Cedar Roofing in Wiltshire

Cedar isn’t a budget alternative to tile or slate — it costs more than most concrete tile, and it’s specified for its own reasons, not to save money. People choose it for how it looks and how it ages, on the parts of a house where that’s worth paying for.

We fit both shingles and shakes. Shingles are sawn on both faces, giving a smooth, uniform surface. Shakes are split rather than sawn, so each one is thicker and less regular, with a heavier, more textured look. Which you want comes down to the style of the building and your own taste.

Cedar changes colour as it weathers. New, it’s a warm honey-brown; within a few years it silvers to a soft grey across the whole roof. That’s normal, not a fault — we tell every cedar customer up front, because the ones who aren’t warned think something’s gone wrong. We’ve written more on how weather affects a roof over time.

Left untreated, cedar naturally resists rot and insect attack. Installed and ventilated properly, it will do 30 to 40 years or more, depending on how exposed the roof is, its pitch, and the airflow underneath. We use it for whole roofs, single feature elevations, dormers, garden rooms, outbuildings and as wall cladding — but whichever it’s for, the longevity comes down to installation detail: batten spacing, the right fixings, and ventilation behind the shingles, not the timber alone.