Cedar shakes are a popular material for homes, and you can find cedar shake houses in every shape, size, and style. While traditionally, they were once only found in New England homes, you can now find them everywhere.
About Cedar Shakes
Cedar shakes are hand-split, wood roofing material that gives homes a more irregular shape and rustic appearance. It also means that each shakeused on the home is unique, creating a three-dimensional appearance when combined together with other shakes.
Cedar shakes tend to be thicker and more textured than other roofing materials, which makes them more durable and elegant than basic wood shingles. Cedar shakes are also less likely to warp, offer better protection to the home, and act as better insulators.
The Downside to Cedar Shakes
Despite their beauty and benefits, there are downsides to traditional natural cedar shakes.
Cost: Cedar shakes are an expensive material on their own. Then there is the cost of installation, which requires a cedar shake expert to ensure they're installed correctly. Maintenance adds additional costs, with shakes needing professional cleaning regularly and treatments to help protect them from the elements and insects.
Maintenance: Maintenance is essential to maintain the integrity of cedar shakes and ensure their longevity. Unfortunately, this maintenance is best left to a professional, making it more costly. Cleaning and treatment of cedar shakes should happen every 5 to 7 years. Even with regular maintenance, you can expect your shakes to last about 20 to 25 years.
Appearance: Cedar shakes are beautiful when they are in good condition, but as they grow old and when they don't receive proper care, that changes. Shakes can crack, fade, grow mold and algae, and rot over time.
An Alternative Solution For Cedar Shake Homes
Despite the drawbacks, cedar shake houses remain a popular choice, which has led many to try to replicate the appearance of the shakes by using alternative materials. One of these companies, Brava Roof Tile, stands out as one of the best of these brands with their composite cedar shake roofing tiles.
Their composite tiles are made of recycled materials and perfectly replicate the texture and appearance of traditional hand-split shakes. Brava composite cedar shakes also:
Cost about half of what natural cedar shakes do
Require no maintenance
Have a long lifespan of 50 years or more
Use fade-resistant color-technology
Won't crack, curl, tear, or rot
Have a Class 4 Impact Rating
Offer Class A and Class C Fire Rating
Cedar Shake Houses to Inspire You
The possibilities are endless when you look to create a cedar shake house. From roof and house styles to the color of the shakes. Here are some examples to use as design inspiration.
1. Dutch Colonial Shake Roof
This simple house has a barn roof, also called a gambrel-style roof, which is a popular choice for Dutch Colonial homes. The homeowners opted for a medium-brown cedar shake with hints of brown, which paired nicely with the light blue-gray siding.
2. A Weathered Brown
With Brava's composite cedar shakes, you can opt for a color option with a more weathered look, like the roof pictured above. These shakes combine light and darker browns, with some striations that appear more of a charcoal color. It contrasts with the creamy beige siding, allowing the roof to stand out more.
3. Brick and Cedar Shakes
This gable-roofed home has a beautiful, bright red brick facade with white accents around the dormers, front entrance, and windows. White soffit leads to a cedar shake roof that appears almost gray in some parts, though other areas prove it is a mixture of dark and light browns. The combination of the brick with white accents creates a very traditional-looking appearance.
4. Gray Roof with White Siding
This Dutch Colonial has red brick skirting and sides, with the rest of the house covered in a bright white siding with contrasting black shutters. The gambrel roof is covered in gray cedar shakes, and white dormers stand out against it to create a complete, cohesive look.
5. Reddish Brown Shakes With Green Siding
Despite the combination, this cedar shake house creates quite a statement in many ways. First is its shape: two hipped roofs joined by a narrow, low-sloping shed roof; to the left, a rounded, somewhat domed roofed building connects to the rest of the structure. The building has light, beige-colored stone skirting with soft mint green siding that alternates in its layout. The rounded and hipped roofed portions are vertical, while the rest are laid in a horizontal format. It is topped with brown cedar shakes that appear in different shades, some lighter and some darker, with almost reddish hues.
6. Pastel Yellow House With Cedar Shakes
This home offers another idea for cedar shake homes that is somewhat unique. This house has a cross-gabled main roof with steely sloped shed roofs on the right side, facing in alternate directions. The house is a rather sunny yellow, with a bright white window and soffit trim. The roof seems to have gray and reddish-brown shakes, which complement the house well.
7. Blues and Browns
This two-story home has a smaller second story with a gable roof and dormers on either side, and the lower level has a hipped-roof style, with a smaller octagonal second off one corner. The house has blue siding with white window trim and soffits. A dark brown cedar shake crowns the home offer, and the brick chimney almost disappears where it connects to the roof.
8. A Rich, Deep Blue With Lighter Brown Shakes
This sprawling house with gable and cross-gable roofing is a beautiful deep navy blue color, with white trim and accents contrasting brightly against the darker color. A darker red brick chimney leads up to the roof, with a light, somewhat aged brown cedar shake that perfectly compliments the home and completes the look.
9. Old World Charm
This hipped roof has an additional shed roof, creating additional space, and a gable roof that provides a covered entrance. The house looks like something you'd see in the European countryside, with cream-colored smooth stucco siding covered in vines and great brown cedar shakes. A stone chimney completes the European look, creating an almost fairytale-like home.
10. More European Countryside
This is another example of European-like cedar shake houses. The two-story structure has light color bricks on one side and smooth cream-colored stucco on the other and is topped with a jerkinhead and shed roof with light-to-medium brown-toned cedar shakes. In this case, the roof has the same tones as the brick and stucco, creating a somewhat muted but warm appearance.
11. Stone and Cedar
This cedar shake house looks like it's been pulled from a fairy tale, with the stone facade and simple gable roof. After a storm damaged the original cedar shake roof, the homeowners were introduced to Brava as an alternative. Once they agreed, Mark Craney of Authentic Restoration completed the project, topping it with Brava's "Aspen" shakes.
12. Use Cedar Shakes as Siding
Cedar shakes don’t always have to go on your roof. Instead, consider using it as siding. This is a unique option not many consider, but can create a statement on your home’s exterior.
13. Stone, Stucco, and Cedar Shakes
This home combines light-colored smooth stucco with stone accents to create a warm, inviting look. On the sides of the gable roof, white siding leads to the brown cedar shakes.
Creating Beautiful Cedar Shake Homes with Brava
When you want the look of a cedar shake house without the maintenance, cost, or potential damage, look no further than Brava. Our composite Cedar Shake roofing tiles come in a beautiful range of colors that will match any home.
Contact Brava today to learn more and discuss the best options for your home.
