Cost to Remove Two Layers of Shingles

Layered roofs are an older-home problem, and Greater Victoria has the oldest housing in BC. In the decades when tipping fees were low and labour was cheap, many James Bay, Fernwood, Oak Bay and Esquimalt homes had asphalt laid straight over the original cedar shingles, and some were covered a third time in the 1980s. A roofer walking a 1920s Fairfield roof today will often find asphalt over asphalt over cedar over skip sheathing, which means the tear-off exposes gaps in the deck that need plywood before anything new goes on.

The 1960s to 1980s suburbs have the more common two-layer case: a second asphalt layer installed over the first in the 1990s to save a few thousand dollars. Gordon Head, Colwood and Sidney ranchers with a lumpy, wavy look at the eaves are the giveaway. Disposal is at the Hartland landfill in Saanich, priced by weight, and a double layer on a rancher can fill two bins where one would do.

Look at the edge of the roof at the eave or rake from a ladder or with binoculars from the ground. One layer shows a single thickness of shingle over the drip edge; two layers show a doubled step. Inside the attic, look at the underside of the deck near the eave: if you see cedar shingles between the boards, there is cedar under the asphalt. A roofer will confirm by lifting a shingle at a corner. Do not walk the roof yourself to check; the information is available from the edge.

• Doubled or lumpy edge at the eaves
• Wavy shingle lines across the slope
• Cedar visible between deck boards from the attic
• Roof looks thicker than the neighbour's at the ridge

Tearing off is manual: shovels, forks and bars, then loading and carrying to the bin. A second layer roughly doubles that labour and doubles the weight to be lifted and tipped. Old asphalt is heavy, around 200 to 250 pounds per square per layer, so a 24-square rancher with two layers has five tons of shingles to move. Our $0.75 to $1.25 per sq ft covers the labour and the extra disposal; Canadian guides express the same cost as a $1,000 to $3,000 lump sum for removal.

The surprise under a second layer is rarely the layer itself. It is what the first layer was laid on: cedar shingles on skip sheathing (spaced boards) in pre-1950 homes, which cannot take a new shingle roof without a plywood overlay, or decking softened by decades of moisture trapped between layers. In our model plywood over skip sheathing or replacement of rotten decking is priced at $7 to $10 per sq ft of the area involved, and a quote on a layered old roof should carry a decking allowance of $500 to $2,500 at minimum.

Most Greater Victoria roofers will not, and a layered roof is one of the few cases where the answer is easy. Every layer adds weight to rafters designed for one, traps heat and moisture, hides decking problems, and makes the flashings at chimneys and walls impossible to do properly. Manufacturer warranties usually require installation on a clean deck. Whether the building code or your municipality sets a hard limit is something to confirm with the building department; the practical answer from the trade is tear off.