Wooden Roof From Aspen Shavings (chips, Not Boards)

In Poland we have still people who can put old, traditional roof cover made from aspen shavings - not from wooden boards (I'll explain it later in first step of this tutorial). The aspen shavings can be put on any type of a roof even on very complicated one.

This cover style is looking very good but it also has more pros like:
- it is heat resistant

- it is very quiet (not like steel plates on the roof during rain)

- it is durable - about 25-30 years without any repairs.

It has however one drawback. Like any wood it is not fireproof.

Step 1: Wooden Chips

The wooden chips or shavings, I don't really know which word is better in english, they are made from an aspen wood. They are not wooden boards. The one 'chip' is about 40 cm long and 0,8-1cm thickness. It is very elastic in one way (like I'm trying to show on the picture). So it can be bent more than 45 degress which allow to cover really complicated roofs.

The aspen wood is also parasite resitant. The bugs don't like this wood so much like the other trees.

Step 2: Preparing the Roof

Roof have to be covered with wooden boards (like on the picture) or just covered with patchers and counters (30-35 cm wide).

On the edges there should be placed boards which will be the end of the roof cover.

Step 3: Special Nails

The wooden planks can not be attached to the roof with any nails. Too thick will break the wood chip, too short won't hold it strong and the chip will fall off after windy day.

So there are special nails which are long and thin.

Step 4: First Layer

First layers are made from aspen shavings put acording to the line (which marks the bottom side of the future roof). First layer is from the vertical chips, but the second is from horizontal lines, then once again vertical and once again horizontal. 3 horizontal and 3 vertical layers (up to 8 layers total). This is because the roof need to gain the thicknes (from 5-8cm) at first. Later the chips will be placed onlly vertical up to the end of the roof. Only there once again in horizontal way to end the roof peak.

Step 5: Layers, Layers, Layers

Now it's time for the rest of the roof. The layer after layer chips are attached with nails to the roof. From left to right, and then from right to left. Up to the top. At the top, there are 8-10 layers of chips put in horizontal way.

The work looks easy, but it's hard.Nails are thin, so it's easy to bend them instead of hitting into the roof. Moreover it is very time consuming work.

Step 6: The End

The roof after some time (1 or two month - depending of how many sunlight there is) will change the colour from yellow to dark grey. Then the roof should last for many many years.