It s the original roof about 32 years old 15 40 life expectancy.
Inspecting cedar shake roof.
The roof looks rough from the ground although looks like high quality shakes.
Asphalt shingle in 2020.
Once the wood roof is properly cleaned the infestations and moisture are removed allowing the shakes to breathe again and stay dry.
Generally after 10 years exposure to weather one third of edge grain and two thirds of flat grain shakes and shingles will have splits.
Wood shingle or shake keyways or gaps.
Cleaning vital to cedar shake roof lifespan.
If you do get on the roof try to walk across the roof not directly up and down from the eave to ridge.
However before mounting the roof start inspecting the wood shingle or shake roof from the ground.
For wood shakes the keyway should be 3 8 to 5 8 in width.
The photo above shows a shake roof at the end of its useful life.
It is important to identify any areas that need roof repairs immediately before the problem escalates into something bigger which will cost more to fix.
Avoid getting on the roof if the condition is bad.
It s not ideal but not uncommon to have an asphalt roof installed over cedar shakes.
Inspecting your cedar shake roof.
Why should i be inspecting my roof.
The roof on your home is the first line of defense against the elements.
The gap or space between adjacent wood shingles should be between 1 4 and 3 8 in width.
I did a drive by on a house that i will be inspecting later today for the seller.
The home has a cedar shake roof.
Be careful as dry wood roofs in good condition can be tricky.
Three ply systems should never be used on roofs with a slope of less than 4 12.
The roof guy post author june 25 2017 at.
A roofing inspection can extend the life of your cedar roof.
A 3 ply roof can be installed over either spaced board or solid roof sheathing.
While the removal of original shakes is the best way to go from the roof integrity ventilation preventing termite infestation moisture problems and rotting of the wood and engineering perspective maximum weight that your roof trusses can support it can be.
At this point many homeowners believe that a new roof is needed when in reality a good cleaning will often solve the problem.
Widespread splitting has reduced sidelaps to less than 1 inches over a large part of the roof.
Harsh chicagoland elements like wind rain snow and hail are known to affect the roof of homes but however a well built properly maintained roof will reduce the effect of atmospheric elements to the barest minimum.
A simple visual inspection twice a year will help you maintain your roof identify issues early and extend the life of your roof.
Shingles do not lay flat in 70 of the roof that i observed in fact they look like they stand off the roof horizontally.
