Cedar shingles

[Squaredy]

7 hours ago, Macpherson said:

 

Aye, apologies for not addressing the question. It would seem from a quick search that most of the shingles available are a bi-product of the Canadian BC  lumber industry, although I did find this company advertising 'home grown' in the UK shingles.

 

Home-Grown Cedar Shingles Roofing

WWW.RUBY-GROUP.CO.UK

---

Length 300mm Width 175mm Thickness 12mm Coverage 1.2sqm (per pack of 50) Installation & Calculator Guide Click here Timber Home-grown cedar Delivery 3-5 Working...

 

Very interesting, and thank you.  They really do look like uk grown don’t they.  
 

Sadly I must confess I would probably use imported shingles on the grounds that they would most likely last many times longer.  Still, nice to see someone does make them.

[5thelement]

3 minutes ago, Squaredy said:

Very interesting, and thank you.  They really do look like uk grown don’t they.  
 

Sadly I must confess I would probably use imported shingles on the grounds that they would most likely last many times longer.  Still, nice to see someone does make them.

It depends on what kind of look you want. The cedar shingles i have used on sheds and outbuildings in the UK where always imported and always Thuja, very uniform, thin, and in my opinion, pretty dull.

You see fantastic shingled buildings around me, more so in the Dordogne, usually Sweet chestnut and all cleft/hand finished with tapers and drip line.

There is a local artisan that restores the roofs of historic buildings offering 50 years on Sweet chestnut shingles, that’s double the life of the clay Roman tiles more commonly used here.

[Squaredy]

32 minutes ago, 5thelement said:

It depends on what kind of look you want. The cedar shingles i have used on sheds and outbuildings in the UK where always imported and always Thuja, very uniform, thin, and in my opinion, pretty dull.

You see fantastic shingled buildings around me, more so in the Dordogne, usually Sweet chestnut and all cleft/hand finished with tapers and drip line.

There is a local artisan that restores the roofs of historic buildings offering 50 years on Sweet chestnut shingles, that’s double the life of the clay Roman tiles more commonly used here.

I have seen sweet chestnut shakes and I agree they are awesome.  I guess this is a very expensive option as they are hand produced.  

[Macpherson]

1 hour ago, Squaredy said:

Very interesting, and thank you.  They really do look like uk grown don’t they.  
 

Sadly I must confess I would probably use imported shingles on the grounds that they would most likely last many times longer.  Still, nice to see someone does make them.

 

Aye, I totally agree with you on that.. it's just that I realised that I hadn't answered your question.. 

[5thelement]

1 hour ago, Squaredy said:

I have seen sweet chestnut shakes and I agree they are awesome.  I guess this is a very expensive option as they are hand produced.  

I felled some Sweet chestnut that was cut into feather edge boards on the bandsaw, then trimmed down into shingles for a roof in East Sussex. It was many moons ago and looked great at the time, I haven’t been back to see how it has weathered though.

My mate made 6000 by hand over lockdown for his workshop, I suspect his wrists are still hurting.

[Macpherson]

49 minutes ago, 5thelement said:

I suspect his wrists are still hurting.

 

Yep.

[mr kipling]

Cut over 5000 sweet chestnut shingles last summer on a woodlands mill for my garden building, 

[Macpherson]

27 minutes ago, mr kipling said:

Cut over 5000 sweet chestnut shingles last summer on a woodlands mill for my garden building, 

 

very nice👍

[waterbuoy]

A couple of questions from the 'interested but ill-informed':

 

• What are the longevity implications of sawn vs riven shingles;
• Might is be possible to make them from uk larch, and
• What is the minimum roof pitch they can be used on?

Thanks

Edited February 25, 2023 by waterbuoy
correct typo

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, waterbuoy said:

A couple of questions from the 'interested but ill-informed':

 

• What are the longevity implications of sawn vs riven shingles;

theoretically the cleft ones will last longer as less exposed end grain for rot and weathering to take a hold.

 

In practice I have seen cleft oak and imported sawn cedar  cedar ones last over 70 years which is better than many clay tiles.

1 hour ago, waterbuoy said:

• Might is be possible to make them from uk larch, and

Definitely uk made larch ones are available, I cannot share the picture for privacy reasons but a young chap has roofed his discreet little new build house with them.

1 hour ago, waterbuoy said:

• What is the minimum roof pitch they can be used on?

Pass but the 1930s build cedar house near me has a much steeper pitch than my tiled roof.