Saturday July 26, 2008

Hello Dear Patients of Roof!

So there you were listening to the brilliant radio show known throughout this great country as "On The House with The Carey Bros. & Rebecca Cole," and lo and behold, you hear that strange foreign sounding voice that can only be me, Dr. Roof, and certainly not you, coming out of the radio! And you hear me, the Great Dr. Roof, not you, answering a question about Roof, a question that one of my dear patients had about Roof.

As I promised everyone, I here-in write down the question from a listener and my answer to that question so you can see it each week after the show in case you forgot what my advice was! Please, also know, you can send in any questions you yourself may have to the Great Doctor of Roof at: info@onthehouse.com. Here is this week's question and Dr. Roof's answer:

Dear Dr. Roof:

I would like to get a wood shake roof but I'm afraid of fire. Are there any fire safe wood shakes and are they any good?

Dear Patient of Roof (that is you, in case you forgot!),

Yes, there are wood shakes that have been pre-treated with fire retardants. You can even get a wood shake roof system in a class"A" fire rating, which is the highest fire rating there is (can you believe that?). But as in all things Roof, please be careful so you really get what you ordered, and also beware of the potential downsides.

The manufacturers of wood shakes make class "C" and class "B" fire rated wood shakes by impregnating the cells of the wood with inorganic salts and other fire retarding materials. The impregnation (don't worry, the kids can watch as this isn't X rated!) is done under heat and pressure (sounds kind of X rate, though, doesn't it?) and that embrittles the wood . Now, the manufacturers say that the fire rated wood shakes will last as long as non-fire rated wood shakes (about 18 to 22 years for #1 grade heavy wood shakes in a mild climate). However, when I spoke with the brilliant brains at the University of California forest products lab I got a different opinion (don't be frightened, the brains were inside skulls that were covered with skin and connected to spinal cords of human beings, not just brains laying around on a table!). These brains felt that the embrittlement of the wood caused by the impregnation process takes years of life away from the wood shakes. Instead of 18 to 22 years of life, they guessed maybe 12 to 15 years tops before you'll need to replace them. Contractors in the field also confirm that.

Additionally, you'll pay a higher price for a fire rated wood shake roof than for a non rated one, as the shakes cost the contractor more to buy and, because they are so brittle, the contractor has a lot of waste during installation as more shakes split and crack when nails or staples are driven into the wood during installation than in non-fire rated wood.

Now this is important, so pay attention: if a contractor installs the fire rated wood shakes the same way a non-fire rated shake roof is installed, with only 30# roofing felt, you will not be getting an "A" fire rated system (as most cities require now-a-days), it will only be a "C" or "B" rated system (depending on the shake purchased). In order to have an "A" fire rating, the contractor needs to install a 72# fiberglass cap sheet underlayment in addition to the 30# roofing felt paper and also use the "B" rated shake (not the "C" rated shake!)!

A tip, however, to your contractor, and for you: ask the contractor to use stainless steel nails in installing a fire rated wood shake roof as the chemicals used in the manufacturing of the fire rated shakes have been seen to cause corrosion in galvanized nails. Not too many contractors know this, so be the first one on your block to do it correctly if you go for the fire rated wood system! Use the stainless steel nails in the valley metal and other trim also, as the chemicals leach out of the wood and get to nails in the trim also.

With all this said, you may want to look at non-wood options that look like wood shakes, as there are really good ones that are class "A" fire rated and will last a lifetime. Classic Metal Roofing Systems (Dr. Roof's long time sponsor) makes a great aluminum shake that looks just like a wood shake roof without its downsides. I like these aluminum imitation wood shakes best, as the other options for imitation wood shakes are all heavier, like the concrete tiles made to look like wood shakes that are also another option.

And please, please, please, remember what the good Doctor says to all my dear patients all around the world: ALWAYS PRACTICE SAFE ROOF!