The risk has been considered so great that its use has been banned in some communities. While not all regulations of this type require homeowners to immediately replace a laminated wood ceiling, there are plenty of reasons to do so. Laminated wood ceilings pose a significant fire hazard, especially in a fire-prone area such as Colorado. That risk represents a danger to homes and families, and it's a risk that can have a big impact on insurance coverage.
If you have a laminated wood ceiling, this is why we recommend that you replace it as soon as possible. Roofs are very vulnerable to forest fires due to their large surface area and the possibility of embers accumulating. Regardless of the way the wrought wood shingles are cut (split by hand, sawn into a conical shape, with strong shakes), if it is a wood-based roofing material, it is a fire hazard for a house. For this research, the ZTRAX standard roof cover code field was used to tabulate the roof covering material evaluated across the country.
Most of the properties recorded in the database did not include material to cover the roof and were therefore omitted from the analysis. If not adequately mitigated, for example, by installing metal gaskets at roof-to-wall intersections and valleys, or using non-combustible gutter and coating systems, the roof and building remain vulnerable to ignition. However, for homeowners who have tile roofs laminated with wood, firefighters have the serious problem of distinguishing treated roofs from those that are not treated during a fire. For example, tile roofs (with ventilation installed) are more common in hot, dry climates, where they offer thermal advantages compared to others types of ceilings.
They didn't install wood slats after the 2000s, so the roof is more susceptible to loss than if it had been placed last week. This is likely to be a significant underestimate, as roof data was available for less than a quarter of homes and roof replacement costs were conservatively estimated. Most of the buildings evaluated in the United States had a tile roof composed of asphalt fiberglass, which has a class A rating. And while the replacement of roofs with laminated wood is not mandatory throughout the state of Colorado, it may just be a matter of time.
Wood is naturally flammable, and a wooden roof increases concern about fires in your home, especially if you live in a mountain community or an area that has a history of wildfires. Between the likely age of the roof and its propensity for fire, whipped wood ceilings pose a big risk to insurance companies. Insurance companies now recognize the dangers inherent in wooden ceilings and can impose a premium for those roofs or simply refuse the coverage.
