Traditional Roofing Materials: Wood Shingles
The people who settled in the American colonies brought with them the tools and techniques they had employed in Europe. Of primary importance in erecting a shelter is the roofing that keeps out the elements. While many of the earliest buildings in plantation settlements had thatched roofs, it wasn’t long before wood shingles appeared. Wood shingles refers to both hand-split (sometimes called “shakes”) and sawn units.
Trees were plentiful in the New World, and this made wood shingles a simple and cost-effective material. The styles, patterns and techniques employed by the installers varied by region, and reflected their English, Dutch, German, and Scandinavian ancestry. Shingles are made by hand splitting them from sections of the logs called bolts. Only the heartwood, or inner section, of the bolt was used. These pieces were quartered and split by a hammer and wedge, or an axe. This would be produce shingles of relatively uniform width. To make tapered units, the bolt would be flipped after each piece was cut.
The rough shakes were then dressed on a shaving horse to create a uniform thickness. It is a great myth that the old shingle roofs were comprised of irregular shakes. The original shingles needed be the same size and installed tight together on the shingle lath or decking to keep insects and other pests out. While we think of wood shingles as cedar today, all types of hardwood, and even pine, were used. A wood shingle roof could last anywhere from 15 to 60 years depending on species of wood, location, and other external factors.
Shingles are laid in three layers, with the bottom third of each exposed to the elements. At the eaves, a cant strip is used to project water runoff away from the structure. Shingles are spaced to allow for expansion which can occur when the shingles are wet and to protect against curling. It was commonly believed that roof coatings would prolong the life of the roof. In the 1700’s roofs were covered with a pine pitch coating and boiled linseed oil or fish oil mixed with oxides, red lead, brick dust, or other minerals. In the 1800’s they were painted or stained. Untreated shingles will age to a silver-gray or brown, depending on the wood species.
When planning a restoration today, one is limited by the materials commercially available: red, white and Alaskan yellow cedar as well as Cyprus. Neither red cedar nor Cyprus are considered historically appropriate for projects in the Northeast. White cedar is rarely specified because of its inferior quality in a roofing application. Alaskan yellow cedar, which is far denser than red cedar and has a relatively low degree of porosity, will closely mimic the variety of woods once used in the region. Contact Olde Mohawk to discuss your traditional roofing consulting and contracting needs.
