Q. What is the difference between a shake & shingle?
Q. How long does a cedar roof last?
Q. Are there other types of wood roofs other than Western Red Cedar?
Q. What kinds of copper roofs do you install?
Q. Are other metal roofs available besides regular copper?
Q. Does Upper Canada Cedar Roof install any other kinds of roofing?
Q. Old growth vs. new growth cedar. What am I getting?
Q. What is the difference between a shake & shingle? The most common misunderstanding regarding cedar roof products is the difference in categories. Most people will think of cedar shingles as being the smooth products whereas the rough products would be called shakes. The proper way to tell them apart is by their thickness; the thinner products are called shingles, and the thicker (more than 3/8″ thickness at butt) are called shakes. There is also a difference in installation between shingles & shakes. Shingles are installed over roofing felt, shakes are woven into a system of roofing felt interlays. Contact our office for further details. Back to list of FAQs
Q. How long does a cedar roof last? The answer to this question has a lot to do with the quality of the installation. We have seen roofs fail in less than 10 years & others last over 30 years before leaking. Much has to do with the choice of the cedar product, the type of flashings used, & the underlayments chosen for the installation. As well, most cedar roofs in this area are installed directly over plywood, however, the B.C. Shake & Shingle Bureau would rather have spaced sheathing (strapping) or an air ventilation mesh product to allow air circulation under the shakes/shingles. Back to list of FAQs
Q. Are there other types of wood roofs other than Western Red Cedar? The typical cedar roof is made from Western Red Cedar, Canadian grown & milled.
Other species are available by special order: Eastern White Cedar (from New Brunswick, Quebec, Maine), Alaskan Yellow Cedar (Alaska), Redwood, Pine (avoid Pine shakes if at all possible), White Oak. Back to list of FAQs
Q. What kinds of copper roofs do you install? The most common is called a standing seam. Batten seam is also available and flat locked seams. We are able to offer true Double Lock Standing Seam work, which uses the methods of coppersmiths from Europe from 200+ years ago. Back to list of FAQs
Q. Are other metal roofs available besides regular copper? We offer several types of copper: regular, lead coated copper (dull gray colour), pre-patinated copper (already green).
As well, we can have your metal roof formed from pure Zinc (various colours available). Back to list of FAQs
Q. Does Upper Canada Cedar Roof install any other kinds of roofing? We have recently received certification to install Enviroshakes. This makes us an approved installer for their product. Enviroshake is a simulated Cedar shake roof made of industrial plastics, recycled rubber elastomers & cellulosic fibre materials. The benefits of having a roof installed with Enviroshakes is that the life expectancy of the roof is at least 50 years while still having the desirable appearance of a real cedar roof.
Just to clarify, we do not install asphalt shingles, pre-fab. metal roofing systems, tiles or slates. Back to list of FAQs
Q. Old growth vs. new growth cedar. What am I getting? All the mills that supply our shakes & shingles are using old growth cedar that has been felled long ago. Old growth cedar will have a tighter grain and last longer. Back to list of FAQs
Upper Canada Cedar Roof 