Moisture performance of various wooden shingles designs tested on the Golobar cable yarding

Wood is a traditional roofing material in Europe and other parts of the world. In the seventeenth century, wooden roofing was generally used on more important buildings, but today it is mainly used on huts and houses in the Alpine regions. As wooden roofing is expensive, we investigated the possibility of extending the service life of the roofing through material selection and details. The roof of the Golobar cable yarding was covered with shingles made of spruce (Picea abies) and larch (Larix decidua). Part of the spruce roofing was thermally modified and/or treated with a water-wax emulsion. On the underside, we cut grooves in selected roof shingles to increase the specific surface of the wood and to accelerate drying after rainfall. In addition, wood moisture monitoring sensors were installed on the roof shingles. Based on three years of the wood moisture content measurements, it can be concluded that among shingles made of untreated spruce wood, the highest moisture content was recorded for shingles with a rectangular cross-section without additional grooves. The additional grooves positively affected the moisture performance of wood. Treating the wood with Silvacera wax had an even more pronounced effect on the moisture content of the shingles than the grooves.

Automated summary

Wood is a traditional roofing material that was mainly used on important buildings in the past but is now predominantly used on huts and houses in the Alpine regions. We investigated methods to extend the service life of wooden roofing through material selection and details, such as thermal modification, water-wax emulsion treatment, and grooves in the shingles. Three years of wood moisture content measurements showed that treating the wood with Silvacera wax and cutting grooves in the shingles improved the moisture performance of the roofing.