How to Install Cedar Shake Shingles
Cedar shake shingles are as easy to install on your roof as any other type of shingle. Unlike regular shingles, cedar shakes can last up to fifty years on a roof. Cedar shake shingles are sturdy, highly resistant to all types of weather, and offer a nice step up in appearance from simple asphalt shingles. To get the best out of your cedar shake shingles, you should lay them over new waterproof roofing felt. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Cedar shakes
- Roofing felt
- Staple gun with 1/4-inch staples
- 2 ½ to 3-inch nails
- Hammer
- Tape measure
Instructions
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1
Install a layer of roofing felt. You will place your first layer at the bottom of the roof along the eave. Let the felt hang over the eave by 3/8 inch. Smooth out the felt and use a staple gun with 1/4 inch staples every 12 inches to hold felt into place.
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2
Lay your first row of shakes. Start at the bottom edge. The shakes should hang off the edge of the roof by 2 inches. The thick end of the shake should face down. Attach the shake to the roof with 2 1/2 to 3 inch nails. The nails should be placed 1 inch from each side and 2 inches from the top of the shake. Lay shingles touching each other on the sides.
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3
Overlap the first row with a second row of shakes. The second row should overlap the first row completely, lining up at the bottom. Space the shakes so that they cover gaps left in the first row where the boards met each other. The thick end should again face down toward the edge of the roof.
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4
Install another layer of roofing felt and the third row of shingles. The roofing felt will overlap the shakes by 8 inches. Attach with staples. The next layer of shakes will overlap the previous layer by 14 inches. To make sure your shingles are straight, move across the roof, measuring 4 inches up from the top of the row that has already been laid, and make a mark every foot or so. Draw a line across the roof connecting these points. Line the top of the next row of shingles up with this line. Attach each shake with two nails 1 inch from each side and 2 inches from the top.
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5
Repeat the process for all subsequent rows moving up the roof. You will place a layer of roofing felt that overlaps the previous row of shakes by 8 inches, followed by a layer of shakes that will overlap the row before it by 14 inches.
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Do the peak of the roof. Unlike asphalt shingles, you cannot bend cedar shakes to the top of the roof. Instead, you will just let them overlap each other at the top. To do this, place the top shake on one side of the peak so that it lines up with the top of the roof and nail into place. On the opposite side of the peak, let the shake hang over the top of the roof by 1 to 2 inches and nail into place.
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