How to Install Cedar Siding Shingles / Shakes for Beginners

I go over, in detail, how to select which grade of shakes you should use as well as the easiest way to approach corners and installing the shakes.
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[@davejusick64]

Very helpful. Thanks so much for taking the time to explain in such detail.

[@joniportwood1974]

Very helpful. I want to do shakes on my small house.

[@shawnvanhorn3754]

Just an FYI for people in the Midwest, Menards "A" grade are more like "C" grade. I did shingle siding on a conservatory, luckily lots of large windows, not much wall. I even picked through them when picking them up, but full of broke shingles, soft shingles, missing knot holes and just broke shingles. If I did this again, I would go to Lowes.. I would say only half of the bundle of Menards "A" grade shingles were even usable... I don't know who is grading these, I guess that just slap anything on them they want, but for sure, no where near the quality of Lowes. OH, and not to mention, the shingles weren't even square, I had to trim almost every shingle... nightmare!

[@nicholasmudrick9647]

What size nails did you use? And what kind of nailer?

[@joebuilds]

7/16 crown staples for the majority the stapler I have is a senco 16/17 gauge stapler. For the places I had to nail I just used stainless ring shank nail 1.25 inch. Hope that helps!

[@OmitZz]

Cant you just run the shingles behind the corner trim? Should make it water tight with 1 1/2+ inch overlap and eliminate caulk

[@joebuilds]

I wouldn’t, water will get behind the trim (unless you caulk it) and the trim is going to hold it there and speed up rot. Also, if you’re going to go straight to the corners you might as well just weave the corners and go with no trim. I did that on my cabin and it’s a really nice look. I only did the trim on my shed to match my house.

[@johnyboyburkhart]

I was reading that the 'Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau' or something like that recommends nailing with a corrosion resistant material as preferred to a stapler. What are your thoughts on that? Your shakes look great! Thank you!

[@joebuilds]

The staples I used were galvanized so they would be considered corrosion resistant and I definitely wouldn’t use any fasteners that weren’t corrosion resistant. Personally, I’ve used both staples and shank nails both work very well but in my opinion the staples hold a bit better and for me are way faster (since I have a staple gun). Hope that helps.

[@literallymyusername8291]

Some of my shingles are bowing outward. I'm putting a nail in the middle to fasten it better. Is that okay? Some of them will have three nails, the two original on the sides, and the extra one I put in to help refasten it.

[@derozelle]

How long do you think these shakes will last before you need to replace? If you were going to use a sealer on these what type would you use?

[@joebuilds]

I have better grade shakes on my house that have lasted 27 years now with small repairs here and there, but I’d say it’s highly dependent on the environment. The singles under the porch will likely last twice as long as the ones directly exposed to weather and direct sunlight. Personally I like the natural look but if I were going to use a sealer I really like Benjamin Moore and would use their Arborcoat products.

[@zandemen]

With a good installation a minimum of 25 years. In good conditions up to 100 years. With this particular install, 5.

[@theeapco]

Great video! I’m building a 16 X 20 shed right now and contemplating shaking 3 sides and siding the front. What size is your shed?

[@joebuilds]

Including the porch, it’s 16x24. I originally was going to only shake 3 sides and put clapboard on the front to match my house but then I decided I didn’t want to deal with painting the front so I just shaked everything.

[@theeapco]

@@joebuilds did you seal them in any way of let them go grey?

[@joebuilds]

I’m going to let them weather naturally to match my house. I personally like that look. So no, I didn’t use any type of sealer. But if you do it’s best to coat both sides so instead of spraying or brushing on after the shakes are installed, dip the shakes and let them dry before you put them up. The shakes will be less likely to warp this way.

[@theeapco]

@@joebuilds great info! How thick are your window and corner board trims? I’ve seen some installations that the shake sticks out past the face of the trim and it doesn’t look nice to me.

[@joebuilds]

3/4” my shakes are flush with the trim. The reveal of the shakes is really what would cause them to extend past 3/4” trim. I’m using approx 5” reveal and it’s flush but If your reveal was smaller the shakes would definitely be proud of the trim.

[@TRC714]

Where did you purchase the shingles? Online? It’s hard to find them where I live.

[@joebuilds]

I bought mine from Home Depot, but Lowes carries them to. At least where I live. Most lumber yards carry them too but generally then only have the higher more expensive grades.

[@cptight88]

Are u sure those are cedar? They have a ton of knots you usually never see (for obvious reasons) on exterior shakes.

[@joebuilds]

Yes. There are several different grades of cedar shakes these are the two lowest (Ds and Cs). Most houses you’ll see As and sometimes Bs both of which are nearly free or completely free of knots.

[@matsg2138]

Also why not router your trim to overlap the corners then you really dont need to caulk it. Which is against keeping them loose to allow for expansion and contraction.

[@joebuilds]

You can route it but you’ll still need to caulk it driving rain/ snowing will still get into the rabbet you created. So since it still needs to be caulked it will look exactly the same and it’s more work and time.

[@dennisgoyette3944]

should have put felt paper (roofing paper) around the window underneath the framing.

[@zandemen]

I've watched a few seconds of your video and I'm sorry, you got some bad advice somewhere. Those shingles are #4 mostly, and are only to be used as undercoursing. If you constructed your wall with several layers of drainage planes and weather resistant barrier then it might survive a while, but it's going to be bad in many ways.

[@zandemen]

The minimum coverage on each side of a keyway is 1 1/2", not "about 1/2". Ideally, lol. It's a MINIMUM STANDARD! The 1.5 I mean is the minimum. This is where you actually save time using the jig, because most of your time should be used to make sure that every keyway, not just "sort of, maybe", but every keyway is covered every time. The jig allows you to set up a few dozen shakes, if you find a spot that is really hard to make your coverage, you can swap one or two around and then when satisfied, nail them all up in a few seconds.

[@zandemen]

D grade does not have 25-30% unusable, it is literally 100% unusable. A professional grader has graded them, at a loss for the mill, they lose money by processing and shipping the wood and downgrading it so there is a huge motivation to not make it a D, but they have to. Nobody sneaks in any good shakes in the D, they would be fired or bankrupt.

[@nicolasbertrand1292]

15 minute mark the shingles are lining up almost exactly with the row below...

[@mikewood8561]

Question for you. I have to install grade a cedar shakes with a 14 in reveal. I realized that with such a big reveal that you could see the sheathing of the house through the seems of the shake after I installed two rows. I realized that I should have started with a lower grade shake first, and then my cedar shakes. My question is I do a starter strip of shakes, then I would do the lower grade shakes over that one but then I would have to also install the grade a cedar shakes on top of that and then go on to my next row correct? Because if I just do a layer of the lower grade shakes on the house first and then come back and try to do the cedar over it, it leaves gaps underneath the shakes. I'm not sure if I'm explaining it correctly but I'm just wondering if I do the lower grade and then the cedar and then move on to the next row or if there's a different way to do it. Thank you in advance for any answers. Thank you for doing this channel too. It helps those of us who have an idea of what they're doing, but they aren't positive.

[@joebuilds]

Standard shakes are not meant to have more than a 5” reveal. If you wanted a 14” reveal you’d need to buy custom shakes. With the ones you get from the store you end up with the issue you’re having plus you can’t adequately secure them to the house. A few strong wind storms and you’ll start to lose some. If you really wanted to use the standard ones with a 14” reveal I would put a layer of roofing (tar paper) behind them. This will help with moisture but the black will also make any seems less visible. You can always use lower grade shakes on starter courses, behind your good shakes. However, besides the starter course you usually don’t have more than a single layer of shakes. Hope this helps.

[@zandemen]

You have to take care to cover the keyways appropriately. Start with your undercoursing on the first row, 3?4" above your flashing, then double it with a second course of undercoursing making sure to offset the shakes to cover the keyways by at least 1 1/2". Then put your grade A shakes 1/2" lower to form a drip edge, again making sure to cover the keyways by 1.5". Move up 14 inches to start your next course, this time just one layer of undercoursing, again covering keyways. Drop your Grade A half inch, making sure again to cover keyways. Repeat. You should never see any nails in the previous course ( they are located 3/4" from the edges of the shakes, and the shakes are cover by at least 1 1/2") and you should never be able to see through to the underlayment or sheathing. For double coursing shakes or shingles you need to select appropriate products and grades. For 14" exposure a few acceptable products are 18" #1 or A perfections, resawn or hand split shakes. the undercoursing can be any grade.

[@zandemen]

@@joebuilds custom shakes are not required, knowledgeable installation is all that is needed. This 14" exposure is an approved method and covered by a limited lifetime warranty by the cedar shake and shingle bureau.

[@stumpynubs5387]

staple size?

[@joebuilds]

7/16 crown, 1.5 in. long

[@alijabos]

You want to space out the shingles with 1/8 or a 1/4 gap to allow for expansion during high humidity otherwise you might get them buckling

[@joebuilds]

Completely agree, if your using a stabilized product but in this case I used utility grade and c grade shakes that weren’t kiln dried. So if I started with a 1/4 gap my gaps would be 3/8 or larger now. I’ll post a pic as an update showing how it end up. There was no buckling and my final gaps are about 1/8”