How do you roof a house?

1. Planning

Measure the roof in squares, choose a shingle line and matching accessories, check permit requirements with your city or county, arrange a dumpster, and watch the forecast. Georgia adopted the 2024 International Residential Code with state amendments on January 1, 2026, which governs details like drip edge, underlayment, and fastening.

2. Tear-off and deck inspection

Old shingles and underlayment come off to bare decking. Every sheet is checked; soft, rotted, or delaminated sections are replaced, and loose sheathing is renailed.

3. Edges and underlayment

Drip edge goes on at the eaves, then leak barrier membrane in valleys and around penetrations, then underlayment across the deck, then drip edge on the rakes.

4. Flashing

Step flashing is woven in where the roof meets walls, chimneys are flashed with step and counter flashing, and new pipe boots go over plumbing vents. These details cause most leaks when done poorly.

5. Shingles

Starter strips go along the eaves and rakes, then shingles from the bottom up, nailed in the manufacturer's nailing zone with the specified number of nails and offset pattern.

6. Ventilation and ridge

Ridge vent or other exhaust is installed and balanced with soffit intake, then the ridge and hips are capped.

7. Cleanup and final checks

Magnetic sweeps pick up nails, the roof is checked for exposed fasteners and loose flashing, and the final inspection is scheduled if the permit requires one. For what this looks like from the homeowner's side, see what to expect on roof replacement day, and for the parts involved, roof anatomy explained.