How To Felt a Shed Roof
There are several reasons you may want to felt a shed roof. The shed may be old and the felt needs replacing, or the shed roof may have been damaged by wind or rain. If the roof has holes in it, this can let in water and damage your shed and the contents inside. The location of your shed can affect the roof, if it is in a more exposed area of your garden for example it is likely to suffer more damage. It is always wise to check your shed before winter, because windy, cold and wet weather can cause further damage, so check your shed in the autumn, because this will help to prevent costly repairs. 

You do not need to pay someone to do this job. Although a nuisance to have to do, it is well worth all the effort, and it will save you money, because you do not have to buy a new shed or garden equipment. The job of felting a shed roof is quite a quick one; you will however need someone to help you carry out the work. There are different colours of roofing felt to suit your tastes or garden décor, as well as different thickness and types. 
Removing old roofing felt
Of course, before you put on new felt, you will need to take off the old felt. Make sure you use safety gloves and safety goggles as there will be a lot of debris and old nails to contend with. Carefully remove any old nails with a hammer, or a pry bar, and any nails that get broken can be hammered down flat onto the shed roof, this will prevent them damaging your new felt. Check all wooden planks are OK; this will save you another job later on. Also, take this opportunity to check the wood in case you need to apply a new coat of wood preserver or paint. Again, prevention is always better than cure!
Steps to take to roof a shed with felt
For this project, you will need two people and it should take you around an hour to complete. 
You will need the following: 
Tools needed to felt a shed: 
  • Hammer
  • Step ladders
  • Spirit level / straight edge
  • Sharp craft knife
  • Roofing felt
Method:
  1. Work out how much felt you will need by measuring your shed roof's dimensions.
  2. Roll out the roofing felt and cut it into 3 equal lengths using a sharp craft knife. (Remember, take all necessary safety precautions when using the stepladders and tools). 
  3. Lay the first piece of the felt along one of the roof sections with an equal overhang at both ends and have about 40mm overlap at the eaves. 
  4. Put a small tack through the felt at the top to hold it in place.
  5. Secure the felt along the eaves with felt tacks, at about 150mm intervals. Do the same at the other side of the roof. 
  6. Now, lay the third length along the ridge of the shed, with equal overlaps at the gable end and on each side. Fix it into place over the top of the other two strips of felt with the tacks.
  7. Tidy up the corners around the edge by folding and tacking where necessary. Make a small slit in the felt at the apex and fold-down and tack on either side. 
  8. Do the same at the back of the shed. Attach the barge boards to each gable end with the nails provided. Trim off any excess felt.   
New Felt for a Flat Roof
Replacing the felt is quite a similar process for sheds that have a flat roof, or what is called a pent roof. 
Tools needed to felt a flat shed roof: 
  • Hammer
  • Step ladders
  • Spirit level / straight edge
  • Sharp craft knife
  • Roofing felt adhesive 
  • Roofing felt
Method:
  1. Taking all safety precautions, begin at the lowest edge and use nails to tack the felt onto the facia board of your shed.
  2. Place the felt over the roof and attach with nails on the top edge.
  3. Put adhesive all along the top edge of the felt, spread along a strip about 50mm wide and glue to a second strip of felt, then nail together, moving along until you reach the other side of the shed roof. 
  4. Nail the felt at the edge of the roof and attach with nails to the facia board. Nail the felt around the edges and the sides of the shed. Cut off any extra felt that is hanging over and not needed with your craft knife. 
If you would like some new felt for your roof take a look at our shed felt, or if you would like some more information about adding felt to your shed roof then watch our video below for easy to follow steps.