Denver Wood Shake Roofing Company
Denver wood shake roofing companies installed millions and millions of wood-shake shingles over many decades in the Denver metro and across the State of Colorado. It was the most desired Denver roofing style for so many years. It fit the Colorado image perfectly. A beautiful natural look shake roof with the Colorado mountains as a backdrop was perfect.
The benefits of wood shingles were many. Wood shake shingles were pretty good at resisting hail damage. They were good at hiding dents from hail and performed well as impact-resistant shingles to our Colorado hail storms. Wood roofs were organic like our State. It was the green roofing of the day. It seemed natural and clean – in sync with the environment and setting for many Denver homes.
But its environmental appeal has changed. Many activists are “anti-shake”, (“Never shake a roof!”) saying it depletes the forests and fills up our landfills. Beyond the activists, here are a few other considerations when looking at a new wood-shake roof.
Problems with Wood Shake in Colorado Now
Wood Shake is not as popular now as it was in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. Shake roofing was applied to residential and commercial roof installations. No doubt it is beautiful when first installed, but it has some modern problems.
Insurance companies do not like wood shakes. They don’t like to insure it anymore so they charge you 
more. Roof insurance claims can not be used oftentimes to purchase more wood shakes. This is especially true in any forest environment like the mountains, foothills, or front range areas where fire hazards are a concern.
Dry climates are not great for a wood-shake shingle roof either. Wood is organic and in Colorado, wood shake dries out fast. Shake roofs are not well suited for our climate. It is very common to see an older shake roof with curled-up shingles. Upon close inspection of older wood shakes you will find splitting, cupping, curling, cracks, and even holes where the wood has shrunk and curled. This can begin to happen in as little as five years.
Shake Wood Shingle Maintenance
Shake roofs should be maintained on a regular basis. There are several treatments for this. Treatment usually involves spraying a chemical protectant on the exposed wood surface. This protectant soaks into the wood, giving it some desperately needed moisture to retain its strength and pliability. Intense sun and dry air are tough on a naturally porous material like wood.
Damage from people walking on older cedar shake roofing is not uncommon. As the shake becomes brittle from aging, any human weight can cause cracking or breakage. If you have any repairman on your roof for a satellite or other technical repair, the old wood shake roof is very vulnerable to damage.
So enough about the problems of wood shake, let’s look at solutions!
Alternatives to Wood Shake Roofing in Denver
There are many good alternative roofing options that simulate the look of a Colorado wood shake roof with synthetic shakes. These include:
- composite shingles in shake design
- stone coated steel, with a shake shape to it
- polymer shake
- asphalt dimensional shingles
Brand Names to research include:
- Brava Roof Tile – Composite Synthetic Cedar Shake
- Decra – Stone Coated Steel with a wood shake look but made from steel
- Davinci Roofscapes – Composite Synthetic Cedar Shake
- Enviroshake – Composite Synthetic Cedar Shake
- Ecostar – Composite Synthetic Cedar Shake
- Owens Corning Duration Storm Shingle – asphalt shingle
Hey – while you’re at it, researching all this right now, learn more about good options that are “Hail Proof”! Click here to fill out a quick form to help assist your roofing research.
Denver Wood Shake Roofing Installation
The installation of wood shake is a timeless process. Wood shake has been used on roofs for hundreds of years. While New Roof Plus has not been in business for hundreds of years, we have plenty of experience to make sure it is done with exactly the right care and attention required to do it right.
Most homeowners are opting out of the real product and moving to wood shake “look-alikes”. Many of the manufacturers of these products were listed above.
Roof Repairs for a Wood Shingle Roof
Roof repair and roof replacement of a wood shingle roof can be the result of hail damage, wind damage or other storm damage. Roof inspections can help you understand the condition of your roof and the issues you may or may not have with your roof. A good Denver roof contractor can help here.
Residential roof repair to shake is very common also. Shakes can be replaced if needed. Commercial roof repair to missing or broken shake shingles is also a very common repair. It will fix the leak issue but the new shingles will stand out in color. Eventually, they fade to the same greyish color as the others – but it can take a year or two for this patina to happen.
At New Roof Plus, we are proudly serving the entire State of Colorado and can help you with any roofing system your home or commercial building may have. Our roof inspections are top-notch. We are certified roof inspectors for residential roof and commercial roof inspections.
Wood Shake Roof Replacement
Wood shake roofing replacement is usually replaced with non-wood material. This would include “shake-like” systems of composite shingles, rubber shingles, concrete shingles. Real wood shake can be a good choice in more humid climates like Oregon and Washington State. But here in Colorado, most everyone is going with the newer alternatives that simulate the cedar shake look, but do not succumb to the negative effects of our dry climate or fire hazards.
Wood Shake Roof Inspection
Give us a call to have your wood shake roof inspected. We are certified roof inspectors and have years of experience analyzing wood shake. Wood shake is durable and can be completely waterproof even though it looks awful with curled shingles and cracks. We can help determine if there is hail damage for roof insurance claims purposes. While aesthetically, old shake is often not pretty, we can analyze it and let you know it’s condition and recommended courses for repair or replacement.
