Cedar Shingle Siding

[Anonymous-0]

We have a 14'x14' cabin in the woods I built nearly 15 years ago from repurposed materials. All the while the plan was to side it with cedar shingles (just horizontal boards presently), but I never got it done. Well, the kids are grown and their fort is now Mom & Dad's. There seem to be many types & qualities of shingles; all quite expensive. Do any of you have experience with cedar shingle siding? What advice do you have in choosing & installing just the right ones. Given the large gables (1.5 story) I figure I will need about 500 sq. ft.


Thank you,
Glenn F. (NE WI)

 

[Stephen Newell]

It would be difficult to say how many bundles of shingles you would need. Some bundles have a lot of knot holes and some don't. If you aren't too far from the supplier I would just buy enough for 600 square feet figuring you would loose 100 square feet cutting around the knots. All you really need to do is temporarily tack a straight edge to the side of the cabin to keep the rows running straight. You might get a torpedo level to check the shakes for plumb from time to time and just start nailing them up. If you have the means a pneumatic staple gun will make the job go quicker.

 

[dpendzic]

I have done a couple of houses and used canadian red cedar #1 R&R
4 inch exposure if no backer board or underlayment and 10 inch exposure with backer board.

 

[Fawteen]

Very popular here. I'm about half done residing my house with them, and did a 20x24 toolshed with them.

There are a number of grades available. I used "Second Clear" grade. No loose knots, and they've been butted and the sides resawn so they're square. If you hang a ledger board off the side of the house, you can just set the butts of the shingles on the ledger board, tap them up snug and put the staples to them. You'll get some visible but tight knots in 2nds.

"Clears" are just that. Price goes up accordingly.

Above that are the "Clear/Dipped" that have been treated with preservative, and you can also get them pre-stained. Brace yerself when ya price those.

A "square" of cedar shingles is 4 bundles. A square will cover 100 square feet at 5" exposure. With clears, you'll rarely ever throw away a shingle. With 2nd's, I'll toss a half dozen out of a bundle.

Gable ends will use a LOT of shingles, so bump your estimate by maybe 10%

 

[Anonymous-0]

I always left a small space between shingles when putting them up to allow for them to swell up when wet or damp without getting too tight and bowing out. 1/16 to 1/8 depending on the width of the shingle. A small gap would also allow the shingle to dry faster/better. It is probably frowned on now but I have seen shingles dipped in a 50/50 mix of drain oil and diesel frel, led drip/soak in before use. Set up a gutter for them to drip into.

 

[Adirondack case guy]

We have had white ceder shakes on our house for 15 years, and continue to use them as we expand. The wifey brushes a base color on them, and then sponges on accent colors. We use Valspar exterior paint, and it has held up exceptionally well, with no repainting. I use house wrap behind them.
I also like the random exposure pattern which ranges from 5"-8" of reveal. Have pics., but been having problems for the past week uploading them.
Loren, the Acg.

 

[Adirondack case guy]

pics. of ceder shakes. Took a while. had to transfer 1256 pics from camera chip to to discs. Must be the chip was tierd, since I can upload pics from the discs.
Loren

 

[JRSutton]

First, invest in a good pair of tweezers - then each night you can kick back, watch tv, and pull the hundreds of cedar splinters out of your hands and arms. (one wrong move and your forearm can instantly look like a porcupine)

Have you considered the corners? Will you have trim boards on the wall corners? or are you going to shingle right up to the corners?

Trim boards are easier. But if shingling right to the corners, it's not hard, just more work, a properly sharpened block plane to angle the shingles is a must, and be sure to overlap in an alternating pattern as you go up.

Even if not shingling to the corners, a block plane still comes in handy. I also like a (sharpened) shingle hammer/hatchet for quick tweaks, but not necessary.

I personally like to use stainless steel nails. They're not cheap, but they won't stain with rust, and they'll hold forever. On the other hand I've never used a nailer with cedar shingles, have always used a hammer. If you're using a nailer, not sure you can easily get stainless.

Might be overkill, but it's nice to know it was done well.

As for the grade of shingles - I like to use the good stuff. It's such a long, monotonous job, watching for defects just makes it that much more miserable. But you CAN get by with the lower grade stuff, you just have to work a little harder at it, and live with a little more waste.

(haven't done it enough to know if the waste equals the cost of a better grade).