# Shake Roofing Life Expectancy



## Yoyizit (Jul 11, 2008)

"The life expectancy of cedar shakes is up to 30 years, if quality materials are used. If the contractor uses commodity materials (low quality) or if the workmanship is poor, the life expectancy can drop to only 10 to 15 years."

http://www.askthebuilder.com/077_Cedar_Shake_Roof_Care_-_Special_Cleaner.shtml

And see fig. 4-4 in this link
http://books.google.com/books?id=rU...age&q="condition of cedar shake" roof&f=false


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## Ed the Roofer (Jan 27, 2007)

The life expectancy is greatly diminished when installed directly over solid deck sheathing.

A properly installed Heavy Cedar Shake roof could last around 50 years with spaced board skip sheathing, but it also depends on the slope and the amount of direct sunlight that hits it to dry it out.

I have seen many medium cedar shakes only last 15 to 20 years before needing replacement.

Ed


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## Ohming (Jul 21, 2009)

I pulled mine off 4 years ago and they could have gone much longer, we were tired of the bugs and nailing them back on my 12/12 pitch. The shakes were up to 1/2" thick and original to the house in 1968. Surely they were hand hewn locally here.


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