Oh... I have seen barns built with hand made wooden shingles,,,,,,,,,,,,that you could literally see the sky through them... but not 1 drip hit the floor that I could see... you would swear that there had to be a few...
Architectural shingles and vinyl siding
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Yes this roofing and siding company is very highly rated and recommended. I’m not worried about their installation practices. They also install metal roofs which I’d love to go with, but I just can’t swing that kind of price when also doing the siding, and unfortunately, both need to be done. Maybe I can start a go fund me campaign
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Been in this house since 1996 and I must admit there are some decisions I wish I had done differently.
1) Instead of being cheap and putting asphalt shingles on to my roof I should have bit the bullet back then and gone with steel. Asphalt were cheaper, but the 30 year shingles only lasted 18 or so years. Now some of this was no doubt due to the house itself . . . I had issues with ice dams (although fortunately I had enough ice and water shield to prevent any leaks -- note: if you do go asphalt I highly recommend using ice and water shield on the entire structure) and had to use the roof rake in the winter to remove snow. The steel roof has been very nice . . . just be clear of the snow when it comes down . . . Whhoooooooossssshhhhhh!
2) I liked the look, ease and price of cedar shakes. I still like the look, but I found in some areas exposed to direct southern sun the shingles did not last as well as some of the rest of cedar shingles on the house. In retrospect, I probably should have treated them with some water repellent at the very least.
1) Instead of being cheap and putting asphalt shingles on to my roof I should have bit the bullet back then and gone with steel. Asphalt were cheaper, but the 30 year shingles only lasted 18 or so years. Now some of this was no doubt due to the house itself . . . I had issues with ice dams (although fortunately I had enough ice and water shield to prevent any leaks -- note: if you do go asphalt I highly recommend using ice and water shield on the entire structure) and had to use the roof rake in the winter to remove snow. The steel roof has been very nice . . . just be clear of the snow when it comes down . . . Whhoooooooossssshhhhhh!
2) I liked the look, ease and price of cedar shakes. I still like the look, but I found in some areas exposed to direct southern sun the shingles did not last as well as some of the rest of cedar shingles on the house. In retrospect, I probably should have treated them with some water repellent at the very least.
The Appalachian Mountain Club uses northern white cedar shakes on their high mountain huts that are exposed to very nasty conditions. They don't appear to put anything on them. They do go with a lower exposure. For architectural projects, the shakes are typically sized thicker and are longer to allow longer life. They do naturally bleach gray and slowly the bottom of the shake retreats up. They can have issues with perpetually damp areas and fungus attacking them eventually. The fungus is dealt with by installing Zinc strips but not much can be done in the perpetually shady areas beyond zinc strips. What is making a difference these days is that both cedar shakes/shingles and clapboards are being installed over a rigid air permeable barrier to allow airflow underneath them. It reportedly cuts way down on nail pops (which is a definite issue on untreated clapboards and shakes.
We put old growth cedar shakes on our greenhouse. They look great. A friend picked up a large quantity of them and had these leftover. They are from huge stumps that logging crews left a century ago. Now they helicopter them out. The shakes are full of natural tannins that eventually wash out. As these tannins wash out the shingles start to grey. Ours are almost 10 yrs old now and greying quite gracefully. The old growth shakes are thicker and made from heart wood. That is much better than the thin, sapwood shingles available today. All our shingles are hung using stainless, ring-shank nails. There have been no issues with nails popping out.
FYI, I know a fellow that dip treated all his new shakes before putting them up. He was trying to do the right thing, but they don't look great. Instead of aging gracefully they have gone black a the bottoms. He regrets having treated them.
FYI, I know a fellow that dip treated all his new shakes before putting them up. He was trying to do the right thing, but they don't look great. Instead of aging gracefully they have gone black a the bottoms. He regrets having treated them.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Hand split shakes are probably the best natural siding or roofing material. Finding old growth anything is rare and lucky these days.
if i could get known good old growth cedar shingles, i would probably consider going that route on my house. I have heard too many stories of new growth shingles only lasting 10-20 years or so, and as that is the only thing available to me around here without paying some huge amount of money, i'd rather just slap some vinyl on that will probably last the same amount of time, or longer, and save a lot of money in the process
My wife and i looked a few years back at a house built in 1960 that had cedar shakes on 3/4 of the house, and although they of course looked weathered, they were still in really good shape. No rot, no mold. it was impressive. 70 years later...
Like every building decision you get what you pay for. High quality northern white shingles can still be had but you are not buying them at Home Depot. The other thing is that the life is dependent on if there is breathable underlayment put between the house wrap and the shingle. On many homes (like mine) the siding is nailed directly to the Tyvek and there is quite a difference in moisture content between the backside and the front. This causes premature curling and splitting along with nail pops. To save money and time some contractors stretch out the exposure which also reduces life.
Northern Woodlands magazine had an article last year on supplier of White Cedar Shingles for projects all over New England including building restorations. Unfortunately its not available on line. The owner sells a lot of different sizes and thicknesses. Here is link to the company they interviewed. https://www.dowseasternwhiteshingles.com/about.aspx Take a look at his specials. He has 3/4 -18" long with 6" exposure that claims a 100 year plus life.
Northern Woodlands magazine had an article last year on supplier of White Cedar Shingles for projects all over New England including building restorations. Unfortunately its not available on line. The owner sells a lot of different sizes and thicknesses. Here is link to the company they interviewed. https://www.dowseasternwhiteshingles.com/about.aspx Take a look at his specials. He has 3/4 -18" long with 6" exposure that claims a 100 year plus life.
Thanks for the info on these guys! yes i've been reading quite a bit lately on the breathability between siding and sheathing and see they sell many rainscreen products now which are meant to address this.
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