One of the most attractive roofing materials to have installed on your home are wood shakes. These shake roofs are very durable, but there are some things that you should know about maintenance of wood shakes. With a good maintenance routine, you will reduce wear and costly repairs to your shake roofing. Here are some tips to help with maintenance and care of wood shake roofing:
1. Cleaning and Prevention Problems with Fungus
Fungi is one of the problems that can cause a lot of damage to a wood shake roof. A simple solution to prevent rot from fungi is to clean the shakes regularly. If your home is shaded with large trees, consider adding a zinc strip to the ridges of the roof, which will help prevent fungus from growing in areas that are shaded. This is an especially good improvement in regions that get high amounts of rainfall throughout the year.
2. Staining and Sealing to Protect Your Wood Shakes
Another maintenance task that you will need to do to wood shakes is staining and sealing. This is something that you should do every few years, just as you would paint other features around your home. When using a sealant on wood shakes, make sure that you use a product that is formulated for roofing and the type of wood you have installed on your roof, such as cedar shake sealants. This is a labor-intensive task, and you may want to contact a roof repair service to help with this type of project to ensure it is done quickly and correctly.
3. The Occasional Repairs That Your Shake Roof Will Need
Over the years, there are going to be repairs that need to be done to your wood shake roofing. The exposure to the elements can cause wear problems like cracking and warping. Over the years, you will probably have to replace few shakes on your roof. You may want to order extra materials to store in a safe place to do these common repairs. In addition, when you are doing repairs and maintenance to your shake roof, pressure washing is a good solution to restore the finish and make it look like new again.
These are some tips that will help with the maintenance and care of your wood shake roofing. Contact a roofing contractor or company like American Icon Home Improvements to help with repairs to your shakes to ensure your wood roof lasts for generations.