Recycling Wood Shingles

My 60-year-old house in Northridge has wood shake shingles that are on their last legs so my husband and I have decided to take the plunge and re-roof. It seems we can save on labor costs (over $1,000) by removing the existing roofing ourselves. That got me started on thinking about how great it would be to recycle the old shingles. After all, they're just wood, right?

Wrong. A call to 1-888-CleanLA, also known as the Los Angeles County Dept. of Public Works-Environmental Programs Division yielded a big thumbs down. Turns out that most wood roofing materials are treated with fire retarding chemicals which are toxic.

So no mulching or recycling -- they must go into the landfill. That makes me sad.

The upside -- the new roof will be much more energy efficient and we're also taking the opportunity to have some cellulosic insulation blown into the roof to further reduce our energy costs. That will have to do, I guess.