Cedar shingles/shakes

[ibisti]

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with these? I have a large shed/garage that needs to be either re felted or as another option I thought I might use cedar shingles. If you have used them what is the process of fitting them? I have seen that you overlap on each row but do you need to fit anything underneath them? I was going to lay them over the existing felt that is past its best, but still mostly water tight.

[mk1fan]

What's the pitch of the roof?

[ibisti]

Its about 20deg pitch I think

[Simpo Two]

I used cedar shingles on the front of my house to replace weatherboarding. Overlap each row by 1/3 and stagger the joins so there are never less than two thicknesses. Allow 1/4" for expansion between each one. I pre-drilled mine to prevent any risk of splitting, and tacked a batten across to keep each row level.

The flatter the angle the shorter time they will last; 20 degrees is not recommended, but they will last for decades if vertical.

[ibisti]

Why do you say 20 deg is not recommended? Most shingle retailers seem to quote for pitches of 14 to 19deg and then over 20deg. Then the spacing is altered to cope.

[Simpo Two]

The instructions I worked to a few years agao recommended at least 40 degrees.

You can lay them at any angle you want, they will just rot quicker

[mk1fan]

20 degrees is possible with 'plain tiles' (which is effectively what shingles are) but they need to be large tiles with good gauge and headlap. For example Eternit cement 'slate' tiles need to be 300 x 600mm in size and laid in a 240mm gauge and 110mm headlap for a 20 degree pitch.

[Paul Drawmer]

In the mid 60's my father built a 'Colt' house. It had cedar shingle cladding and I nailed a lot of shingles. At the time the only recommended nails were aluminium(!). I do remember that they were supposed to last 50 years on a wall. Treating them with oil was not reckoned to increase their life, just stop them going silver. We used Regent 735 oil; probably banned now (as everything good seems to be!).

Deffo not recommended for a shallow pitch roof though.

[roofer]

Decent Cedar shingles are expensive for a shed. Use felt shingles. Tey will do 20 degree fine, as said, laps are adjusted to suit. Have a google on fitting.

[Hayek]

I'm currently looking into this. Probably going to go with cedar shingles which I think will turn the leaking bog standard shed I have into looking like something quite nice.

To the above post: Felt shingles may be more cost effective but the effect isn't even close.

[thebraketester]

Is it visible? If not then look at epdm. Will outlive you