Wood Shingle on 4/12 roof?

Check with your insurer before proceeding. Many, in many areas, will not insure cedar roofs.

Harry K

I think it is a good idea. I just spent a lot of time researching cedar for replacing plastic siding someone put up on the Mansard roof section of my house before I bought it. I decided on a shake, not a shingle. Specifically 18" Western Red Cedar Tapersawn shakes. A Tapersawn shake is like a shingle in that the faces and sides are sawn, not split. But it is thicker than a shingle with the butt being

This is from a website selling shakes and shingles:

RECOMMENDED USE - for walls and roofs with 4:12 pitch or steeper where a high quality and durable product with uniform appearance is desired. The standard recommended exposure for 18" Tapersawn shake roof applications is 7-1/2" (190mm).

Note that shakes and shingles are applied differently as far as underlayment is concerned. If you do use shingles and ice/water shield, you will want to include a "cedar breather" product also. I've seen ice/water shield recommended for shingles (along with the breather) but I'm not sure it is recommended for the thicker shakes. All the installation methods for shakes show 36" of number 30 felt at the eves (along with a double starter course of shakes) and 18" widths of # 30 felt interleaved between shake courses.

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Right now I'm shopping for the best price and trying to decide if I should stain the shakes or leave them natural so they weather to the silver/grey color. As near as I can tell neither is recommended. It's like a 50/50 split, some homeowners stain for added protection, some trust the natural weather resistance of red cedar and leave them natural. I'd like any opinions of readers on this!

Michael Nickolas