Cedar Shake Roof Life Expectancy: Increasing Longevity with a Synthetic Material

A roof protects your and your entire home from the outside world—whether it be animals or weather—and it helps make the home more energy efficient.

With a wide range of roofing options available on the market, your choices are endless. One historically popular style is the cedar shake roof, which has been around for decades. This is a beautiful and unique option that can help any home stand out, but the big question that makes people hesitate is how long will it last? How long will a shingle roof last? Is it worth all the money it can cost?

Here is what you should know about shake roofs and cedar shake roof life expectancy including the cost of the traditional option, and a much better alternative that does not sacrifice the look and feel of a wood shingle roof.

What is Cedar Shake Roofing?

A traditional cedar shake roof is made using wooden shakes made from split logs. The wood chosen for wood shake roofs is usually either cedar wood or California redwood, which are both beautiful and durable wood options, if properly treated.

Cedar shake roofing is an excellent option for all types of homes and can provide a very unique look due to the varying thickness and length of each shingle. It is an especially great option for historic homes or homes seeking a traditional look, as cedar shake roofs have existed in North America since colonial times.

Average Cedar Shakes Roof Life Expectancy

Generally, all sources agree that when a cedar shake roof is properly installed and maintained, a cedar roof life expectancy is around 30 years. Deterioration prevention maintenance needs to be performed every 2 to 4 years for the longest cedar shake roof life possible.

The location of the home can also play a role in cedar shake roof life expectancy. In areas of high humidity, they can age prematurely, which can drastically shorten the overall cedar shake roof life expectancy. In areas with high precipitation, this can also adversely affect the overall longevity of a cedar shake roof.

Causes of Deterioration

Moisture

One primary culprit to the deterioration of cedar shakes is moisture. Moisture can severely affect the cedar shake roof life expectancy, shortening it by any number of years. 

When not properly cleaned, things like moss, algae, mold, mildew, lichen, and fungi can begin to grow on the roof shakes. These are organisms which retain moisture that can seep into the wood shingles. Over time, this moisture seeping in the shakes will cause them to begin to break down and develop a stringy, spongy texture. 

This will make them weaker, shrink, break, and even potentially collapse.

Climate

Different climates can impact cedar shakes in various ways as well. Humid climates can make rot and mold more likely, while cold winter climates can freeze the shakes and leave them brittle, with a much lower impact resistance rating for things like hail and debris. Overhanging debris that can fall on the roof is always a danger, while the roof pitch and orientation can impact how well it takes precipitation and impact damage from hail.

UV Light Exposure

Exposure to the elements, particularly UV rays, is another huge factor in the potential deterioration of a cedar shake roof. UV rays can cause fading and buckling over time if the natural cedar shake shingles are not treated with the right chemical application within a certain time frame.

Natural Deterioration

While they may become weathered over time, cedar shakes will not likely decay as long as they are properly and routinely maintained. However, natural deterioration is always a possibility. While maintenance can help prevent the deterioration from occurring too quickly, it can not prevent it entirely. Aging, insect infestations, and the elements such as wind, rain, cold, and heat can all affect the cedar shingle roof life expectancy.

Installation

Of course, the most important factor in the durability of any type of roof would be the quality of installation. Poor installation quality will likely leave gaps in the roof and allow moisture to seep through. The shingles can also be prone to flying off in high winds if they aren’t installed properly.

Signs of Wear and Aging on a Cedar Shake Roof

When a cedar shake roof starts to age and wear out, it will usually produce some pretty distinct symptoms that aren’t necessarily found in more common roof types, like asphalt, for instance. Because the shakes are made of natural wood, they will start to curl over time from UV exposure and general age. Individual shakes may also crack and split, and the roof may experience a loss of granules on the surface of the shingles, as well as surface erosion.

Environmental Impact and Sustainability of Cedar Shake Shingles

The environmental impact that cedar shakes have is often overlooked but should not be disregarded. Cedar trees need to be harvested in order to make these shingles, and they take a long time to grow back. Deforestation can cause a negative environmental impact and because of this, cedar shakes do not rate highly when it comes to overall sustainability.

How Much Does Shake Roofing Cost

While the cedar shingle roof life expectancy is not bad, it comes at a high cost. Initial installation costs for cedar shake roofing is about double the cost of alternative roofing options, like the more common asphalt shingles.

To maintain the integrity of the wood shingle roof life, cedar shake roofing requires a great deal of professional maintenance to keep it free of moss, algae, and other fungi, and also generally to keep it from deteriorating too quickly. This adds a significant, additional cost to shake roofing.

An Alternative to Wood Shakes

There is no denying the beauty of a cedar shake roof. To get the best wood shingle roof life expectancy, it requires an incredible amount of upkeep. This can turn people away from this beautiful, traditional style of roofing.

While there have been different synthetic shake roofing options that help eliminate the shake shingle roof life expectancy concerns, they also take away the most iconic feature of shake roofing: the wood look brought on by the shingles.

Until now, at least. CeDUR synthetic shakes are made from a lightweight, polyurethane material that has the appearance of traditional wood shakes.

Why Go Synthetic?

One of the benefits of CeDUR’s roofing options is their shake shingle roof life expectancy. The fact that CeDUR products are made from a synthetic material means that they exceed traditional cedar roof life expectancy. Additionally, CeDUR’s roof options are a much better value when it comes to installation and maintenance.

Beyond the long shake shingle roof life from the synthetic material, CeDUR’s roofs also maintain the timeless look of real wood shakes. This is because their synthetic shakes are molded from the same natural, hand-split shakes found in a real wood shake roof. 

CeDUR’s roofs also have the added benefit of being much stronger than traditional wood shakes. It makes their roofing products resistant to wind up to 115 mph, with a Class 4 Impact Rating, and a Class A Fire Rating, which helps them protect the home far more than traditional wood shakes. In addition, there is less concern for water absorption with synthetic shakes—a significant factor in traditional cedar roof life expectancy.

Because of CeDUR Shakes durability, they also come with a much longer warranty and expected lifespan than regular cedar shakes. In fact, traditional cedar shake roofs have a low life expectancy at anywhere from 7 to 30 years, depending on what the conditions are like, installation quality, whereas CeDUR shake shingles can last up to 30 years in harsh conditions and can last anywhere. With Normal conditions, CeDUR shake shingles can last up to 50 years or a lifetime—especially with basic maintenance.

Finally, CeDUR’s roofing is low maintenance. There is no upkeep required to ensure synthetic wood shake shingles life expectancy. They will only need to be cleaned of dirt and debris every so often, but other than that, no maintenance is required to maintain a synthetic cedar shake shingle roof.

Choose CeDUR’s Cedar Shake: A Cedar Shake Roof Life Expectancy Built to Last

Wood shake roofs are a beautiful, classic option that is still very popular today. But, they are costly and require a lot of maintenance to protect the wood shingle roof life.  Fortunately, there are new options on the market. CeDUR’s synthetic shake roofing products do not sacrifice the natural beauty of wood shakes. They’re even available in multiple different wood aesthetics such as Live Oak, Golden Cedar, Shiloh, and Walden. 

If you are looking for a unique roofing option but are concerned about the maintenance and life expectancy of regular cedar shakes, look no further than CeDUR’s attractive, low-maintenance alternative. You may even have a roof for life, which can certainly not be said about the natural hardwood alternative.