Should I Put Cedar Shakes On My Roof Again?

Homeowner Mark in Deephaven Minnesota asked himself that after he found out his roof needed to be replaced. He had one of our guys stop out to assess his roof's current condition to see what would be needed to maintain it. It turned out that Mark had a lot of surrounding trees very close to his cedar roof. Having those trees near for so many years led to a strong build up of organic material. When trees hang around or over your cedar roof expect organics to populate faster. This organic material ended up leaving Mark's cedar roof in brittle condition. No benefit would come from washing his roof of organics. It would be more beneficial to leave it alone and replace it. The wood from cedar roofs becomes brittle after a good number of years and the wash process isn't for cedar in a weak state. This is what led to Mark discovering CeDUR, a synthetic cedar shake. (Learn more on cedar roof life expectancy here.)

CeDUR vs Cedar Discussion

Mark enjoyed the true beauty of his natural cedar roof and did not want to switch to asphalt. We agreed that cedar does look phenomenal but with so many surrounding trees it could be an issue. The cedar roof would need to be well maintained throughout it's life to maximize his cedar roof investment. Now Mark was introduced to an alternative roofing material called CeDUR. CeDUR has many benefits that shine from beginning to end.

Here's the news on CeDUR for all those curious.

CeDUR is on of a few different kinds of synthetic cedar shakes. Something we really like is that CeDUR has the highest  class rating for impact and fire resistance. In fact wood cedar shakes catch fire at 375 degrees fahrenheit while CeDUR shakes don't catch fire. CeDUR had fire temperatures reaching 1,300 degrees fahrenheit during testing and still did not catch fire. This also is a very lightweight material weighing only 170lbs per 100 square feet which is much lighter than dry cedar. CeDUR also has an R-Value of 2.0 making it great for keeping your home insulated throughout all seasons. Your insurance company loves material like this so much they are likely to adjust your rate. It is worth mentioning if considering this material yourself.

A Decision is Made

Now back to Mark and his decision to switch to a synthetic cedar shake. Mark to this day has a great appreciation for cedar shake roofs. We showed him the samples of the CeDUR and he was impressed with the resemblance to real shakes. In fact CeDUR shakes are molded from actual cedar shakes to replicate real wood to it's fullest potential. 

A Brand New CeDUR Roof

The photos above and below were taken during the installation process so that you can see how things look close up.