There are some advantages to roofing over existing shingles says dale richards owner of richards roofing in troy michigan.
How many layers for fixing the roof.
The homeowner will have two layers of shingles protecting the roof and the home is less likely to have ice dams he says.
Depending on the current material of the roof which is currently being used it may be wise to consider either a layer of epdm or tpo which are both known to be very durable for flat roofs.
Epdm roofing and tpo roofing are also known to be able to typically maintain two layers of roof without causing problems.
Additionally if your roof is severely damaged it likely won t be able to support the weight of a reroof and will need to be torn off.
Decking most often made out of plywood this roof layer is installed over the framing in a typical roof install.
Here are the layers of a roof in order of application bottom to top.
Every roof can be different in certain ways.
Therefore if you already have two layers you ll need a full tear off.
On most flat roofs such as epdm tpo or modified it is perfectly acceptable to two layers of roofing.
As mentioned above homeowners are legally limited to two layer of roof shingles.
A roofing contractor will know exactly how many layers of roof shingles are allowed in your area for your building but it is normal that you will be permitted up to three layers of shingles.