Inspecting Cedar Shake Roof

A 3 ply roof can be installed over either spaced board or solid roof sheathing.

Inspecting cedar shake roof.

I did a drive by on a house that i will be inspecting later today for the seller. It s not ideal but not uncommon to have an asphalt roof installed over cedar shakes. For wood shakes the keyway should be 3 8 to 5 8 in width. Harsh chicagoland elements like wind rain snow and hail are known to affect the roof of homes but however a well built properly maintained roof will reduce the effect of atmospheric elements to the barest minimum.

The roof looks rough from the ground although looks like high quality shakes. The roof guy post author june 25 2017 at. A simple visual inspection twice a year will help you maintain your roof identify issues early and extend the life of your roof. Your roof is protecting the rest of your house and taking a constant battering from the elements.

A roofing inspection can extend the life of your cedar roof. It is important to identify any areas that need roof repairs immediately before the problem escalates into something bigger which will cost more to fix. The shingle bureau points out that the gap observed between shingles or shakes on a wood roof will vary depending on ambient moisture conditions as moist wood shingles or shakes swell which is why we need a. Generally after 10 years exposure to weather one third of edge grain and two thirds of flat grain shakes and shingles will have splits.

Shingles do not lay flat in 70 of the roof that i observed in fact they look like they stand off the roof horizontally. The home has a cedar shake roof. Widespread splitting has reduced sidelaps to less than 1 inches over a large part of the roof. It s the original roof about 32 years old 15 40 life expectancy.

Three ply systems should never be used on roofs with a slope of less than 4 12. The gap or space between adjacent wood shingles should be between 1 4 and 3 8 in width. The roof on your home is the first line of defense against the elements. The photo above shows a shake roof at the end of its useful life.

Why should i be inspecting my roof. Cleaning vital to cedar shake roof lifespan. Inspecting your cedar shake roof. Shake roofs installed using the 2 ply method in which the roof is covered with two layers of shakes at any given point in the roof system must have interlayment installed.

Asphalt shingle in 2020. Wood shingle or shake keyways or gaps. Be careful as dry wood roofs in good condition can be tricky. At this point many homeowners believe that a new roof is needed when in reality a good cleaning will often solve the problem.

If you do get on the roof try to walk across the roof not directly up and down from the eave to ridge. While the removal of original shakes is the best way to go from the roof integrity ventilation preventing termite infestation moisture problems and rotting of the wood and engineering perspective maximum weight that your roof trusses can support it can be.