Make your next project a work of art. WELCOME
Curved Appeal Curved shingles can add all of the warmth and fantasy of a time gone by, or the contemporary influence of clean, curved lines from a skilled craftman. Its a look the drawing board and tee square rarely achieves. We are ready to assist you on your project, no matter the size, after having successfully completed some of the most challenging and unique roofing projects. From the timeless Cotswold, to the contemporary, organic eco-architecture genres, we specialize in steam-bending wood shingles for many diverse roof and wall applications. In addition, we offer our Fancy-Cutt™ shingles, and various Wallaba and exotic Teak species.
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Our company is committed to helping pave the way for new innovations in wood roofing for the future.
Its a look the drawing board and tee-square rarely achieves.
Introduction Work of Art
One of the tributaries of the mainstream of medieval craftsmanship flowed through the hands of peasants, who, with no formal training, graced the European countryside with their unpretentious cottages. It’s an appearance of spontaneous and natural craft. A look the drawing board and tee square rarely achieves. The unselfconscious, delightful simplicity that radiates from these pastoral, vernacular dwellings has captured people for centuries. The peasants intuitive skill at beautifying the utilitarian is no where more evident than in the cottages’ thatch roofs, with their undulating roof lines which roll gently over the irregular contours, seems to have a way of making a building an integral part of the landscape.
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Getting Started In 1982, we took the challenge of re-roofing a 60 year old home, which was a beautiful example of cottage architecture. After inventing and constructing our own steaming and bending equipment, we completed the sensitive restoration project, receiving national publicity for our work. Shortly thereafter, we were awarded a U.S. patent for our steam-bending equipment. We had revived a lost art. The inquires began pouring in, and within half a year, we were traveling extensively throughout the United States, re-roofing these unique structures. With such a resurgence of interest in the country cottage style roof, Country Cottage Roof® saw a viable market for producing pre-bent wood shingles like Creo-Dipt had done sixty years before. After considerable exposure in national magazines, we sensed that the public was tired of the straight, stark lines of modern architecture, and was waiting to discover the romantic charm of the European cottage.
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We were awarded a patent for our steam-bending equipment. We had revived a lost art. Realizing there was a limited need for bent wood shingles without builders being familiar with the construction of roofs with curved configurations, we set out to design a framing system which would incorporate our specialty shingles. As part of our newly trademarked roof system called Country Cottage Roof®, we designed and marketed pre-fabricated, curved framing components which would give the builder the luxury of framing the roof conventionally and attaching our components to the existing roof structure. The finished product retains the integrity of its hand-crafted appeal, without pricing itself out of the market. 1987 was the first year the product was heavily marketed to new construction. Builder magazine, the official publication of the National Association of Home Builders, rated it among the top fifty new building products for reader interest in 1987. Model homes using Country Cottage Roof® were built in major cities across the Unites States, in a number of instances winning top exterior awards in their local builder shows. In 1990 Country Living featured the Country Cottage Roof® on it’s “House of the Year”. Since that time, the Country Cottage Roof® has received wide acclaim with it’s constant exposure in the national media. Installations have been completed from coast to coast, beyond the borders, and as far away as Japan. Our work has continued to make waves, with our work being featured in Architectural Digest, and just recently, at the Southern California Institute of Architecture. Check out our blog at www.customshingles.com, to stay up-to-date with our latest projects.
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A company headquartered in the Buffalo, New York area, called Creo-Dipt, pioneered the concept. They designed a framing system that produced all the rounded configurations of a thatch roof, and appeared in various architectural catalogues of their day. They also manufactured a bent shingle made from Western Red Cedar, which was used on the rounded area of the roof. The courses of shingles, rather than being laid in straight lines, were run in long, irregular waves to simulate the texture of thatch. Creo-Dipt’s detailing was excellent and their attempt to reproduce the flowing roof lines of the thatched European cottage was very successful. Before long, their “thatch effect” roofs were being constructed all over the United States. They soon had manufacturing plants in different parts of the country, as well as distributorships through regional lumberyards. But alas, the Great Depression did the company in, but not America’s love for the European cottage. In the early 1980’s these original cottage roofs were worn out and many homeowners, desperate to stop leaks, re-roofed with composition shingles; a gross imitation of the natural beauty of the original wood roofs, not to mention the drastic deviation from the European thatched cottage they were designed to emulate. Many homeowners, realizing the architectural significance of their homes, patched and plugged leaks waiting for a roofer to come along who would accept the challenge of restoring their roofs.
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Cottages
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The cottage roof has only increased in recognition, appeal and intrigue. The most striking characteristic of the Country Cottage Roof is the rolled eaves and rolled gables. These rolled edges can be achieved through our pre-assembled facia boards with attached radiused blocking. These are sold in ten foot sections and are nailed to existing roof framing members the same way a conventional fasica board is installed. Any method of gable construction is acceptable, as our pre-assembled gable sections are nailed on like a conventional facia board. The typical radius for this framing is 20” radius of the blocking is designed to work with our pre-formed shingles.
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The Sea Horse Palace in Barrington, Illinois was initially a conventionally framed structure, and was reframed with curved roof edges, and installed using our steam-bent and pre-stained cedar shingles. system.
Our company restored the historical roof at The MacNider Art Museum, in Mason City, Iowa, using laminated photos of each roof plane, and precisely mimicking the roof’s original wave pattern.
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Cottages
This architectural masterpiece by Francis Harvey Slocombe, features an organically shaped bell tower, an undulating, Storybook roof with huge dormers, and an abundance of stained glass windows. Great care was taken to match every detail of the historic roof from 1920’s, with patterned to sometimes erratic undulations of the wave coursing, and by steam-bending nearly every area of the roof, including the eaves, gables, ridges, hips and valleys. You can view more photos of this project on our website, www.customshingles.com.
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Cottages
Cedar shingles can be pre-dipped with a preservative stain in nearly any color desired. Or, after installation, the shingles can be sprayed using a preservative stain, which helps extend the life of the shingles. This can also be applied even decades later, which also adds pigment, giving the roof a brand new appearance. The semi-transparent stained shingles shown above are stacked at the roof edges, a faux, English cottage appearance, but with the lasting beauty and durability of Cedar shingles.
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The over-sized rolled roof edges are used to create a visually striking element, and coupled with the random flowing wave pattern, make this home truly spectacular.
Here is another amazing home with exaggerated rounded roof edges. The heavy, undulating roof waves flow up and over the front entrance; a seamless transistion between the dormers and roof planes.
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Cottages
Curved shingles can add all of the warmth and fantasy of a time gone by. We bring the Storybook reality to your project as part of the artisan skills on the English cottage roof. For centuries, Storybook style homes have been a motivation to artists, and will most certainly continue for centuries more.
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Shakes
Cedar Shakes differ from Cedar shingles, as they are known for their handsplit surface texture, and are more characteristically rustic than sawn shingles. They also installed with felt in between the courses, and depending on the specification, can be up to 1�, or more, in thickness. Popular on traditional, ranch, vacation homes, or non-residential structures, they are designed to blend in or mimic the natural, rustic surroundings.
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Necker Island is Sir Richard Branson’s home and favorite hideaway. He first purchased the island in 1978 and it opened as a luxury retreat available for private hire in 1984. We had the privelege of roofing this logistically challenging resort, and is now adorned with Cedar shakes.
Our on-going relationship with many clients in the Caribbean has allowed us to provide and install many projects there, including the beautiful Little Thatch Resort, also located in the B.V.I.
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The historic landmark, Bryce Canyon Lodge, offers sweeping views of Bryce Canyon just beyond the pines, and being nestled in the trees, Cedar is the perfect choice for its undulating, wave coursed roof. The firetreated Cedar shingles offer natural beauty and excellent fire protection. These photos were taken just after the roof was installed, and before we stained the roof in a Old Hunter green, to even better complement its stunning surroundings. The original 1920’s wave coursing was very closely matched from its historical photos, and promptly approved by the National Park and general contracting team, for accuracy and execution.
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Shingles
Cedar shingles can be used in many diverse applications, and are different from a Shake, as both sides are smooth sawn, providing a more refined and tailored appearance. Cedar shingles are what we use on our cottage roofs, but this gallery takes a look at the many other conventional and unconventional applications of Cedar shingles. They can be a decorative, Fancy-cutt, such as a fishscale, diamond, or sawtooth profiles, or steam-bent. This beautiful project shown here incorporates many of these elements, from the radiused shingle-clad brackets, and radiused bell tower, to the inset windows and the curved walls that incase them.
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The project above showcases the New England charm of our Fancy-Cutt™ Diamond shingles, in a upscale, new restaurant in Atlanta’s Inman Park. Shown below is the Japanese Tea House located in Chicago’s 385-acre Botanical Gardens. Here, we cut the Cedar into wafer-thin shingles, and stacked these shingles to give the roof a thicker, fuller appearance. The contrasting, petite shingles seem to give the structure a larger scale.
The Ocean Course Clubhouse in Kiawah Island, SC, hosted both the 2007 Senior PGA and the 2012 PGA Championships. Under a strict time constraint before the PGA Championship, this project allowed us to excersise our abilities, using pre-dipped, steam-bent and decor- ative cut cedar shingles, all while completing the project with-in a specific time window.
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Curved shingles amplify a building’s architecture, and can be used in a variety of styles. In the Contemporary genre alone, it complements the clean, radiused lines as shown above, or can add heavy texture and interest, as shown below. At this exhibit, we were honored to be featured at the Southern California Museum of Architecture, which explores the many uses of cedar shingles, and the aesthetics that can be achieved specifically through the use of curved Cedar shingles. This scaled mock-up is for the restoration of a historic one-room schoolhouse, showing the harshness of Utah’s winter climate.
Rawhide exhibit photos by Joshua White
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Shingles
Project photos by Ike Kilgerman Barkley
The contemporary genre of architecture is a vast one, but often implements curved lines, defying the typical conventional construction constraints. Cedar Shingles can also be stained in nearly any color desired, and not only helps extend the life of the shingle, but also gives the roof a like-new appearance.
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Teak
Teak has all of the attributes one could wish for in a roofing shingle, and it’s secret lies in its tight grain and natural oils. Our exotic Teak shingles are the ideal choice to transform your roof into a masterpiece that lasts for decades to come. Teak has a naturally high Silica content, which gives it a unique ability to withstand the elements. Its extreme durability and resistance has made it a prized building material for centuries. Crafted in the Dragon’s Tooth profile (pictured), or custom-cut to your specifications.
Teak is a time-tested product, used for centuries in boat-building, and actually repels water. Choose between vintage building salvage from Southeast Asia or new Burmese teak. Colors range from muted gold, coppers and tans with rich brown and silver-gray grain highlights.
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Teak has been used for centuries in boat-building, so its moisture and rot resistance is superior, arguably more than any other wood, perfect for areas with abundant humidity and precipitation. Also, it has a low shrinkage ratio, which makes it ideal for climate temperature shifts. The high silica content within the wood and the tight grain helps give these shingles their longevity and fire resistance.
Photo by Matthew Thorpe
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Teak
We were selected for a large project that captures the essence of Thai luxury (above and bottom left), in one of the worlds top exotic destinations. It was a privilege to work closely with the resort’s owner and design firm to achieve a truly spectacular result, with graduated sizes and radiused roof contours.
Photo by Matthew Thorpe, Natai Iniala
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Wallaba
Our Wallaba shingles are manufactured from sustainably harvested logs of Wallaba wood which is one of the most abundant timber species in Guyana. Wallaba is a dense tropical hardwood which is light red to reddishbrown in color. The texture is rather coarse, and the grain is typically straight. Wallaba Shingles are well known for being naturally resistant to moisture, insects and decay. This project in the Virgin Islands (right) showcases the rustic surface and rugged appeal of handsplit Wallaba. A more common application, is the smooth sawn shingle, as shown in these photos (above and bottom right).
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