A maintained shake roof makes your home look beautiful. It has a high insulation value, it breathes, and it has the lowest carbon footprint of any roofing material on the market. It’s a great roof to put on your home in Portland. But our weather takes a toll, so you’ve got to do a little maintenance to get the most out of your shake roof.
Things are always changing, but generally, we get about eight months of drizzly rain here in Portland. These shake roofs are being asked to handle this weather and a lot of debris, fungus, and moss. That’s why it’s so important that your shake roof is pre-treated to resist the elements.
Untreated shake versus a treated shake (left to right)
An untreated shake allows the black fungus to develop and it will create an environment for moss. The moss will begin to eat the wood and you’ll end up with a thirty-year material that only lasts you seventeen years. No one wants to replace his or her roof fifteen years early. With proper care and maintenance, you can make that wood last the full thirty years.
Also, if you live under the trees, you need to keep the debris off. We have to be treating these roofs every four to five years, depending on your environment. It’s important to have your roof on a well-care plan and Roof Life of Oregon can do that for you. Simply give us a call, and we’ll come out to your home, check it out, and provide you with a review of what we found. We’ve been doing it for thirty-four years here in Portland and know how to make sure you get the most out of your shake roof.