Anoka, Minnesota
Practical Cedar Shake Roofing in Anoka, MN
Cedar belongs on the houses around downtown Anoka in a way it does not on newer stock. The gable front and Victorian frames near the Rum River were built when wood was the roof, and their steep, cut up planes shed water fast, which is exactly what a shake roof wants. The trouble is never the field. It is the metal.
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These roofs fail at the metal first
Downtown Anoka has the oldest housing in the county, and the roofs match: steep, cut up, with dormers, bays and a porch roof all dying into the main planes. Wind driven snow packs into those valleys and behind the chimney and dormer flashing, sits there through a thaw, and works backward under the courses. That is where these roofs leak, almost never out in the open field. So a cedar job here is mostly a flashing job with shakes over it. New valley metal sized for the pitch, new step and counter flashing at every wall and chimney, ice barrier where the geometry says it belongs. We often find spaced sheathing under the old covering, which is good news for cedar because it breathes. If the house needs a simpler roof, asphalt roofing can be detailed carefully too, and on some of these houses it is the better call.
Cedar Shake Roofing in Anoka
Cedar on the county's oldest houses
The roof these houses were built for
Gable front and Victorian frames near downtown wore wood originally. Cedar puts back the texture and the shadow line those roofs were drawn with, which no printed shingle really imitates.
New metal in every valley and wall
Valley, step, counter and chimney flashing all come off and go back new. Reusing old metal under a fresh cedar roof is how a beautiful job starts leaking in its third winter.
Detailed for packed snow
Wind driven snow fills the valleys and sits behind dormers and chimneys through a thaw. Valley width, metal lap and ice barrier placement get set for that, not for a simple gable.
Porch, bay and dormer tied in
These roofs meet in combinations no modern plan repeats. Every junction is cut and flashed to what is actually there, which is slower work and the reason an old roof lasts or leaks.
Old spaced sheathing put to use
Strip an old covering here and there is often spaced board decking underneath. That is close to ideal for cedar, since it lets the back of every shake breathe. We check before assuming.
Worn cedar looked at, not condemned
Existing wood roofs are common around downtown. If the shakes still have life in them and the leaks are at the metal, we say so instead of quoting a tear off you do not need.
Why old Anoka houses are our kind of work
We work on houses this old
Century old frames move. Rafters sag, planes go out of square and nothing is a standard length. We cut and fit to what is there rather than forcing a modern system onto it.
Preservation paperwork prepared with you
Anoka is the county seat and keeps a Heritage Preservation Commission. Work near downtown can need review, so we put materials, exposure and flashing details in writing for it.
We open the flashing before quoting
On these roofs the answer is behind the chimney and down in the valley. We lift what we can and look, because a bid written from the ground misses the actual failure.
We match what is already there
Exposure, course spacing and edge detail vary house to house on old roofs. We copy what the original builder did rather than default to a modern layout that looks wrong.
Rated 5.0 across 217 reviews
Two hundred and seventeen Google reviews at a 5.0 rating. On a house where roof, porch and bay all meet, that record is worth checking before you hand anyone the job.
What people near Anoka say
We live in Eden Prairie. Orange did an excellent job on our siding replacement and provided great customer service all the way through.
Thomas DeSutterSiding replacement, Eden Prairie, MN Fantastic guys to work with, did an excellent job of fixing our siding. You can tell it’s a high integrity company. Definitely recommend.
Carolyn MillerSiding repair The crew arrived early and spread tarps all around the house to capture every bit of debris. By 3:00 PM, my entire roof was completely finished.
Hazel JamesRoof replacement, Minneapolis, MN
What Anoka homeowners ask
What people in Anoka ask us about this work. If yours is not covered, call and ask.
Our house near downtown Anoka is historic. Can we reroof it in cedar?
Cedar is usually the sympathetic choice on those houses, since wood is what they were built with. Anoka is the county seat and keeps a Heritage Preservation Commission, and several downtown properties are on the National Register, so check whether your house needs review before work starts. We will put the materials and details in writing for it.
How much of a worn cedar roof can we keep?
Sometimes most of it. If the shakes are worn but still sound and the water is coming in at valleys, chimney flashing or a dormer, new metal and a few replacement courses buy real years. If the butts have gone thin and split across whole planes, patching is throwing good work after bad. We get up there and tell you which one you have.
Why do these old Anoka roofs leak at the chimney and not in the field?
Because wind driven snow packs into the valleys and behind the flashing, then melts slowly and works backward under the courses. Steep, cut up roofs with dormers, bays and porch roofs have a lot of those junctions. The shakes themselves usually still shed fine. The metal is what has failed, and that is what we replace.
Your old cedar may not be finished
Some of these roofs can be repaired course by course. We will get up there, check the flashing and the sheathing, and tell you what is actually worn out and what is not.
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Tell us what is going on with your roof, siding, windows, or gutters. We will take a look and give you a straight answer, including when the answer is that you can wait.
- Phone(612) 600-8529
- Emailadmin@orange-exteriors.com
- Office6600 City West Pkwy Suite 375, Eden Prairie, MN 55344
- HoursOpen 24 hours, Sunday to Saturday
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Rated 5.0 from 217 Google reviews