What Is Cedar Shake?
Cedar Shake is a thick western red cedar roofing unit, hand-split or taper-sawn from the log into an irregular, textured face, set over an air-spaced deck so each course dries from underneath after rainfall.
What Is Wood Shingle?
Wood Shingle is a thin western red cedar roofing unit, machine-sawn to a uniform thickness so it lays flat and smooth across the roof plane. The same species as cedar shake, it differs by its sawn rather than split face.
Cedar Shake Or Wood Shingle — Which Wood Roof Fits an Essex County Home?
Cedar shakes are hand-split or taper-sawn western red cedar that reads as a rough, textured plane, and wood shingles are the thinner, machine-sawn units of the same species that lay flat and uniform.
Cedar shakes divide into hand-split-and-resawn and taper-sawn grades and last 20–40 years per the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau, with moisture-driven cupping, edge splitting, and rot beneath cupped shakes as their failure modes; the top grades use all-heartwood, edge-grain stock, graded against the standards the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau publishes. Wood shingles are sawn to uniform thickness and last 30–50 years per the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau, though both share moss and algae accumulation on north-facing, shaded slopes, per the InterNACHI life-expectancy chart and NPS Preservation Brief 19.
Cedar Shake vs Wood Shingle
| Feature | Cedar Shake | Wood Shingle |
|---|---|---|
| Form and face | Hand-split or taper-sawn, rough | Machine-sawn, uniform, smooth |
| Thickness | Thicker (tapered, irregular) | Thinner (uniform, sawn) |
| Lifespan (Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau) | 20–40 years | 30–50 years |
| Lifespan (InterNACHI Wood row) | 25 years | 25 years |
| Fire class, untreated | Nonclassified / unrated | Nonclassified / unrated |
| Fire class, treated (CSSB Certi-Guard) | Class B or C (fire-retardant) | Class B or C (fire-retardant) |
| Red-cedar fasteners (NPS Brief 19) | Hot-dipped zinc, aluminum, stainless | Hot-dipped zinc, aluminum, stainless |
| Failure modes | Cupping, splitting, rot beneath shakes | Moss, algae, cupping on shaded slopes |
| NJ premium-material install | $10–$20+ per sq ft | $10–$20+ per sq ft |
| Wood-roof repair (Angi) | $400–$1,800 ($750 avg) | $400–$1,800 ($750 avg) |
Detailed Analysis
How Do Cedar Shakes And Wood Shingles Differ In Manufacture?
Cedar shakes are hand-split or taper-sawn into thick, irregular units and wood shingles are machine-sawn to a uniform, thin profile — both western red cedar, prized for natural decay resistance, per the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau.
Cedar shakes split from the log read as a rough, textured face with deep shadow lines, sold as hand-split-and-resawn or taper-sawn product, graded against the standards the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau publishes.
Wood shingles are sawn to even thickness and lay flat for a tailored roofline; historic shingles were handsplit or sawn, and a replacement matches the original size, shape, texture, and exposure rather than an aged appearance, per NPS Preservation Brief 19.
Which Cedar Roof Lasts Longer In NJ?
Wood shingles carry the longer rated range and cedar shakes the shorter — wood shingles last 30–50 years and cedar shakes 20–40 years per the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau, against InterNACHI's single 25-year "Wood" row.
Cedar shakes at 20–40 years degrade through moisture-driven cupping, edge splitting, and rot beneath cupped shakes, and need at least 1.5 inches of air space beneath the units for drying, per the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau and NPS Preservation Brief 19.
Wood shingles at 30–50 years lose service life fastest on north-facing, shaded slopes where moss and algae accumulate and prolonged moisture drives biological growth, per the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau, with both products held to corrosion-resistant red-cedar fasteners.
What Maintenance Do Cedar Roofs Need In NJ?
Cedar shakes and wood shingles carry the same NJ maintenance: periodic fungicide and algaecide treatment at $0.15–$0.60 per square foot every few years, per HomeGuide, plus prompt replacement of cupped or split units.
Cedar shakes resist splitting longer because of their thickness, yet a flex test settles condition — a unit that cracks under light bending shows advanced degradation regardless of surface, per the InterNACHI chart.
Wood shingles and shakes share a wood-roof repair cost of $400–$1,800, averaging $750, per Angi, with small repairs at $100–$400 and larger repairs above $1,000, per HomeGuide.
How Do Cedar Shakes And Wood Shingles Rate For Fire?
Cedar shakes and wood shingles are nonclassified and unrated for fire when untreated, not Class C, per the NAHB and the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau, with fire class set by UL 790 and ASTM E108 testing.
Cedar shakes reach Class B or Class C only as pressure-impregnated fire-retardant products under the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau's Certi-Guard program, the same path local fire-zone code requires, per the NAHB.
Wood shingles reach a Class A only as an assembly — Class B fire-retardant shingles over a fire-retardant cap sheet — since no single shingle or shake is Class A, per the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau Certi-Guard program and the InterNACHI chart.
What Does NJ Code Require For A Cedar Roof?
The NJ Uniform Construction Code treats a full red cedar re-roof — cedar shakes or wood shingles — as ordinary maintenance on a detached 1- or 2-family dwelling, with no permit, inspection, or notice, per N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7.
Red cedar takes hot-dipped zinc-coated, aluminum, or stainless-steel nails, not copper — a chemical reaction between cedar and copper shortens the roof's life, per NPS Preservation Brief 19, which contrasts the copper fasteners that slate and clay tile require.
Cedar shakes and wood shingles in a local historic district need a Certificate of Appropriateness from the municipal Historic Preservation Commission before a reroof — Glen Ridge's ordinance covers over 90% of the borough and Montclair codifies its review at §347-136 — though National or NJ Register listing alone places no restriction on a private reroof, per the National Park Service and N.J.S.A. 40:55D-107.
Which Cedar Roof Suits an Essex County House?
Cedar shakes suit textured, handcrafted facades and wood shingles suit formal, uniform rooflines — shakes carry the rough, split face and shingles the flat, machine-sawn face, per the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau and NPS Preservation Brief 19.
Cedar shakes read as handcrafted on Craftsman bungalows and rustic colonials, their hand-split-and-resawn and taper-sawn grades casting deep shadow lines across the roof plane, per the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau.
Wood shingles lay flat for the orderly rooflines of formal colonials and Cape Cods, and on a contributing historic structure a replacement matches the original size, shape, texture, and exposure, per NPS Preservation Brief 19.
Which Cedar Roof Fits a Commercial Building?
Cedar shakes and wood shingles fit only narrow commercial uses — boutique hospitality and high-end retail driving a natural-wood brand — since both are nonclassified for fire when untreated, per the NAHB and the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau.
Cedar shakes on a commercial building cross out of ordinary maintenance once roof work exceeds 25% of roof area in 12 months, since the NJ UCC exemption covers only detached 1- and 2-family dwellings, per N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7(c).
Wood shingles reach a commercial fire class only as a fire-retardant assembly — Class B shingles over a fire-retardant cap sheet — per the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau Certi-Guard program, the practical path where fire-zone code applies.
Our Verdict
Cedar shakes win on texture and thickness; wood shingles win on a longer rated life and a flatter, formal face.
Cedar shakes over wood shingles when a textured, hand-split plane suits the architecture — shakes are the thicker, hand-split or taper-sawn unit against shingles' thinner sawn profile and last 20–40 years, per the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau.
Wood shingles over cedar shakes when a uniform, formal roofline suits the house — machine-sawn shingles lay flat and last 30–50 years, the longer of the two cedar ranges, per the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau.
Not sure which is right for you? Call for a free consultation.