How to Repair and Maintain Your Wood Shakes
By Dymon Brady
What are Wood Shakes?
A shake roof is installed with a wood shingle that is approximately 24 inches long. When the shakes are installed, only 10 inches of those original 24 inches are actually exposed. On the top four inches of each row of shake, shake felt is installed. This is an asphalt based felt that is 22 inches wide. As it laps over each row of shakes, it provides the watertight system in a shake roof. Aside from the aesthetic benefits, the shakes are basically only installed to protect the shake felt from the sun. If this is done successfully, moisture will penetrate the roof and hit the shake felt, continually being kicked out onto the shake below it.
How Does a Wood Shake Roof Wear?
I wanted to explain the composition of a shake roof to help you fully understand how to maintain the shakes. When a shake roof starts wearing out, a half-inch space between each exposed shake allows the sun to come through the upper half of the shake, because it is thinner there. A shake tapers from around three-fourths inches thick at the exposed bottom, to zero inches at the top of the 24 inch panel. In between each exposed shake, you have a portion of the shake that will wear out faster than the exposed portion, because it is thinner.
How do I Know if my Wood Shakes are Failing?
In the past, we have mentioned that wood shakes are almost always installed without a warranty. If and when they start to fail, many people wonder how to spot the wear and prevent the problem from getting worse, developing a leak, or repeating itself.If you inspect a roof with worn cedar shingles, you will see the black felt paper showing through holes in the shakes in this half inch space. When we can see the felt, it means that the sun’s UV rays will heat it up and wear it out as well.
How Do I Prevent My Worn Roof From Leaking?
The key to maintaining a wood shake roof is to protect the felt. If you can continually protect the felt, the roof will last another 5-10 years. However, your shake roof will require constant maintenance and should be inspected at least once a year, if not bi-annually.
To fix a shakes with burn-outs, or holes burned through the wood by the sun, Brady Roofing takes 24 gauge sheet metal with baked on enamel paint, so that the metal will closely match the color of the weathered shake. We drive this 3” X 11” camouflaged metal up under the exposed part of the shingles, to cover up the felt paper. This attention to detail makes us unique, I actually have not seen anyone else match the sheet metal to the roof ‘s natural color. [/column]Other roofing contractors may use galvanized sheet metal, which looks terrible and dramatically reduces your home’s curb appeal. By all means, do not allow a contractor to use another piece of wood shake to repair your roof instead of metal. The wood is too thick and may result in breaking the overlapping shingles. Brady Roofing’s technique is safe, essentially undetectable and only costs maybe $50 more!
In addition to watching for these burnouts, be sure to make sure that your flashings are sealed up and that there are no cracks in your flashings or caulking. Also, you may want to routinely paint the valley metal to protect from rust.If you have any questions about your shake roof, contact us today. We are happy to help you and your roof in any way we can! Also, be sure to check out our past article: How to Clean and Preserve Your Wood Shakes and Shingles.