Q. I've decided to re-roof my house because I simply can't afford to pay a roofer. I'll be stripping off all the shingles down to the bare wood. Do you feel it's worth it to buy a nail gun to install ...

Q: I have a small house, and it needs a new roof. I can’t afford to hire a roofer. My house has shingles on it, and I can walk on the roof with little difficulty. I’ve never installed roof shingles.

Johnathan C. Brewer II is a licensed general contractor specializing in kitchen, bath remodels and general construction with two decades of professional experience. He is also the owner of Brewer ...

The roofing octocopter, equipped with a nailgun, is parked near the test roof. Setting the wooden panel at different inclines let researchers simulate roofs with different slopes. Graduate engineering ...

A new solar technology introduced yesterday at CES could bring power-producing roofs mainstream by relying on an old building material—nails. For years, homeowners who wanted solar power have stripped ...