Cedar shake roof cost

A cedar shake roof costs $935 to $2,050 per square installed, so a 20 square roof is $19,000 to $41,000. Synthetic cedar runs $700 to $1,400 a square and removes most of the reasons people hesitate.

Cedar is the only common roofing material that needs looking after. Everything else on this site is fit and forget for twenty years. Cedar is a wood product on a roof, and it behaves like one.

What it costs

Shakes and shingles are not the same thing

Shakes are split from the log, so each face is irregular. Thicker, heavier, deeper shadow, more rustic. More expensive.

Shingles are sawn, so they are smooth and uniform in thickness. Thinner, flatter, more formal. Cheaper, and they lay tighter.

Both are usually western red cedar. Grade matters more than the choice between them: Number 1 Blue Label is 100% heartwood, 100% edge grain, clear. Anything below that contains sapwood, which rots first. On a roof, only Number 1 is worth buying.

The maintenance is the real cost

This is the honest part, and it is why cedar has lost ground.

Skip the schedule and a cedar roof lasts 15 to 20 years. Keep it and the same roof lasts 30 to 40. That is a genuine fork, and it depends on a homeowner doing something every few years for three decades.

Over 30 years the treatment alone can add $6,000 to $12,000 to the cost of the roof. Whether cedar is expensive depends entirely on whether you count that.

It has to breathe from underneath

A cedar roof laid flat on solid decking traps moisture against the wood and rots from below. The correct assembly puts an air gap under the shakes, either with spaced sheathing — battens with gaps between — or with a proprietary vented underlayment mat over solid deck.

If a quote does not say which, ask. It is the difference between a 30 year roof and a 12 year one, and it is invisible once the roof is on.

Fire, and where cedar is not allowed

Untreated cedar burns. Pressure-treated fire-retardant cedar carries a Class B or, with the right assembly, Class A rating, and costs 15% to 25% more.

Many wildfire-prone jurisdictions in California, Colorado and elsewhere prohibit untreated wood roofing outright, and some insurers will not write a policy on one at any price. Check both before falling in love with the look.

Synthetic is the honest alternative

Composite shakes imitate the split-cedar face in a polymer. $700 to $1,400 a square installed, Class A fire rated, 50 year warranties, and no maintenance schedule at all.

They cost less than real cedar over the first ten years and dramatically less over thirty. From the street at twenty feet, most people cannot tell. The case for natural cedar is that you want actual wood — its smell, its weathering to silver gray, the fact that it is a tree. That is a real reason, and it is not a financial one.

Frequently asked questions

How long does cedar last?

Thirty to forty years treated and maintained, fifteen to twenty left alone. Coastal salt air and deep shade both shorten it; open, sunny, well-ventilated roofs last longest.

Does it go gray?

Yes, within two or three years, and evenly if the roof gets even sun. Uneven weathering — silver on the south slope, green-black on the north — usually means the shaded side needs cleaning rather than replacing.

Can I pressure wash it?

No. Pressure erodes the soft summer wood between the grain lines and takes years off the roof. Cleaning is done with a low-pressure detergent wash and a soft brush.

Is moss a problem?

On shaded northern slopes, yes, and it holds moisture against the wood. Zinc or copper strips at the ridge release enough ions in rainfall to suppress it, cost $150 to $400, and are the cheapest preventive measure available.

Will it cost more to insure?

Frequently, and in some areas you will be declined. Fire-retardant treated cedar improves matters but does not always solve them. Ring your insurer before you commit to the material, not after the crew is booked.