Wood Shake Roofing: Cost, Lifespan, Pros & Cons

People use wood shake to mean any wood roof, but roofers separate two products. Shakes are thicker and rougher. Traditionally they were split by hand from a block of wood, which leaves a rugged, uneven face. Today many are split on one side and sawn on the back (hand-split and resawn) or sawn on both sides with a textured face (tapersawn). Wood shingles are thinner, sawn smooth on both sides and taper evenly, giving a neater, more tailored look.

Western red cedar is the most common species because it is naturally rot-resistant, stable and light. Alaskan yellow cedar, redwood and treated southern yellow pine are also used. Look for grade markings: the top grades come from heartwood with edge grain and no defects, and lower grades allow more flat grain, sapwood or knots. Higher grades last noticeably longer.

Wood can be untreated, or pressure-treated with preservatives to resist decay and with fire retardants to achieve a fire rating. Fire-retardant-treated shakes are the type most often allowed where codes restrict wood roofs.

Shakes are nailed or stapled to either solid sheathing or spaced wood strips called skip sheathing, with an interlayment of felt between courses on shakes. Breathability is important: wood needs air on its underside to dry out, so many installers use a ventilating mat or batten system when going over solid decking.

New cedar has a warm honey to reddish-brown color. Within a year or two in the sun, untreated cedar weathers to a gray or silver tone, and the grain becomes more pronounced. Some owners love that aging, and others apply a stain or oil to hold a warmer color, which then needs to be redone periodically.

Heavy hand-split shakes create deep shadow lines and a rugged, rustic texture. Tapersawn shakes and sawn shingles look cleaner and more refined. Shingles can also be cut into decorative shapes, such as fish scale, diamond or rounded butts, which you see on Victorian and Queen Anne homes.

Wood roofs suit Craftsman bungalows, Cape Cods, cottages, Arts and Crafts homes, log homes, mountain and lake houses, and some Tudor and shingle-style designs. They also look natural on high-end ranch and hill country homes with stone and timber accents.

Wood looks out of place on very modern homes or in neighborhoods where every other house has shingles or tile. In areas with HOAs, wood may be prohibited outright or allowed only with a fire-retardant rating. Check before you fall in love with the look.

Wood shake is a premium roof. It typically costs well above asphalt shingles and is often in a similar range to synthetic slate or quality metal, with natural slate and some clay tile above it. The price table on this page shows current ranges; the factors below explain why quotes differ.

Material grade is a big lever. Top-grade edge-grain cedar costs more than lower grades, and treated shakes, especially fire-retardant-treated ones, cost more than untreated wood. Thick heavy shakes use more wood per square than medium shakes or shingles. Lumber prices also move with the market, so material quotes can change from season to season.

Labor is significant. Wood is installed piece by piece with careful spacing, and good cedar installers are harder to find than shingle crews. Roofs with steep pitches, many valleys, dormers and turrets take longer. If you switch from a solid deck system to skip sheathing or add a ventilating underlayment, that adds cost. Tear-off of an old wood roof often generates a lot of debris and may reveal sheathing repairs.

Then add flashing, ridge vents, any required fire barrier, permits and possible HOA review. Over the long term, also budget for maintenance such as cleaning and treatment every few years, which other roof types usually do not need.

A well-installed cedar roof using quality material commonly lasts about 20 to 40 years. Treated, top-grade shakes in a dry, sunny, well-ventilated setting can reach the high end or beyond. Lower-grade or untreated wood in a damp, shaded spot may need replacement much sooner.

Moisture is the main enemy. Shade, overhanging trees, leaf litter, poor attic ventilation and roofs that never fully dry encourage moss, mold and rot. Sun and heat also take a toll: UV breaks down the surface fibers, and repeated wetting and drying cause splitting and curling. Thin shingles wear faster than thick shakes.

Things that help: high-grade heartwood, preservative treatment, stainless steel or hot-dipped galvanized fasteners, proper spacing between pieces, airflow beneath the wood, regular cleaning and periodic preservative treatments.

Warranties vary. Treated products often carry a manufacturer's limited warranty against decay for a set number of years, sometimes conditional on proper installation and maintenance. Untreated cedar may have little or no material warranty. Your roofer's workmanship warranty covers installation errors. Read both carefully, especially any maintenance requirements that could void coverage.

Wood has some natural insulating value, more than metal or asphalt per inch, and the thick, overlapping layers of a shake roof slow heat transfer into the attic. Wood shakes are not cool roofs in the reflective sense, though. Weathered gray cedar reflects somewhat more light than a dark shingle, but it is not rated like a white membrane or a reflective metal panel.

The ventilation that wood needs also helps energy use. Skip sheathing or a ventilated batten system lets air move under the roof, carrying away some heat before it reaches the attic. Combined with a ridge vent and proper intake at the eaves, this keeps the attic cooler and helps the wood last.

As with any roof, the bigger wins come from attic insulation and air sealing. If you are replacing a roof, it is a good time to add insulation or a radiant barrier. Ask your roofer how they plan to keep the roof ventilated without compromising any required fire barrier.

Wood needs more care than any other common roofing material. Plan on an inspection at least once a year and after big storms. A roofer should look for split, cupped, curled or missing shakes, rot at the butts, moss or lichen, debris in the keyways between pieces and failing flashing.

Keep the roof clean and dry. Blow or sweep off leaves and needles, clear valleys and gutters, and trim branches so sunlight and air reach the surface. Debris holds moisture against the wood and is also a fire hazard. Do not pressure wash at high pressure, which gouges the wood fibers and shortens life; a soft wash or low-pressure cleaning by someone experienced with cedar is the safer approach.

Many owners have the roof treated every few years with a preservative or water-repellent product, and fire-retardant-treated roofs may need periodic re-treatment depending on the product. Follow the manufacturer's guidance so you do not void a warranty.

Replace damaged shakes promptly. A single split piece can channel water to the layer below. Good wood roofers can slip out a broken shake and nail in a new one without disturbing much around it. Expect new pieces to look different until they weather to match.

After tear-off, the roofer checks the deck and framing. For a traditional system, the crew installs spaced skip sheathing or uses solid sheathing with a ventilating underlayment so air can circulate. Ice and water shield goes at eaves and valleys where required, and for shakes, strips of felt interlayment are woven between courses to shed water that gets past the wood.

Shakes are laid with the right exposure for their length and the roof pitch, with small gaps between pieces so the wood can swell when wet. Joints are offset course to course so no gap lines up over another. Each piece gets two corrosion-resistant fasteners placed at the right distance from the edges and above the butt line of the next course. Valleys are lined with metal, and hips and ridges are capped with alternating pieces or pre-made hip and ridge units.

A typical home takes several days to two weeks depending on size and complexity. That is longer than a shingle roof because every piece is fitted by hand.

Look for a contractor who does wood roofs regularly, not occasionally. Industry associations for cedar offer training and certification for installers, and treated-shake manufacturers sometimes require trained installers for their warranty. Ask to see older cedar roofs the company has installed, since how a wood roof ages tells you more than how it looks on day one.

Fire is the central insurance issue. Untreated wood shakes are not fire rated. Fire-retardant-treated shakes can reach Class B or Class C ratings, and some achieve Class A when installed over a specific fire-resistant underlayment or cap sheet as a tested assembly. Many jurisdictions in wildfire-prone areas require Class A roofs, and some insurers raise premiums or decline coverage for wood roofs regardless of treatment.

For hail, wood shakes generally do not carry a Class 4 impact rating, though thick, high-grade shakes can resist moderate hail. Hail can split wood, especially once it is old and dry. Ask your insurer how a wood roof affects your premium and deductible before you buy, and get that answer in writing if possible.

At resale, a well-kept cedar roof can be a selling point on the right house and in the right market. But buyers and their inspectors will look closely at age, condition and fire rating, and an aging or neglected wood roof can become a negotiating issue. Keep records of installation, grade, treatments and maintenance to show buyers.

Wood shake is a good fit if you value a natural, historic or rustic look, your home's style suits it, you live in an area where codes, your HOA and your insurer all allow it, and you are willing to keep up with regular maintenance. It works best on homes with good sun exposure and airflow and roofs steep enough to shed water quickly.

It is a poor choice in wildfire-prone areas, especially on homes near brush, grassland or wooded lots, even with treated shakes. It is also a poor fit if you want a roof you can forget about, if your home sits under heavy tree cover in a humid climate, or if your insurer will not cover it at a reasonable price.

If you like the look but those concerns apply, consider synthetic shake products made from polymers or composite materials, which copy the cedar look with better fire and hail ratings and less maintenance. Many HOAs that ban real wood accept them.