Species Overview
Western Red Cedar is renowned for its insulation qualities, dimensional stability and natural resistance to the elements. It contains a natural preservative which makes the wood extremely durable in its natural state.
Why use Western Red Cedar Shingles for Roofing or Cladding?
Western Red Cedar shingles have been used for hundreds of years and have proven their durability in all kinds of climates. They can be used to create individual buildings, whether traditional or modern, and their rich, warm colour and texture blend beautifully in any natural environment. The natural effects of aging and weathering give shingles and shakes, in time, an attractive silvery grey colour.
Weather Resistance
Proper application of shakes or shingles gives outstanding rigidity and resilience against high winds and pounding hail.
Thermal Conductivity
Western Red Cedar has a unique cellular composition that makes a roof or wall of shingles a natural barrier to heat and cold, providing a high degree of thermal insulation.
Versatility
A feature unique to shingles is their flexibility. This enables them to follow complex contours in an architects design in both internal and external applications.
Sustainability
Concerns about the environmental impact of the production and use of building materials have focused the attention of architects and builders on the need to specify products which minimize atmospheric pollution and are produced from renewable resources. Western Red Cedar and other species in British Columbia's forests are harvested under a sustained yield policy which guarantees forest regeneration and biological diversity. Cedar shake and shingle production, which is virtually pollution free, is a secondary operation utilising waste residuals from British Columbia's main logging and sawmilling industry.
Why Buy Your Western Red Cedar Shingles From Silva Timber Products Ltd?
The Silva Timber Products difference:
- Choice of three grades
- Kiln Dried
- Huge stocks for immediate nationwide delivery
- Preformed ridge units also available
- Roof battens available
- Stainless steel shingle nails available
Interesting Facts about Western Red Cedar
The Tree of Life - Western Red Cedar (Thuya plicata) is one of the four major species which flourish in the coastal forests of British Columbia and because of its exceptional durability has become known as arbour-vitae 'The Tree of Life'. For centuries it played an integral part in the lives of the indigenous native population. Its straight grain, workability and resistance to decay were significant assets in the wet and variable climate of the Pacific North West.
Their totem poles and lodges, now part of the protected heritage of the original native culture, still stand in numerous national and provincial parks of British Columbia as evidence of the important part that Western Red Cedar has played in its cultural history.