Will pressure washing and sealing cedar shakes lead to leaks?

Q: Our cedar shake roof is 15 years old. What is the wisdom of pressure washing and then sealing the roof with penetrating oil and stain? We are concerned that replacing damaged shakes by inserting and stapling replacement pieces may crinkle the underlying roof paper and we will have water leaks that we do not now have.

A: If you have a damaged shake, or a missing shake, you have exposed the tarpaper beneath it. Let the sun cook it for several months and the UV rays will put more than a crinkle in it, heck, it'll create a leak. So if I were participating in a neighborhood betting pool on which roof would last and remain leak-free longer, would I bet on: a) The roof with intact shakes, but possibly crinkled paper, or b) The roof with deteriorated/missing shakes and exposed and deteriorated tarpaper with no new holes in it?

That's right, I would bet on a)! Don't pressure wash a 15-year old cedar roof. Air cleaning, chemical cleaning or broom cleaning all sound like viable options.

Q: In your column a few weeks ago you mentioned you drink chai tea. Chai is the word for tea in Russia and many Middle and Far Eastern countries. What exactly is the point in saying "tea tea"? I'm not sure who dreamed this up, but it's incorrect.

A: While I can take the heat for failed attempts at humor, poor sentence structure, flawed logic and even accusations of giving just plain old bad advice, I must say this is the first time I have been subjected to abuse over my choice of warm drink. Sorry friend, I just read the label and wrote the column.

After initially dismissing you as a crackpot, I feel your pain. I, too, have unresolved feelings of disappointment in the homeowner lexicon and want to get some things off my chest: First: There is no such thing as dry rot. It does not exist. No such phenomenon. Wet rot, or just plain old rot, or fungal rot, not dry rot! Second: Your patio is concrete, not cement. Cement is an ingredient in concrete!

Now if you will excuse me I am going to go have a cup of java coffee.

Q: What is the reasoning for not drinking water from hot-water heaters as you recently mentioned?

A: One look inside a hot-water tank and you may not ever shower again, much less drink water from it. Hot-water tanks are nothing if not collectors of rust and scale. Even after a complete flushing, the inside of a tank has fungal growth, the debris from the deterioration of the tank and, worst of all, is the sacrificial anode rod, designed to collect all the dry-rotted metallic crud. I'll manually heat up cold water for my chai, thank you very much.

A note:

Several weeks ago I fielded a question from a reader regarding the installation of her "upside down" Bryant furnace. My admittedly long-winded response was aiming to explain how "upside down" or convertible furnaces actually work and was not meant to be critical of the Bryant brand.

Darrell Hay answers readers' questions. Call 206-464-8514 to record your question