Are my shakes Cedar or the Pine stuff?

[old&slow]

My roof is wooden shakes...while they look like other wooden roofs, on closer inspection they do look a little different.
Is there a way to tell? Along the eaves they are very red underneath. I had one guy tell me that makes em cedar...but I'm not so sure.
House was built in 97 in McKenzie Lake.

[G-ZUS]

pics?

[nonlinear]

try smelling them

[spikerS]

well, this is not a hard and fast rule but, in my experience, Pine shake tends to stay whole, but over time gets a bow in it, kinda in the shape of a U. Cedar shake as it gets older, tends to split and crack.

like I said, this is not a unbreakable rule, but this is the general belief.

[Sky]

hmm, 1997, if its untreated pine, you should see some dark ones because they rot. If its cedar, your entire roof color should be pretty consistant(no rotten black pieces) Cedar shakes have natural oil in them that prevent rot and decay.

[barmanjay]

Originally posted by nonlinear
try smelling them

I dislike wood shingles - fire hazzard

[masoncgy]

^ They also look terrible after a couple years... ugh.

McKenzie Lake is littered with homes that were roofed with pine shakes, so it's possible that is what you have.

Are you able to post a picture?