Wood Shakes
&
Shingles
How to install,
treat, and
maintain
wood roofs
by Henri de Marne
Shakes are installed with strips of 30-pound felt laid between each course to keep windswept snow and rain from penetrating between them.
There is something romantic and
earthy about a wood-shake or -shingle
roof. The materials evoke images of
New England's colonial days when they
were used extensively as both roofing
and siding. They've also become a symbol
of California's western architecture
and outdoorsy style of living.
Early Easterners used a variety of
wood species: white pine, white cedar,
and so on, to make handsplit shingles,
called shakes. As pioneers reached the
Pacific Northwest, they found the ideal
wood: western red cedar.
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