Ridge vent or not with cedar?

I don’t think you should see daylight through a ridge vent, home has cedar shakes with soffit vents. From inside the attic I see a lot of daylight, looks like roofers tried to do a ridge vent with cedar shakes. Anyone have a good narrative for this?

Do you have an exterior picture of ridge?

on the middle pic it’s the lower roof.

Who cares about the ridge vent. That roof is toast! You see the daylight because of all the cupping and curling.

that too…The roof covering appears to be at the end of its life. Replacement should be planned anytime within the next year.

No. That roof covering is BEYOND it life, and should be replaced as soon as practical.

That ridge isn’t vented. There is no space or screening material. The ridge cap was probably done correctly at the beginning of its life, but the age (and probably lack of venting) has caused it to warp.

A good source for information on wood shingles is the Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau.
http://www.cedarbureau.org/installation-and-maintenance/roof-manual/page-14.asp

Excellent information, Lee.
As per the original question, the previous guys got that right too. The gaps you are seeing are due to failure, possibly from inadequate ventilation. On the other hand, shakes get UGLY a long time before they actually fail. My humble opinion is that the courses of felt between rows do most of the work. Throw in the fact that UV’s are leaching the fire retardant chemicals out of shakes pretty fast, so they can’t be truly Class A without a lot of maintenance. And where do you find most shake roofs? In the woods! Right where all the fire happens to be. Hmm. Just about any other material is a better option, again, in my humble opinion.

Excellent information, Lee.
As per the original question, the previous guys got that right too. The gaps you are seeing are due to failure, possibly from inadequate ventilation. On the other hand, shakes get UGLY a long time before they actually fail. My humble opinion is that the courses of felt between rows do most of the work. Throw in the fact that UV’s are leaching the fire retardant chemicals out of shakes pretty fast, so they can’t be truly Class A without a lot of maintenance. And where do you find most shake roofs? In the woods! Right where all the fire happens to be. Hmm. Just about any other material is a better option, again, in my humble opinion.