The enemy of all wood products is water and this is certainly the case with cedar shingles and shakes. Western Red Cedar is one of the most naturally rot resistant softwood (coniferous) species in the world. Over time however, it too is susceptible to the prolonged presence of moisture. This moisture allows the agents of decay - mold, mildew, moss, and other bacterium to grow and take hold. Therefore, the number one way to make your cedar roof last longer is keep it dry longer. How do you keep a roof dry? You can't - but you can help it dry out faster and reduce the chances of rot and decay. How do we do that?

Make a pitch for a steeper roof!
It is generally accepted that the steeper the pitch, or slope of the roof, the longer it will last. A steeper pitch will hold less water and allow it to dry faster.

Let me vent a little - Roof Ventilation 
The underside of shingles need to dry as well as the sunny side. This is why we recommend that all shake & shingle roofs be applied on spaced strapping (boards, lath, sheathing, etc.). This allows the air circulating in the attic to get at the roof helping it to dry out. It also allows the shingles to stay cooler in the hot summer sun. A hot, wet environment is a prime breeding ground for the agents of decay. 

One of the reasons why shingles cup and twist is because the cells on the top side of the shingle are dried than those of the bottom of the same shingle. This causes a tension in the wood due to unequal hydrostatic pressures be 

More venting - Attic Ventilation
Adequate attic ventilation is required to help keep a home cool in the summer and warm in the winter by providing a continuous flow of air inside the attic space. This is also very important for the shingles on the roof. As the shingle roof dries from below, the moisture laden air must be replaced with fresh air. The fresh air enters through vents in the soffits and exits through vents in the roof, preferably a ridge vent as this is the highest point in a roof. Ensure your new or old roof has suitable, (and equal) amounts of soffit and ridge ventilation based on the square foot measure of you home.

Keep it clean!
Think of your roof, (or deck, patio, etc.) as the floor of the forest. Needles, leaves and branches continually fall and collect here. They fall everywhere, getting into every crack. By natural design, this debris gets wet, holds moisture and does what it is meant to do - rot! This happens even faster under the shady canopy of the trees above. Getting the picture yet? Contact us for more information on how to care and  maintain your roof. 

Product Selection
 Along with being very resistant to rot, Western Red Cedar is also very dimensionally stable, especially edge grain, (vertical grain). This is we always recommend using shake or shingle products with only 100% Edge Grain on any roof to maximize life expectancy. Flat grain has a greater tendency to move - or swell when it absorbs water and shrink when it dries. This movement inevitably leads to more cracking and splitting on the roof. Therefore, always select #1 Grade Blue Label roofing shingles or PREMIUM Grade Blue Label 100% Edge Grain shakes for your next project. They are a little more expensive but very much worth the premium.

Chemical Treatments
Sometimes, especially In hot and humid climates it is necessary to treat shingles and shakes with chemicals to get the durability we desire from our roof. The most effective way to guard against premature decay of our wood roof is to treat it prior to application. Pressure Impregnated CCA Preservative treatments have been used for decades to safely treat many wood products against rot. It is important to treat the roof before it applied because that is the only way that every bit of surface area can be evenly treated with this effect preservative. Spot treatments on an existing roof are good, but because they cannot be fixed into the cells of the wood, they wash away and need to be re-applied. Pressure impregnation physically forces the cells of the wood with the CCA chemical solution. CCA stands for Chromated Copper Arsenic. Copper is a proven anti-fungal agent and arsenic is the anti-vermin agent. Chrome acts as a catalyst to permanently fix these chemicals to the cells of the wood. Shingle and shakes roofs treated with CCA preservatives are available with warranties against rot for up to 40 years.

Please contact us with any questions regarding roof design, product selection, or roof maintenance.