Roofing in Broadmead: Costs, Common Problems and Local Factors

Broadmead was planned in the 1980s as a neighbourhood in a forest: building schemes required that Garry oaks and Douglas fir be retained, houses were fitted between them on sloped lots, and a notable share were roofed in cedar shake to match. Three decades later the trees are bigger, the shade is deeper, and the roofs installed in 1988 or 1994 are likely coming due within a few years of each other. That, in our reading, is the Broadmead pattern: a neighbourhood of first replacements, many of them cedar-to-asphalt conversions, all under a canopy that the covenants will not let anyone remove.

Compared with Gordon Head, which is open and flat with tar-and-gravel sections, Broadmead is shaded, sloped and pitched. Tree protection zones and terraced lots limit where a bin and boom truck can stand, which pushes the access factor up. Rainfall is moderate and the neighbourhood is sheltered from the strait, so salt and wind are not issues. Moss is the issue, and the covenant means the answer has to be maintenance and material rather than cutting the trees down.

Saanich as a whole is a moss story spread across 1950s to 1980s houses; Broadmead is that story concentrated into one decade of construction and one decision about trees. The covenants that make the neighbourhood attractive also mean the shade is permanent, so a Broadmead re-roof is a decision about how to live under trees for the next 25 years rather than a one-off repair. The notable share of original cedar (our reading) is the other difference: a Gordon Head roofer prices torch-on sections, a Broadmead roofer prices sheeting over skip sheathing.

An original Broadmead shake roof sits on spaced skip sheathing, so any conversion to asphalt or metal starts with solid decking: either plywood over the existing boards or a full re-sheet, priced at $7 to $10 per sq ft in our model. From there the options are a shake-profile laminate at roughly half the price of new cedar, a synthetic shake, or metal. Going back to cedar keeps the streetscape but a BC guide puts maintained cedar at 18 to 25 years and unmaintained at 12 to 15, and Broadmead shade is hard on it. Check the building scheme covenant on your title for any material requirement before deciding.

• Sheeting over skip sheathing: $7–$10 per sq ft
• Shake-profile laminate: half the cost of cedar
• Synthetic shake: mid price, low maintenance
• Metal: sheds needles, no moss, 40–50 year local life
• Covenant check for material restrictions

Because the canopy cannot be removed, the maintenance plan matters more here than anywhere in Saanich. Local guides put the highest moss risk on north slopes under fir and cedar and suggest treatment every 12 to 18 months; in Broadmead a yearly clean before the November rains is realistic. Zinc or copper strips at the ridge protect roughly 15 feet of slope below them, and a Victoria contractor guide prices strips at $300 to $600 installed. Never allow pressure washing on asphalt or cedar.

Broadmead is under District of Saanich rules: the Permit Q&A does not list roofing as exempt or required, so phone Inspection Services at 250-475-5457 or email inspections@saanich.ca, and ask about the material change from cedar and about any re-sheeting. Also ask any contractor where the bin and truck will sit; on a terraced lot with a tree protection zone, that answer is worth several hundred dollars either way.