Shake Siding: Styles, Materials, and Installation Overview

Shake siding is one of the most visually distinct exterior cladding options available — the dimensional profile and textured surface read as character from the street in a way that flat lap panels never do. Shaker siding is a related term that appears in different contexts: in New England architecture, shaker-style homes used cedar shingles as a primary cladding material. Shake shingle siding covers a category of products ranging from real hand-split cedar to engineered wood composites and vinyl imitations. Shakes siding for modern homes often blends real or fiber-cement shake panels as accent sections rather than covering the entire exterior. Shaker shingle siding in contemporary architecture uses the traditional form but applies it to clean-lined, minimalist home designs.

Types of Shake Siding Materials

Real Cedar Shakes

Authentic cedar shake siding is split from western red cedar in 18-inch, 24-inch, or 32-inch lengths. The irregular, split-face texture is the defining visual quality — no manufactured product fully replicates it at close range. Real cedar shakes are naturally resistant to insects and decay, but they require periodic staining and maintenance to prevent weathering, splitting, and rot in exposed locations. Cost runs $200 to $400 per square installed for #1 grade material.

Fiber Cement Shake Siding

Fiber cement shake panels from James Hardie and similar manufacturers replicate the cedar shake profile in a cement-fiber composite. The product is dimensionally stable (doesn’t swell or shrink with moisture), rot-proof, fire-resistant, and available pre-primed or pre-painted. Fiber cement shakes cost $4 to $7 per square foot installed — comparable to real cedar — but require no staining and carry paint warranties of 15 years or more. For climates where real cedar struggles (high moisture, salt air), fiber cement is the practical alternative that retains the shake aesthetic.

Engineered Wood Shake

Products like LP SmartSide Trim and Siding use an engineered wood substrate with a textured overlay and factory-applied primer. Engineered wood shake siding is lighter than fiber cement and installs with standard wood fasteners and tools. It’s priced between vinyl and fiber cement — roughly $3 to $5 per square foot installed. The product requires painting within a few months of installation and repainting every 7 to 10 years depending on climate exposure.

Installing Shake Shingle Siding

All shake siding installs over building wrap on solid sheathing, with a double starter course at the bottom. The exposure — the amount of each shake visible below the course above — ranges from 7 inches on 18-inch shingles to 10 or 11 inches on 24-inch shakes. Maintaining consistent exposure across every course is the primary installation quality control point: inconsistent exposure is immediately visible and difficult to correct after installation.

Use a story pole — a straight piece of lumber marked at your target exposure intervals — to transfer the course layout across the entire wall before nailing. This ensures consistent horizontal lines even when the house has slight irregularities in framing or sheathing. Snap chalk lines at each course level rather than using the previous course as a reference, which compounds any deviation.

Shake Siding as Accent vs Full Coverage

A popular application is using shake siding as an accent in specific areas — upper stories, gable ends, dormers — with smooth lap or panel siding on lower walls. This combination adds visual depth and interest without the full cost or maintenance commitment of an all-shake exterior. When mixing siding types, install a band board or trim piece at the horizontal transition to create a clean break between the two materials.

Next steps: Before choosing your shake siding material, visit a local home improvement retailer or siding dealer with physical samples and hold them against your home’s paint, trim, and roof color. The texture reads very differently in person than in catalog photos. Factor in the full 20-year maintenance cost — not just the upfront material price — when making the final material decision.