Cedar shake roof repair and new shake roofs in Vancouver, WA

Many Clark County homes built from the 1970s through the 1990s went up with cedar shake roofs, and plenty of owners still want that look. A shake roof works by layering thick split wood over strips of felt interlayment, so each course sheds water onto the one below. When shakes thin out, split down the middle or curl, those overlaps stop lining up and water finds the felt underneath.

We repair aging shake roofs, replace sections that took tree or wind damage, and install complete new shake roofs for owners who want to keep real wood. We also tell owners plainly when a shake roof has reached the point where repair money is being wasted. For homes that want the look without the upkeep, we discuss composite conversion as a separate option.

How shake roofs wear out

Wood on a roof goes through constant wet and dry cycles. In winter the shakes soak up rain for weeks; in July and August they bake dry. That swelling and shrinking causes splits, and the splits widen each season. Shaded slopes stay damp so long that moss and lichen take root in the grain, which holds even more water and softens the wood. Eventually the butts of the shakes thin to the point that you can see light through the courses from the attic.

Fasteners matter too. Older shake roofs were often nailed with plain steel that rusts in the wood, so shakes slide down and open gaps. Ridge shakes, which take the most wind, usually fail first. When we look at a shake roof, we pull a few loose pieces to check nail condition and felt quality. That tells us far more about remaining life than looking at the surface alone. It also shows whether the roof was installed correctly to begin with.

Shake repair and replacement work we do

Repairs on shake roofs are hand work. Each damaged shake is split out, the old nails are cut with a shingle ripper, and a new shake of matching thickness and length slides in. We use stainless or hot-dipped galvanized nails and keep the spacing between shakes so wood has room to swell. New shakes start out lighter than the weathered ones around them, then darken within a season or two.

• Replacing split, missing or wind-lifted shakes
• Rebuilding cedar ridge and hip caps
• Replacing worn metal valleys under shake slopes
• Repairing shakes around chimneys and skylights
• Section replacement after tree or limb damage
• Complete tear-off and new shake roofs

Choosing shakes for a new roof

Not all cedar is equal. Hand-split and resawn shakes have a rough face and thick butt, while tapersawn shakes are cut smooth on both sides for a cleaner look. Thicker, heavier shakes last longer in our climate because they have more wood to lose before they leak. Grade matters as well: the best grade is all heartwood with vertical grain, which resists splitting. We show samples so you can see and feel the difference before choosing.

Treated shakes are also worth considering on shaded lots. Some products are pressure-treated to slow rot and moss growth, and they hold up better under heavy fir cover than untreated wood. They cost more up front. We also install the interlayment in the right pattern so it sits above the butt line, and we keep a vented space where the roof design calls for it, so the wood can dry between storms.

Is a shake roof still worth repairing?

Spot repairs make sense on a roof that is generally solid with damage in a few places, such as a slope hit by a falling limb or a ridge that took the brunt of a windstorm. They make less sense when every slope shows splits and thin butts. At that stage new leaks keep appearing faster than we can fix them. We give owners the honest numbers for repair, new cedar, and composite conversion so the choice is clear before money goes into it.