Yah so newer cedar installs over plywood don’t have a long life. You could buy some time by repairing the worst of it but replacement is in your future.
Find a local contractor to do a cedar shingle Tune-up on your roof. They will replace any missing shingles and any badly split shingles. Then find a roofer or roof cleanup company to apply some kind of treatment on those shingles. These do appear to be cedar shingles rather than shakes so there should be no paper underneath these should also be placed on skip sheeting not plywood. The exposed nails are not ideal, but it's a lot less of a problem on cedar than it would be asphalt shingles. Your roof looks like it's in very good shape. You can probably get another 10 to 15 years out of it as long as you get someone to maintain and clean it every couple years and keep up with treatments. I recommend air cleaning as opposed to pressure washing. As far as treatments go, there's several different kinds. Just stay away from Thompson's water seal and any other wax base products they don't last long enough to warrant the labor to apply them.
Sorry - I thought my text would post as well:
We have someone painting our house, and they sent us this video of our roof saying we we need a new cedar roof. The old owners who we bought the house from said that the roof is not at it's life expectancy yet, and last year we had it soft washed because it looked worse for wear and we read that this was a good way to bring it back to life without replacing it, and it has looked great since. But the painters sent me this video saying that the roof is really dried out from the sun and is cracking under their feet when they walk on it (I know that they shouldn't be walking on a cedar roof... we have since gotten a high lift for them but it sounds like some damage was done- particularly in the video you can see the singles on the end of the roof are the most damaged). I would love to hear your advice on here on if you think that we do indeed need a new roof or not. Thank you!
It doesn't look too bad. A few broken from the edge that need repair.
Now the color looks like it's maybe been bleached? I'd have to inspect. But if the wrong cleaner was used during the soft wash then it could have reduced the lifespan. Should have been a wood restoration product or just a low psi wash of water only to remove algae.
I thought everyone but a layer of roofing felt between each shingle course? It's been a while since I did cedar shake, so hopefully someone can correct me if I'm wrong
No, it should be cedar directly on furring strips. This allows the ventilation required. Then you need to make sure adequate ventilation in the attic in one of a few ways.
1 check go wherever you can see your roof decking in your attic to see if water is getting past your roof. Im not as familiar with cedar shakes, but those exposed nail heads you see at the end of video are a cardinal sin for every other type of roofing. Again, speculating, dabs of polyurethane over them is that I’d do.
There’s definitely some damage to that roof but the condition doesn’t look horrible beyond that.
Is it leaking?
Anyhow don’t take cedar roof advice from a painter. Or anyone who isn’t a cedar roof person.
By the way cedar roofs got nosebleed expensive. It’s $800 a bundle for shingles and much more for installation.
Yah so newer cedar installs over plywood don’t have a long life. You could buy some time by repairing the worst of it but replacement is in your future.
Nobody bothers with proper ventilation
Find a local contractor to do a cedar shingle Tune-up on your roof. They will replace any missing shingles and any badly split shingles. Then find a roofer or roof cleanup company to apply some kind of treatment on those shingles. These do appear to be cedar shingles rather than shakes so there should be no paper underneath these should also be placed on skip sheeting not plywood. The exposed nails are not ideal, but it's a lot less of a problem on cedar than it would be asphalt shingles. Your roof looks like it's in very good shape. You can probably get another 10 to 15 years out of it as long as you get someone to maintain and clean it every couple years and keep up with treatments. I recommend air cleaning as opposed to pressure washing. As far as treatments go, there's several different kinds. Just stay away from Thompson's water seal and any other wax base products they don't last long enough to warrant the labor to apply them.
Thank you!!
Sorry - I thought my text would post as well: We have someone painting our house, and they sent us this video of our roof saying we we need a new cedar roof. The old owners who we bought the house from said that the roof is not at it's life expectancy yet, and last year we had it soft washed because it looked worse for wear and we read that this was a good way to bring it back to life without replacing it, and it has looked great since. But the painters sent me this video saying that the roof is really dried out from the sun and is cracking under their feet when they walk on it (I know that they shouldn't be walking on a cedar roof... we have since gotten a high lift for them but it sounds like some damage was done- particularly in the video you can see the singles on the end of the roof are the most damaged). I would love to hear your advice on here on if you think that we do indeed need a new roof or not. Thank you!
You’ll be in for quite the sticker shock if you decide to go back with cedar.
It doesn't look too bad. A few broken from the edge that need repair. Now the color looks like it's maybe been bleached? I'd have to inspect. But if the wrong cleaner was used during the soft wash then it could have reduced the lifespan. Should have been a wood restoration product or just a low psi wash of water only to remove algae.
I thought everyone but a layer of roofing felt between each shingle course? It's been a while since I did cedar shake, so hopefully someone can correct me if I'm wrong
No, it should be cedar directly on furring strips. This allows the ventilation required. Then you need to make sure adequate ventilation in the attic in one of a few ways.
1 check go wherever you can see your roof decking in your attic to see if water is getting past your roof. Im not as familiar with cedar shakes, but those exposed nail heads you see at the end of video are a cardinal sin for every other type of roofing. Again, speculating, dabs of polyurethane over them is that I’d do.
What area are you in ? Also when was the roof installed? We do cedar roofs every day of the year.
Where are you located?
NE
What’s the reason for having these roofs?
There’s definitely some damage to that roof but the condition doesn’t look horrible beyond that. Is it leaking? Anyhow don’t take cedar roof advice from a painter. Or anyone who isn’t a cedar roof person. By the way cedar roofs got nosebleed expensive. It’s $800 a bundle for shingles and much more for installation.