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Wood Shake Roof Installation Details - Photo Guide InspectAPedia®  -     Wood shingle roof inspection, failures, repair, product defects Roof inspection, leak detection, roof diagnosis, roof repair Key design details & references for wood shingle roofs

Here we define wood or cedar shake roofing materials & we discuss wood shake roofing installation details and good practices. Sketch at page top is courtesy of Carson Dunlop.

© Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use the links at page left to navigate this document or to go to Other Website Topics. Green links show where you are in our document & website.

Types of Wood Cedar Shake Roof Application Pattern Details

Unlike their thinner brothers, wood shakes are typically 18"to 24" in length, and up to 14" in width (more than 8" is at extra risk of future splitting).

The roofing shake thickness ranges from 1/2" to 1 1/4" where measured at the shingle butt. The maximum exposure for wood shakes is 7 1/2" (for an 18" long wood shake) or 10" (for a 24" long wood shake), and head lap is 3" or 4" respectively.

A good quality, properly-installed wood shake roof has a life expectancy of 20-40 years. Carson Dunlop's sketch shows the typical cedar shake application pattern and spacing.

1. Taper-sawn wood shakes are sawn on both sides - like a thick wood shingle
2. Taper split wood shakes are cut from opposing ends of a wooden block, having a shake butt that is at least 1/2" in thickness and typically are 24" in length. Uncommon, costly.
3. Hand split, re-sawn wood shakes are similar to straight split shakes (below) but are thicker. A thick split of wood that is rough-split on both sides is re-sawn in half through its thickness to produce two thick shakes, each with a smooth back.
4. Straight split wood shakes (also called barn shakes ) are split from the same end of a block of cedar (or other wood) and are not tapered. Straight split wood shakes are not usually used on homes.

Here Carson Dunlop's sketch shows typical cedar shake nailing details & pattern and exposures. Notice that for this example cedar shake roof a felt interlay is installed between every course of shakes. More details useful for determining the condition of a wood roof are at Wood Roof Inspection Guide.

For added details about proper wood shingle or wood shake roof installation, perhaps the most authoritative source of wood shingle and wood shake information is from the Western Red Cedar Shingle & Shake Bureau (now the Cedar and Shake Shingle Bureau, since not only western red cedar is used for roof shingles).

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ROOFING INSPECTION & REPAIR
ASBESTOS CEMENT ROOFING
ASPHALT ROOF SHINGLES
BUILT UP ROOFS
CERTIFICATIONS for ROOFING CONTRACTORS
CHIMNEY INSPECTION & REPAIRS
CHOOSING A ROOFING CONTRACTOR
CLAY TILE ROOFING
FIRE RETARDANT PLYWOOD
HEAT TAPES & CABLES on Roofs for Ice Dams
LOW SLOPE ROOFING MATERIALS
MASONITE WOODRUF FIBERBOARD ROOFING
MEMBRANE & SINGLE PLY ROOFS
METAL ROOFING TYPES
MODIFIED BITUMEN ROOFING
ROOF INSPECTION SAFETY & LIMITS
ROOF VENTILATION SPECIFICATIONS
ROOF VENTING ENERGY SAVING DETAILS
SLATE ROOF INSPECTION & REPAIR
SOD ROOFING
SIDING WOOD
STAIN DIAGNOSIS on Building Exteriors
STAIN DIAGNOSIS on Roofs
STANDARDS for ROOFING
STONE ROOFING
THATCH ROOFING
THERMAL EXPANSION of MATERIALS
THERMAL MASS in BUILDINGS
THERMAL MASS in UPSTAIRS
TILE ROOFING
WARRANTIES for ROOF SHINGLES
WOOD SHAKE & SHINGLE ROOFING
  Wood Roof Shingle Quality & Types
  Wood Shingle Specifications
  Wood Roof Wear or Installation Problems
  Wood Roof Inspection Guide
  Wood Roof Trouble Signs
  Wood Shakes & Application Details
  Wood Roof Protective Coatings & Fire Rating
WORKMANSHIP & WIND DAMAGE

• Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education, publications, report writing materials, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
• "Choosing Roofing," Jefferson Kolle, January 1995, No. 92, Fine Homebuilding, Taunton Press, 63 S. Main St., PO Box 5506, Newton CT 06470 - 800-888-8286 - see http://www.taunton.com/FineHomebuilding/ for the magazine's website and for subscription information.
• The Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau in the U.S.: Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau, P.O. Box 1178
  Sumas, WA 98295-1178, or in Canada: Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau, #2 - 7101 Horne Street
  Mission, BC V2V 7A2, 604-820-7700 E-mail: info@cedarbureau.com. The association can also be contacted by their website, cedarbureau.org where the association offers wood shingle installation instructions in the form of a manual - cedarbureau.org/installation/wall_manual/introduction.htm
• "Treatment of Cedar Shakes and Shingles," David Flickinger, RRO, Professional Roofing, October 1999, Rosemont IL.
  

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