Wood shingles in contemporary construction. Part 1 - Properties of shingels.

Wooden roof coverings are one of the oldest technical solutions, used over the centuries. As industry and new technologies developed, they were marginalised, until – in the end of the 20th century – they became a niche product without any economic significance, used locally, as a vernacular tradition in some regions, sometimes on economic grounds. Together with the marginalisation of wood shingle coverings, the tradition of transferring craft knowledge about shingles and shingle laying techniques was abandoned. This is one of the reasons why shingles were considered a regional product, with little economic significance and which requires no standardisation procedures. Increasing awareness of the impact of environmental conditions on the quality of life, the trend of contact with nature and with its least processed materials has resulted in an unexpected growth of interest in ancient house finishing techniques, which applied not only to wooden houses (which had been in vogue already a few years earlier). Investors are now willing to use traditional materials and techniques, but only those which, apart from having qualities proven over centuries, e.g. regarding their appearance, can meet their expectations as regards current standards for the safety of use, durability and the principles of quality verification. In the course of the development in the Building Research Institute of the proposals for the rules of verification of shingle quality and the principles of installing roof coverings made of wood shingles, current standards and regulations have been considered. This paper consists of two parts. Part 1 includes a proposal of shingle type classification and our proposal for the requirements with which wood shingles produced and used in modern construction shall comply. In Part 2, the rules of laying wood shingle roofing are proposed.