Install cedar shakes on a Mansard roof

Before

Mansard roof with the plastic siding that had to go!

Underneath

Rotten 50 year old shingles underneath the plastic. All had to be removed of course.

Sheathing.

Sheathing had to be replaced at places. And any old nail that look like it could tear paper either had to come out or go in! You can also see we've put rubber over the corners. You don't use it on the entire roof, because the cedar needs to breath. We used it only on corners and valleys for extra protection.

Double Layer

Paper is put only on the first 36 inches of roof for eave protection. Always use a double layer of shakes for the first row.

Putting up the material

In order to make the shakes conform to the curve of the roof, material for rows two, three and four had to be soaked in water overnight. The ornamentation rows seven and eight were made by simply cutting off the corners of each shake. Finally, you can see how the paper is installed in an interleave fashion, overlapping each existing row as you build up.

Outside corner flashing.

Paper and metal go before the cap.

Corner Cap.

Premade corner cap saves time.

Valley Flashing.

The valleys are flashed with “W” flashing. There is rubber underneath the metal. At the bottom you can see the first two shakes in place.

Finished Valley.

An almost complete valley section.

After

Well, it's official. The building inspector signed our permit. So after hammering an estimated 6,162 nails (all by hand), suffering cuts, scrapes, bruises, splinters, and a bout with tendonitis we've completed returning our mansard style roof back to red cedar shakes. And it only took two years and three months of weekends, not working the Winters of course! A few observations if we may:

It takes 26 pounds of nails to complete a mansard roof job. Nails are sold in 25 pound boxes.
Gravity exists.
The more time it takes to cut a specific piece, the more likely it is to split when you try to put it up.
A person can actually learn to fly an airplane in a quicker time than it takes to re-shingle a mansard roof (really, it's true, I did both).
Gravity exists.
You have to buy a full roll of felt paper when you only need eight feet to finish the job.
If you read a tape measure upside down 46 inches becomes 64 inches.
It is possible to climb a ladder in a pouring rain to reattach a tarp.
Gravity exists.
A 28 foot ladder under no circumstances can reach a 30 foot peak.
Think twice if your wife or husband says "you hold the nail and I'll hammer it in".
Scaffolding is for wimps.
Bucket lifts are for bigger wimps.
Did we mention gravity exists? All objects fall equally as well be it a pry-bar, hammer, nail, spacer, tape measure, level or shake.