Laying felt onto a shed is a neat and practical way of covering a roof, as good quality felt is long-lasting and can withstand high wind and rain for a number of years. If you are looking for information about how to refelt a shed roof, you have come to the right place.

Fixing it into place can be done quickly and efficiently using the correct tools, and taking the time to ensure all measurements are correct. Whether you are applying felt to a new shed or replacing an old felt roof, we will take you through each step to completing the task perfectly.

Safety

Even at the height of a shed, you must make sure your ladder is fixed securely. You can still suffer injury by falling from this height when felting a roof shed, so wear the appropriate clothing, such as shoes with plenty of grip, thick gloves, and a hard hat.

This how to refelt a shed roof job will involve the removal of lots of nails, so have a box ready to store all of your old nails safely to ensure they do not become a hazard.

Standing on a sloping roof should be avoided as you can become unbalanced, working on the roof should be by using duck boards or a small ladder section secured attached to spread load and give a safe working platform with good grip.

Materials

How to refelt a shed roof? When felting a roof shed, you will need enough felt to cover the roof as well as felt adhesive and plenty of galvanised clout nails In addition, you will need a claw hammer, a pry bar, a brush for the adhesive, a knife with a hooked blade, and a spade if you are removing heat-bonded felt.

Before attempting to remove felt ensure the existing roof structure is sound and can withstand the removal of the felt and that the rood substrate will be in good enough condition to be re-roofed otherwise a new deck will be required

Before you can remove the old felt in its entirety, you need to firstly remove the barge boards along the roof edge. Any decorative pieces must be handled with care, so delicately slide the pry bar behind and wiggle the nail out of place, before placing it safely into your nail box. If removing the nail this way proves tricky, try using a spade instead.

If the felt has been bonded down with heat, it may prove a bit trickier to remove. A large, flattened spade will be one of the best tools you can use, so scrape away using any lifts or gaps in the felt to get started. This should be ideally done on a cool day so the bonding is not heated any further. Any nails used with the bonded system must be removed to avoid puncturing the new waterproofing.

Felt that has not been heat bonded will be easier to remove, and should be achievable using your hands alone.

With this removed, check for any stray nails or anything else protruding from the timber, as this could damage the new felt.

How to felt a shed roof - Preparing your new felt

Measuring correctly is extremely important in this instance, since you will have to accommodate for a certain amount of overlap. Beginning with the width of the roof, you will need to add an extra 50-75mm at both the front and back of the roof behind the barge boards.

Lay out the felt on a flat surface and measure out the desired width, using the lap joint as a reference point to keep your measurements level. Measure along the middle and edge of the felt as well to get a consistent width the whole way along, and then mark it out with a straight line. This will show you the first strip of felt that you will cut out.

After cutting this section, repeat the process for the other side of the roof. You should now have two large strips of felt that will cover the entire width of the roof. Don’t worry if they don’t completely cover the length, as we will talk you through how to felt over the ridge later.

How to felt a shed roof - Laying out the felt

First, decide how much overhang you need at the lowest edge of the roof, to prevent rain water dripping onto the underside of the roof. Roll the felt out onto the roof, and adjust it to accommodate for the overhang at the front, back, and lower edge. Place a temporary nail at the highest corners as you roll it out if you want to hold it in place.

Never hammer a nail completely through the timber so it is visible from the inside of the shed, but hammer it hard enough so that it sits flush against the felt.

Once you are satisfied that all of your measurements are correct, firmly hammer down the nails, and place more along the lap joint at intervals of approximately 150mm. Keep these nails in the top half of the lap joint to make room for the ridge nails later on.

Stop nailing once the lap joint is completely secure, and repeat the whole process on the other side of the roof.

To begin fixing the felt at the lowest edge of the roof, pull it taut in one corner and fix with a temporary nail underneath the eaves. Work your way along, nailing at intervals of approximately 120mm, ensuring at all times that the felt does not fold or bump at any point.

You can now move onto the sides of the felt. Pull it down over the side of the shed, and, starting at the higher edge, nail into place. Work down, and then fix the corner. This can either be done by folding the triangle of felt over to the side of the roof (to then be covered later by the barge boards), or by cutting along the corner of the felt and folding the two strips over themselves.

A larger clout nail will be required to hold this in place, as it needs to penetrate two layers of the felt. Repeat on the other side of the roof.

How to felt a shed roof - Laying felt over the ridge

Measure out the space that needs covering with a final strip of felt. This should start 10-20mm before the outside edge of the black lap joint on either side of the roof, so that both of them are covered over with felt.

Measure along the middle and bottom end of the shed to ensure your measurement is accurate the whole way along. Remember to accommodate for the overlap at the front and back of the roof along the gable.

Cut out this strip of felt, and place it on the roof. Temporarily nail it into place on one side of the ridge. Roll this back over itself to leave the lap joint on the other side completely exposed. You will need to securely hold the folded felt in place.

Apply the adhesive glue generously along the width of the exposed lap joint. Roll the felt back over onto the adhesive and hammer in nails at intervals of approximately 150mm. Place the nails in the lower edge of the felt, so they do not knock into any of the nails you initially fixed into the upper edge of the lap joint (this is where that forward planning comes in very handy!).

Remove the temporary nails from the other side of the ridge felt, and repeat the process of gluing and nailing. You can now nail down the felt at the front and back near the gable, folding the felt over itself at the top corner. Remember to use a larger clout nail to fix this down.

How to felt a shed roof - Finishing touches

You can now re-install the barge boards that were removed earlier. Check again that the felt is laying smoothly against the roof, and that nails are not protruding.

Covering a shed roof with felt need not be too tricky if you follow this guide on how to felt a shed roof. By measuring out your felt carefully, and following safety procedures at all times, you can fit your felt precisely and neatly, leaving your roof both protected against the elements and looking smart for years.