Alternatives to Cedar Shakes
I’m looking for alternatives to cedar shakes, for reroofing, older existing structures.
I’m the Facilities Engineer for the Salmon-Challis National Forest. Which means that I have the responsibility of trying to maintain 400+ old buildings, 90% of which are eligible for listing on the National Historic Register, and roughly 50 are listed. So, they all have to maintain their historic style, and finish schedule. Which is white with medium dark green trim and roofs.
90% of them have cedar shake roofs, which since we are in the high desert, have severe issues with deterioration from being snow covered all winter, and then dried in the summer, (the relative humidity at most sites is less than 10%).
I met with the State Historic Preservation Office yesterday, and they have indicated that they would be amenable to allowing alternate materials for the roof, provided the aesthetic of the cedar shakes can be maintained.
The other issue, is whatever roofing system I use has to be green to be historically accurate. So, I need to be able to purchase it prefinished in the green, or it needs to paintable/stainable.
So, any information on options would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
http://www.follansbeeroofing.com/products/KlassicKolors_colors.aspx
http://www.certainteed.com/products/roofing/residential/designer/308747# look at hunter green
http://www.certainteed.com/products/roofing/residential/premium-designer/309005 look at augusta green
http://www.quittintime.com/ View Image
I guess you have that covered.
Actually this one - http://www.certainteed.com/products/roofing/residential/premium-designer/317950 does a fair job of imitating wood shingles/shakes.
Unfortunately it's become very difficult to get good quality cedar shingles.
Jef
Hard to find and very expensive.
View Image
You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
Edited 4/24/2009 8:41 am by Marv
You really need to stop using your level as a pry bar....
:-)
This probably won't help but...I worked at a retreat center in the North Cascades that was on the Registry of Historic Places. Had the same issue. There are many imitation shakes out there, and the facilities manager (my boss) looked at most. Finally managed to lobby the powers that be to allow standing seam steel. The argument that worked was fire safety (this is in a remote area where forest fires are a very real threat).
I wasn't impressed with any of the fake shake samples that were a constant fixture in the office.
I don't know, it's hard to beat the look of real cedar:
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We looked into Southern Pine for this job http://www.lifepine.com/ but it just doesn't have quite the same look.
Considering the location though, I would think some sort of metal roof would be appropriate and longer-lasting?
Mike,
That red metal bracket is doing a number on that beautiful cedar.
Walter
Yeah, the carpenters decided that they should match the existing white cedar 5" exposure instead of the 6" exposure I estimated, so we had to wait a couple weeks for the rest of the material in the wettest part of last winter. It should clear right up though, southern exposure and all.
Nichiha makes a fiber cement shingle look-alike that is pretty durn convincing. I'd use it for a roof over a good substrate but I'm not sure it's listed as a roofing material with the manufacturer.
------------------
"You cannot work hard enough to make up for a sloppy estimate."
Am I correct in understanding you need to paint the roofs?
If so what I did was dip the shake in an oil baesed paint and let it dry once dry I put a second coat of latex on and That's resulted in an extremly durable finish..
They have to end up green. You are right that the right way to paint them would be to dip them, but unfortunately, the person I'm replacing didn't know that, and now I have some roofs less than five years old, that are already splitting and cracking. I'm trying to get a replacement for the shakes, because in this climate, the combination of being buried in the snow all winter, and then dried to a moisture content that is less than half of kiln dried means the shakes only have a ten year life, before the roof starts to leak. Of course someone has decided that they should last twenty years, so I can't get budget to fix them when needed. Add to that, the fact that the shake roofs are extremely fire prone, and I really want them gone.The whole historical part drives me nuts, because I am fairly certain the original roofs were done using Douglas Fir shakes, a native tree in this forest.
A sales rep brought these into our office recently: http://www.microposite.com/. He said they are the best thing since sliced bread for walls, and that although he wasn't supposed to recommend them for roofs he knew people who had used them on roofs with good results.
OK you have issues that won't be easily resolved..
First document the roof leaks take pictures and describe in as complete a gory detail the leaks and damage resulting..
That should get you the authorization to repair them.. next describe the issue of fire safety and the flamibility of cedar shingles.. make the statement that originally the roof wouldn't have been painted green since green paint was an extremely expensive color originally..
Suggest standing metal roof that's green or steel shingles painted green.. as a last resort your dipped green shingles should look extremely modestly priced..
Believe it or not, historically they used to use a lot of spruce here in the east for shingles - back when labor was cheap ...
Jeff
Edited 4/25/2009 7:50 pm ET by Jeff_Clarke
historically they used to use a lot of spruce here in the east for shingles
I suspect old growth spruce was about equal to farmed cedar.http://www.quittintime.com/ View Image
Sorry - I'm no help.
Why though, from a historic standpoint, are the roofs green? Are the authentic ones just cedar with heavy moss/algae/whatever on them? I think I've seen that in the Pac NW, but it is hard for me to imagine in a dry environment like you describe....
It was something that was done in the 1930's by the CCC's. They painted all the buildings white, and the roof, doors and trim green. On some structures they added 3-inch wide, 2-inch exposure cedar siding, over the top of what had been white washed board and batten.
In the Denver Metro Area (semi-arid)shakes were popular and I still like them. However, insurance companies consider them to be a fire hazard and charge a 20% surcharge. Due to the hail the area experiences a plain old 3 tab shingle falls in the "no extra charge" category for insurance. There are dimensional shingles of heavier (thicker) construction considered 30 year roofs (some 40)that qualify for a 10% discount. So stripping the shakes and installing a better asphalt shingle roof (that looks like shakes)could result in a 30% savings.
Maybe everything there is self insured--but for others it counts. Tyr
installing a better asphalt shingle roof (that looks like shakes)
Sorry, but that's an oxymoron. No asphalt shingle looks like shakes.
The essence of the look in a shake roof is a combination of the thickness of the shakes themselves, the random widths, and the irregularity of the hand-split surface. No machine-made, production-line product can imitate that with any degree of success. Some so-called 'architectural' asphalt shingles attempt to do so but wind up looking (IMO) like a cross between a patchwork quilt and a 1970s version of computer 'wallpaper'.
Comparing asphalt shingles to shakes is like comparing screw-down steel to standing seam copper. Maybe worse.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....