Wood Shingles & Shakes: Pros, Cons, and Cost
A wood roof gives a house a warmth and texture that manufactured materials only imitate. It also asks more of a homeowner in the Southeast than it would in a drier, cooler part of the country. This page covers what wood shingles and shakes actually are, how they hold up in Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama, what they cost to install, and what it takes to keep one in good shape. If you are weighing wood against another material, you will have a straight answer by the time you finish reading.
What Wood Shingles and Shakes Are Made Of
Wood shingles and shakes both come from natural wood, most commonly Western Red Cedar, though redwood, pine, and cypress show up too. The difference between shingles and shakes is in how each piece is made.
- Wood shingles are machine-sawn on both sides, giving them a thin, uniform profile (about 3/8″ to 1/2″ thick) and a smooth, tailored look.
- Wood shakes are typically split rather than sawn, which makes them thicker (1/2″ to 3/4″) and gives the roof a rougher, more dimensional, hand-crafted appearance.
(Cedar shake roof installed in Alpharetta, Georgia.)
Both weather over time from a warm reddish-brown to a soft silver-gray, and both are a common fit for colonial, craftsman, and mountain-lodge style homes where a natural material adds to the character of the house.
Not sure whether wood shingles or shakes fit your home’s style? We can walk you through both options during a free inspection.
The Trade-Offs of a Wood Roof
Knowing how the pieces are cut is the easy part. The harder question is whether the material belongs on your house. Wood earns its place on some homes and turns into a chore on others, and most of that comes down to sun exposure, ventilation, and how much upkeep you are willing to take on. Here is the honest version of both sides.
What Wood Roofing Does Better Than Anything Else
- Wood’s natural grain and texture give a home genuine character that synthetic alternatives try to imitate.
- Wood has better natural insulating properties than most roofing materials, which can help even out attic temperatures.
- Cedar shingles and shakes are biodegradable and come from a renewable resource, which matters to homeowners who care about that.
- According to the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau, it specifically recommends pressure-impregnated preservative-treated shakes for high-humidity states.
Where a Wood Roof Asks More of You
Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama’s humid climate is the honest starting point for this section. Wood roofing was built for drier, cooler regions, and here it asks more of a homeowner than asphalt or metal does.
- Heat and humidity cause the wood to expand and contract repeatedly, and shaded, debris-prone roofs are prone to the same algae and moss growth that causes dark streaking on any roof, except on wood it also holds moisture against the surface and accelerates rot.
- Untreated wood roofing is combustible. A Class A fire-rated, treated assembly is worth insisting on, and some insurers and municipalities require it.
- Plan on professional cleaning and treatment roughly every 3 to 5 years. The wood also can’t be pressure washed. High-pressure water splinters the shakes and voids most manufacturer warranties, so it has to be soft-washed instead.
- Some insurance providers price wood roofs differently or ask more questions about them. Worth a call to your agent before you commit.
None of this rules wood shingles or shakes out. It just means the details, ventilation, treatment, and maintenance matter more here than they would with other materials. That’s exactly what a professional inspection is for.
How Long Does a Wood Roof Last in the Southeast
With a treatment and a consistent maintenance plan, a wood shake or shingle roof can reasonably last 20 to 30 years. Skip the maintenance and you can lose a decade or more off that, with rot, cupping, and failed sections showing up closer to the 10 to 15 year mark. In cooler, drier climates, the same roof can reach 30 to 50 years, which is a useful benchmark for what proper care can buy.
Want to see how wood compares to the other residential roof types we install across GA, TN, and AL? That page breaks down every material side by side.
What a Wood Roof Costs?
Wood is a premium roofing material, and the price reflects both the product itself and the labor it takes to install it correctly. Shingles are the more affordable of the two because they are machine-sawn and lay down in a uniform pattern, generally running $6 to $10 per square foot installed. Shakes are thicker, split rather than sawn, and take longer to set by hand, which puts them closer to $8 to $16 per square foot installed. Where your project lands inside those ranges depends on roof pitch, how complex the roofline is, the treatment you choose, and the condition of the decking underneath.
| State | Avg. Roof Surface Sq. Ft. | Wood Shingles Range (~$6–$10/sq. ft.) | Cedar / Wood Shakes Range (~$8–$16/sq. ft.) | Premium Heavy Shake Range (~$15–$22/sq. ft.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | ~2,000 | ~$12–$20K | ~$16–$32K | ~$30–$44K |
| Alabama | ~3,200 | ~$19–$32K | ~$26–$51K | ~$48–$70K |
| Tennessee | ~2,500 | ~$12–$30K | ~$16–$48K | ~$30–$66K |
Those figures cover installation only. A wood roof also carries a maintenance cost that an asphalt roof does not, and it is more accurate to think of the cleaning and treatment cycle as part of the price of ownership than as an optional add-on. If the upfront number is what is holding you back, our financing options can spread the cost into a monthly plan that fits your budget.
How Wood Fits Into a Full Roof Replacement
If your current roof is due for more than a repair, or you’re weighing this against a different material entirely, our residential roof replacement page walks through what a full replacement involves and what to expect from start to finish.
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