Cedar Shingles for Roofing

[benevolance]

Anyone got some tips or a link...A friend asked me for some info and I thought I would ask the peanut gallery.

I have always wanted a cedar shingle roof...I just wonder how long it will last...I have this crazy notion that if  you treat it really well and then put on a couple coats of thompson's water seal...Or whatever the best water sealant is...That it would last for years....You just put another coat of water sealant on it every 5 years...

Is this wrong? By the way...What is the best way to treat a cedar shingle...Is there a protective stain you put on before the water sealer? and what is the best and most durable water sealer?

The green tin roof look is awesome clean neat and rustic....But everyone is doing it....The cedar Shingle look has always kicked butt...

[glenn-k]

Cedar shingles have never needed a preservative in any of the places I've seen them.

They have lost favor with insurance companies because they make such wonderful kindling.

[peg_688]

Peter , Peter , Peter whats a mother to do  Google man ,  


http://www.cedarbureau.org/installation/roof_manual/page05.htm#

http://www.cedarbureau.org/certi-label/pre-treated.htm

 Today shingle and shakes, I wouldn't do it , unless you could smuggle some down from your native land.

Seems that soft wood act we , our govt. , agreed to does not allow good old growth to be ship here.

 You'll get 20 / 25 years out of the cedar avaiable today , I'd recommend a 30 to 50 years Architecturally grade knockoff, heavy comp. shingles .

As far as Thompson's water seal goes , you be better off just going up on the roof to take a leak , Thompson's is worthless the urine would be a better sealer

 G/L you'll need it PEG

[glenn-k]

Did that on my roof, PEG.  Makes the roses grow great--especially the yellow ones.

[benevolance]

Peg

I did see in the news that the softwood deal was reached...It was asham for Canada in that Billions of back duties and taxes were not paid to the Canadian Government... But I guess they got some concession they were wanting out of it. :-/

And yes I knew that the best Cedar Trees Grew is the south western tip of British Columbia...Red Cedars....200 years ago where I am from in Nova Scotia they used white pine Shingles and Shakes...But I think the natural preservative oils in the cedar make them a better choice.

Peg, why do you hate Thompson's water seal....Is there another water seal you reccomend instead...Or do you hate all water sealants?

I have seen people coat log cabins and cedar siding with Linseed oil and terpentine...But that was just an old guy that lived near us that coated everything with that concoction he had mixed up... Seemed to work pretty good for him.

Glenn I do not think I want Vegetation or Flora and Fauna on any of my roofs

Although I did see a documentary several years ago about this jesuit Priest who retired to Alaska...And built a cabin in the wilderness on a huge lake...Made everything by hand from wood...split logs for shakes and sawed boards crosscut lengthways for boards...Impressive how much work the guy did

For a roof he cut sod and planted it on the roof letting it grow...I guess there was insulation value in it....

[jraabe]

I am working on a custom house now that is a larger version of the 20' wide 1-1/2 story (with shed dormers in the roof to enlarge the upper story). The large main roof is a 12:12 pitch finished with metal. However, the porches (there are three) will tie the house to the landscaping and we are planning these low slope green or sod roofs on those sections.



The posts will be cut from the land as the owners will be milling their own lumber for an 8" thick double 2x4 stud super insulated wall.

The porch slab will be stamped and colored concrete. The interior wood floor is kept close to the flat outside final grade so that only one step is needed to get into the house.

Here is a link to a Mother Earth News article on The Return of Sod Roofs.

[peg_688]

Olympic used to be pretty good , Wolmens F&P (finish and preserative ) is ok .  I really think the EPA has screwed the pooch on pretty much all paints and preseratives , taken all the "good " chemicals out , the ones that worked and deluted the stuff so much that we have what we have now , paint the grows mold , clean preseratives that wash off after 3 or 4 rain storms , that old boy mixing his terps and raw linseed has something right the raw oil will continue to seep in for years the boiled stuff , most commonly found on the shelf at the store , Kicks off/ hardens / stops going in  to the wood .


 The only problem with the home brew is it turns almost black , gathers dirt / dust / etc , and also just darkens the wood / UV ages it etc .

 If your kid is eating the paint on your window sills , base boards and siding , CPS sshould remove them from your home as your parenting skills are , ah shall we say lacking  

 And thats the main cause / start to all the watering down of paints and preseratives .  Well that and a over protective , [size=72] MASSIVE    [/size]  , every  reaching / taxing / intrusive govt buraccuay!!!!


;DOh well off to pay the tax's   ::)Good day PEG

[Sassy]

John, that custom house sounds really nice - the drawing of the porch looks neat - I like the idea of the sod roofs!  And they are milling all the own wood?  You'll have to post pictures as the work progresses.

Benevolance, I had shake roofing on my house in the valley - built in the 70's - our renter is a roofing contractor & put a new composite shake roof on it in lew of a few months rent (things were slow) about 5 years ago.  I had paid about $3000 to a roofing company several years before that to replace bad shakes & spray some kind of treatment on the shakes - the 1st time Glenn was up on the roof he said there was a lot of broken shakes & didn't look like anything had been done... I probably just had another ripoff job done...  :-/  thank God I don't have to worry about that anymore - when you don't know anything about building or cars you tend to get taken advantage of  :-/.

PEG, you are SO hard on the government!!!  Watch the new movie From Freedom to Fascism by Aaron Russo - you can watch it on Google or order it online.  

Sassy

[benevolance]

Peg

If homebrew raw linseed oil and terp gathers dirt...Why not treat it several times and make sure you get as much oil into the wood as it will hold then cover it with whatever is the best of the diluted and weakened preservatives...Such as Olympic or whatever...

This would prevent it from collecting dirt and changing colour from the UV rays....

Is that a workable strategy?

And in 5 years time if you think the protective coating has worn off then you can treat it again with the raw linseed oil and theb re-apply the protective wood coating.

[Amanda_931]

Dirt protects almost anything from UV.

(dust in the atmosphere--pollution--may be why we're not hotter than we are)

[benevolance]

And as for google

I remember first logging onto the internet back in 1993...I was in College and all of my friends were buzzing about a place to find sports scores and other cool stuff....

To chat with girls in our university...The university had it's own sever....So that was pretty cool

I found online newspapers from Sacramento...The Sac Bee and I started buying cars out of Northen California and sending them back to Canada

But the point was that the internet was free and there was unlimited sources for information.

I have always been a huge Robert Frost fan.... I remember using a search engine for the first time way back then and finding online catalogues of his poetry where I could go and read from anything he ever wrote...Free of course...

I could download maps of the world.... Recipees There was no limit to the information

I did try to google Cedar Shakes and Shingles a couple of different times on Google and I got mostly sites that were selling shingles...Or sites that would install the shingles...But as to finding free sites that showed you how to do something or gave out any information for free....That was not so easily found

For the most part I have given up on Search engines because they are so commercialized. Today a Search for Robert Frost would mostly be links of Book Stores where you could order copies of his works and pay with your credit card

The internet has truly changed not for the better either.

[peg_688]

 No the add the other stuff over the home brew wouldn't work both allow / are damaged by UV so I don't think that would do anyone, except the paint store / Manf. etc, good  

 On the internet , or for that matter anywhere , is there a bright side for you Peter ?  

Dume and gloom , constance druggery , some call it Pissin and Moanin Psss, moooooooan , Psssss, MOOOOOAN l  

 Good luck Pettie and remember ta pay Paul

[benevolance]

Peg

You are my bright side...Your vast base of know how your superior will and intellect

why I do not know what I would not do if I had not met you online....


Is that better(instead of pissing and moaning)

[benevolance]

Peg,

despite your sarcasm peg.. you do make beautiful firniture....And you do seem to know an awful lot about wood.

By the way I have been paying plenty renovating my new home...It is crazy what things cost even if you shop around wait for sales and be patient..... I have not been this down and out for money since I was in college buying macaroni in bulk at the bulk barn and then getting the imitation kraft dinner cheese mix in bulk by the pound to make home made Kraft dinner because it was about 25% the cost of Kraft dinner.

Sad as it may seem this board has been the only entertainment I have been able to afford for the last month or so...All my take my wife to dinner money and or movie money has gone into the house :-/

Cheers,

-Peter

[glenn-k]

That's not real sad, Peter.  It's about the only entertainment Sassy and I have too - we won't watch TV - can hardly stand it.  I guess we could both go iron our birthday suits and see if they're still presentable.

[peg_688]

Peg,

#1: despite your sarcasm peg..

#2:  you do make beautiful firniture....


#3:  And you do seem to know an awful lot about wood.

#4: By the way I have been paying plenty renovating my new home.


Cheers,

-Peter

#1: There has to some truth in it for it to be sarcasm   At least you can read / get some of my "wit" most call it a dry sence of humor , but it's really "good natured" sarcasm

#2: Thanks   I build a nice house , some say , as well

#3: Well after 34 years of woodworking some things are bound to stick , even in my pea brain

#4:  But when your done you'll be able to step back , see all your screw ups , most folks won't seeum unless you point them out ,   well unless there REALLY BIG screw ups  
 And you'll be able ta say I did all that and tax right offs abound   So there's yer up side  

Have a great day , PEG

[benevolance]

Glenn

I did not know a birthday suit would still be presentable at your age

Peg,
As for the screw ups...I am taking the approach of do as much as I can...And get some help in a few critical areas..So when there are screw ups I have educated skilled help to fix them properly

I have a guy that drag races whom I built his car..and he is coming to help sand the walls and ready them for paint....So I will rough a few things in as best as I can and then I get the guy with 30 years experience to help me make it look beautiful.

I am taking the exact same approach with my foundation...I have a guy giving me ahand that has laid brick all his life....I do the demolition work...clean up the mess get the supplies and do as much as I can by myself and get him there to make sure the finished product is spot on..

I am one of these dummies that tries to do everything...But I have learned that  having another set of eyes and ears on site makes my life expotentially easier. Still There is a lot to do and I am spending a lot of time with a sledgehammer and crowbar at this point...Ripping and pulling all day until my arms feel like jelly....And lets not forget that classic time wasting event of the century....My favorite (not) ...Sanding!

The older I get the more I enjoy someone else having an answer....I have even found I enjoy being the "Go Fer" when I have someone with 30 years experience come in to help....


Today my wife and I are going shopping for used furniture...Looking for Solid wood bedroom set....There is a Solid Walnut Set in the paper that is 65 years old....It ought to be real wood....If it is half decent I will get it...Then we will have one room done....The important room.....

The week-end has me moving the sink in the laundry porch and changing the hook up locations for the washer and dryer....Maybe figuring out a way to build a cabinet around the plumbing to make it neat....The hot water heater is out in the open exposed by the laundry sink and it looks terrible

Then coming back to the old house on Monday to shop for more used furniture. I do not know where I am supposed to come up with more money for furniture....But we always somehow seem to scrape along....So I guess it will be more of the same.

Luckily my wife agreed with me when I told her we needed to cancel christmas....Thankfully she agreed that giving each other a House was enough of an expense

So a Christmas card and maybe a gift certificate for $25 for her favorite Restaurant will have to do this year

[glenn-k]

Glenn

I did not know a birthday suit would still be presentable at your age

Looking for Solid wood bedroom set....There is a Solid Walnut Set in the paper that is 65 years old....It ought to be real wood....If it is half decent I will get it...Then we will have one room done....The important room.....

1 - Depends on who is rating it.  

2 - Cool Peter - An new workbench, and solid walnut you say.  Alright.

[benevolance]

workbench.....I rather enjoy it too much to consider it work ....How about we call it the Play set!

And as for the rating part of it....Man we need to not go there...I will just leave that to Sassy ...Make sure never to show me the birthday suit..And I will return the favour.

Deal?

[jb52761]

Getting back to the Thompsons water sealant, I have to agree, I think it is worthless. Used it one time, and a few months later the rain wasn't beading up....hmmmm.. My vote for a good product is going to a product I used on the new deck. It's Woodsman brand. Sealant and stain in one, and there is alot of pigment in there so you get good, rich color, and the rain was beading up on the deck a year later. I won't use anything else.

[benevolance]

I stained my deck here a few months ago with a water sealant and stain combo and it was just the cheapest red stain walmart had...It beads all water...It can rain and half a day later the water is on the deck it will not absorb anything it has to evaporate...