Cost of replacing a shake shingle roof

[Dan]

My wife & I are looking at buying a house in the Seattle area which has an older shake shingle roof. I am trying to get a rough idea of what it would cost to replace this roof. I know it is impossible to come up with an exact figure without a professional actually coming out & doing an estimate, but at this point I'm just trying to get a ball park figure. The house has a

1st floor of ~ 1900 sq'. It has an attached garage of ~ 600 sq'. Both are covered with a straightforward, run of the mill sloped roof ending in gables. The house was built on the mid 70's, the owner has disclosed that the roof has been "repaired", I'm guessing if the majority is 30+ years old, a replacement is in order. Whether we have them do this as a sale condition or use it as a bargaining point to reduce the cost, it would benefit us to have some idea of replacement costs. Also, while you see a lot of these roofs around here in certain areas, the notion of bare wood being the best possible roofing material in such a rainy climate seems a bit illogical to me. I've seen several that look awfully mossy/mildewed/waterlogged/rotten Are there any newer alternatives worth considering, metal, perhaps?

TIA

Dan

[betsyb]

[Dan]

I don't have those figures. I'm just looking for "ballpark" at this point. It's a typical looking gabled sloped roof covering a space as I described. Not steep, not flat, just "average".

Dan

[HeyBub]

I'm gonna guess at something just south of ten grand.

If you're thinking about living in a jurisdiction that allows cedar shake roofs, don't. You neighbor's shake roof will cause your house to burn to the ground - especially if your house, too, has a cedar roof. When dry, those shakes burn like a flame thrower and toss burning sparks way into the air that come down everywhere.

Alternatives? Sure. Composition shingles are inexpensive, last for decades, and are easy to install.

[Steve B]

"Dan" wrote

That's easy. It will cost between $2 and $2,000,000.

What do I win?

Steve

[Deke]

14,000 should do it.

[Dan]

The asshole award

[Dan]

Bub & Deke-Thanks for the replies. I was thinking in the 10-15 range, so I guess I wasn't too far off. I had always heard about the fire thing, especially in Southern CA., an ember from one shake roof setting another ablaze. Around here, they mostly just look like they're so wet you'd have to turn a torch on them for half an hour just to dry the out ;-)

Dan

[Steve Barker]

I would never put a wood roof on anything. It's so primitive. There are modern alternatives. Composition comes to mind. 30+ year timberline comes to mind. Check them out at :

[HeyBub]

There will come a time - next month, next year, sometime - when your area will experience a drought. Then, all the careless practices and defective equipment that's been harmless for possibly decades will envelope you with a vengence.

I remember when a 300+ unit apartment house in my town had its cedar shake roof catch on fire from some idiot's vat of boiling oil. The fire department pulled SEVEN alarms - over fifty pieces of equipment, 200 firefighters. Couldn't even save the cars in the parking lot!

And I'm in a city almost as humid as Seattle.

[Dan]

Thanks Steve, very interesting/informative site.

Dan

[tmiller]

It sounds like your roof is approximately 30 - 33 squares. A square is

100 square feet. Sounds like it is a pretty simple design.

I agree with you that wood shakes do not pose the fire risk up your way that they do in other climates. But I also agree that wood shakes are not the best performers in wet climates like yours.

Ultimately, the cost is going to have a lot to do with getting the old shakes off and also whether you then have to deck the roof.

There are some metal shake facsimile products that are regularly installed over old shakes. I have about 25 years experience with jobs like that with no problems.

Okay ... now for a shameless plug ... well, not really, just stating facts ... my company manufactures metal shake facsimiles ... our products can be seen at

Our products are available in the Pacific NW.

Let me know though if you have any questions about roofing or other products ... I have been around a long time and just enjoy helping whenever I can.

[Dan]

Thanks for the informative reply, I'll check out your site. I know people find them esthetically pleasing, but the idea of wooden shingles just seems nuts to me. I think COPPER would look really cool on this house, once it's turned green, but probably cost damned near as much as the house itself.

Dan

[tmiller]

A few years ago copper was a HUGE bargain but it is pretty pricey right now. There are aluminum and steel roofs painted in various colors to resemble new, aging, or aged copper.