Over the years of working on the roof i sometimes encounter cedar shingles. Im currently removing an old cedar roof from a building. They were also used as "drip edge" years ago as well under the first row of asphalt shingles. I'll save some of the better ones as they make great kindling. I use them in the fire pit as well. They start very easy and can be split without a hatchet. Ive actually started a fire just by lighting them without any paper. I wont burn them, or any scrap wood for that matter, with paint/stain or finish on them. Got two crates from this job. Couldve saved more but time is money and i have plenty of kindling already.
Nice, Cedar is good for so many things. I save the Cedar I cut & make posts & stringers for stacking logs.
I have to laugh a little when i see the pictures of the shingles. One year my dad called me, said a guy he knew was shingling his house. He told the guy to bring all the shingles he wanted to get rid of. So, there was about a 5 yd dump truck load on the side of dads circular driveway. For the next 2-3 yrs my dad a serious problem with flat tires. Yes, they make nice kindling,but,dads came with the nails.
When im tearing them off and want to save them B.Brown ill pull the nails so the shingles stay intact. I have a couple magnets for that as well. My dad would burn pallets with nails/staples etc, dump the ashes in his garden then use the magnets.
I like to use ss nails with cedar shingles these days on some projects. We paid a guy to shingle the garage and left him barrels to put culls in. I had shingle kindling for two Winters. Actually I told him he could just toss the rejects on the ground, I'd pick them up after work when I got home but he took the time to put them in the barrels. Was worth paying him as shingling was his thing and what took him an afternoon would have taken me all week. And I bought the better shingles.
Yep, I had a guy drop off a load of junk wood that was great for making fires, indoors and out but there was a problem. He dumped this load in the backyard and half of it was OSB and painted eave cut offs. I was told there was a few pieces of OSB but an entire trailer load of the stuff had to be hauled out, oh well. Next time he asked, I said “no thanks” The bottom of the pile though resulted in some really nice cedar shingle cutoffs. Some will be kindling in one spot, and some for another. Some so easy to split, it only takes your hands to break some apart. I’m covered for awhile in that dept.
smells great Yawner Low btu wood good for shoulder season and kindling if split small. Very rot resistant (which still surprises me) . Seasons fat. Spits a lot so flying embers can pose a hazard in open fires.
If you can find a straight one, they do make good fence posts or clothes line posts. We've used them many times and never treated them. Of course they are not in the same class as locust but they can and do work well. When we did treat them the only thing we ever did was dip the bottoms in old used oil then stuck them in the ground. It's been a while since I've done this so can't tell you for sure how many years they will last like that but it is quite a long time. In addition, it is about the sweetest smelling tree there is when you cut it. I have to cut one now and then just to enjoy the scent! They burn well but not a lot of btus in them. They will spark a lot too when burning. I always told folks that is just termite turds exploding.
Tearing off an old red cedar roof and saving the better shingles. Lots of meat left on most. Lawn and leaf bags great for storage. I'll give some away too.
My mom used to say that all the time! she was a bad hoarder. The apple doesnt fall far from the tree. Wait did a say apple...wonder if theres any wood? The mind of a wood hoarder.
First time I met Brad he ordered Extra toothpicks with his beer. Wasn’t happy until he had a pocket full LOL. Ok only kidding Those shingles sure make fine kindling. We used the thin birch strips that came in brick pallets for years, Decided last minute to light up a burn pile yesterday before the rains came. Bic lighter and locust bark got it going. Too lazy to head back to the house for some newspaper.
Brad, our A-Frame had cedar shingles at a drip edge. We just had the roof replaced this year. I shoulda had the guys save that! We believe the roof was original to the house which was build in the early or mid 1960's. So I'd say that roof had an excellent service life! The asphalt shingles were a lot thicker than what you see today. And I'm sure the seep pitch of the roof helped for the life span since nothing really has a chance to stay on it all that long.
