LESLIE: George in Illinois needs some help with a roofing project. What can we do for you today?
TOM: OK.
GEORGE: … and I’ve replaced several shakes during the years. The shakes are in relatively good shape and I’m having a roofer come over to fix the top ridge and put some more shakes on and he’s recommending that I put a UV protectant on the roof; not a sealant because I don’t want to seal the shakes, but it would be a UV – kind of a waterproof and UV protectant. And the total cost is about $1,500 and about $750 or $800 of that is the UV protection …
TOM: Right.
GEORGE: … and I’m just wondering if that’s worth the money or not.
TOM: I don’t know. I rarely hear of people doing any type of surface treatment to cedar roof shingles; not to say that it might not help a little bit. But if it’s lasted 20 years, you know, George, you’re pretty much near the end of a normal life cycle for that. If you go another five, you’re going to be – that roof is not going to owe you a dime, so to speak. And putting sealant on that is not going to buy you a whole lot of extra time. So I’m not so sure that that’s a great use of your money.
GEORGE: OK, so just go with the replacement of the top ridge and the additional shakes to replace the curled ones and missing ones and outwardly damaged ones.
TOM: I think so. I don’t think it’s probably worth it for you to put any more money than just the maintenance that you can do to replace missing and damaged shingles, at this point. Because probably in the next five years you’re going to have to think about replacing and, at that time, you may want to consider cedar or you might want to consider going with a dimensional shingle that looks like a cedar roof but actually will be a lot easier for you to take care of.
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