues you may run into is weather if your uncovering the roof and it gets wet.
You may need to replace sheathing, 3 layers old and lots of nails so it's been awhile since the sheathing has been uncovered so rot could an issue.
Roofers are notorious for not keeping a schedule, calling off the job for days.

Beats trying to rely on tarps when a thunderstorm rips though.

Thanks for all the responses.

I kinda figured taking off all 3 layers would be best. Would have to in certain areas anyway because the pitch is so low that water gets up under the shingles when it rains and has rotted the soffit and probably the sheeting there.

Thing is under the shingles is the original hot tar roof.

I had gotten some estimates for a rubber/PVC roof but it is my understanding that those can't have any contact with any petroleum products (shingles/tar) and all of it would have to be removed. All of those estimates came in around $6k just to remove all the shingles and tar.

It would be easy to station a dumpster to throw all the crap in and I have a couple grandsons that could stand to learn that manual labor is more than hooking up an Xbox.

Way back in the 1970s I did a fair amount of renovation and tearing down of old colonial era houses. I was low on the totem pole and got involved with much of the roof removal.

Yeah , on many jobs a certain shovel or fork can ease the toil but each roof has its own story. Different ways to have been nailed , different length nails and different deck materials all
contribute to the misery of the end job.

Also remember that as soon as you crack the job the weather will work to kick you in the ass  .

Having a crew of professionals that can call in a bigger crew or special equipment if problems are encountered and also has insurance if all else fails can be a gamechanger.

I would also agree 100% that this roof has been mistreated (wrong materials and too many layers ) and the deck needs to be examined very closely before building up any sort of new roof.

I hope the OP has planned for what could be a real can of worms under all that nasty old roof , I would be quite surprised if there isn't a lot of repairs that need doing

Those two statements mean you need to strip to the sheathing. Even the hot tar roof needs to go. Water has most likely penetrated all roofing layers. You need to get it down to wood.

Yup... and wood is super not-cheap right now. Rated 1/2" or 5/8" ply is $$
Plus sofits and gable end boards (if I read shape correctly).

Not being a ball buster... just giving heads up.

Replaced my roof this past Fall. 3300 sq ft. single level home. Three ridges, three valleys, 4:12 pitch.  $17,300 for the best GAF made.
Being an older home (1974) we had to do some venting work...think Tacoma Hood Scoops added to roof at bird block locations (closed sofits).

Yeah I know but it makes you want to throttle the people that talked the previous owners into the shingles. They were elderly and clueless about building codes.

The good thing is the home is next door to me and lake front. I've owned it for 2 years and in that time have had several offers to sell so renting it isn't going to be difficult.

Association of Old Crows (EW) member?

I was. Crane Roost

Retired EWC

I used a Malco beast shingle shovel tool. It’s extra rigid for getting nails out. Ripped the whole thing off my hip roof in about 6 hours with my brother helping.

If you were closer I’d let you borrow it.