tearing off shingles on ice and watershield

Yea i agrre probably even more so - I think it is all a marketing scam by the manufactures to make up for all the hack roofers out there who cannot install a roof without having back up protection -- in my opinion if the primary system fails the whole roof is toast. I have torn off more roofs than i can count with no felt or I & W that never had any problems until it got covered in a plastic bag - even the synthetic felts do not breathe very well.

As far as removing the decking to get the I&W off we typiciall just put a new layer over the top -- even some of the shingles are still stuck to it normally all the shingles except a 1 inch strip comes off and if you go back on with dimensionals you never even notice -- 3 tabs are a different story you can see a little variation where the stuck 1 inch strips wont come off.

minnesotaroofin Said: Yea i agrre probably even more so - I think it is all a marketing scam by the manufactures to make up for all the hack roofers out there who cannot install a roof without having back up protection -- in my opinion if the primary system fails the whole roof is toast. I have torn off more roofs than i can count with no felt or I & W that never had any problems until it got covered in a plastic bag - even the synthetic felts do not breathe very well.

As far as removing the decking to get the I&W off we typiciall just put a new layer over the top -- even some of the shingles are still stuck to it normally all the shingles except a 1 inch strip comes off and if you go back on with dimensionals you never even notice -- 3 tabs are a different story you can see a little variation where the stuck 1 inch strips wont come off.

For decades, I thought that "secondary roof protection" was overrated. Then I moved to Texas where the rain blows sideways. My first job here in Texas was a roof leak call. The water had damaged the drywall in the middle of their "great room". I went there confident that I'd find a leak near a chimney, vent or pipe. Nope...the leak was in the middle of a clear section of roof. There were no signs of entry point ANYWHERE. I finally decided that we had to take off shingles at the leak point to see what was happening. The result? The felt had been torn and folded upward exposing the wood deck. Water was blown up and under the shingles and entered in that one spot.

I fixed the felt, re-shingled and I checked two years later and they hadn't had any more leaks.

The roof was a 9/12. I think it had 25 yr 3 tab shingles.

I now believe that secondary weather barriers are necessary.