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Cedar Shake Roof Lifespan in PNW

9 years ago

I was recently told by my insurance company that my roof is, "too old to be insurable", and that they're dropping my coverage. Not sure how they can decide that from a random trip to my house and a view of it from the ground, but here we are...

In talking with previous owners, I can estimate that the roof is between 15 and 20 years old. The shakes seem to be pretty high quality "heavies", and I've been told by many inspectors and roof maintenance guys over the years that it has many years of life left in it. (i.e. no problems with leaking, and no apparent damage of any kind). It's been routinely maintained by myself and all previous owners. I live in the Pacific Northwest, so it does spend a siginificant portion of the year wet.

Given the above, I think that I should be able to expect something near the high end of the average life span for a cedar shake roof.

Does anyone have any data about the average lifespan of cedar shake roofs in the PNW? In searching the forum, I'm seeing 15, 20, 25 years, but it's all one-off, and those posters don't generally state whether or not the roof they're replacing is having any problems, just that it's a certain age.

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Comments (3)

kirkhall
9 years ago
Ours was 22ish yrs old when we bought it. At the time, the inspector said it was at its end of life. The sellers had no funds to replace the roof, so opted for roof certification from a roofing contractor. We accepted, and bought. We replaced our "heavies" roof about 5 years later.

Looking back, I do think it would have lasted longer, just fine. We weren't told by our insurance company that it was too old though, and that they'd drop coverage.

You need to ask what your recourse is with the insurance company. I doubt they have qualified people making these decisions. Talk to your Ins Broker and see what your options are. Are you able to get it certified? Would they accept that?

Next, also find out if they drop your roof coverage, or if they are dropping ALL coverage. If they are just going to drop your roof coverage, and you are fairly certain you won't have a leak, then that is a risk you take and keep your roof. If you are losing all insurance, look for another company.
kudzu9
9 years ago
I live in the Pacific NW and owned a house with cedar shakes for over 30 years. When I bought it in the mid-seventies, the roof was about 20 years old and still in pretty good shape. About 5 years later, I remodeled and re-roofed. I got the best heavies available. At the end of 15 years, even though I maintained it, the roof was near the end of its useful life. Today's shakes aren't made from first growth cedar anymore and you just can't expect the same life expectancy.

However, if your roof still appears to be in good shape, and your insurer is treating you like that, I'd be looking for a more customer-friendly insurer, rather than try to work with the one you've had.
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funkycamper
9 years ago
My experience may not be helpful is it's true, as kudzu9 stated, that newer shakes don't have the same life expectancy as older ones. we live out on the coast of Washington state. Our home was built in 1949 and it has the original cedar shake roof. No leaks or other problems. Never lose shakes in windstorms. The same is true for one of our rentals which was built in 1954.

We moved into our current home in 2010 and our insurance agent wasn't the least bit concerned about our roof after a walk-around. He was only concerned about our old furnace which required an inspection and certification in order to get us a preferred rate.

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