Selecting the right shingle to re-side a once magnificent Shingle-style house is every bit as important a decision as it sounds. Traditionally, red cedar was the choice for grand houses like the McCues’ Shingle in Manchester. Tight-grained and virtually saturated with tannic acid — a natural preservative, red cedar is a tough, long-lasting material. It tends to weather to a dark, rich look. It was with this material that the original house on this site was clad in 1883. Over time, however, the seaside climate takes a harsher toll on the appearance of red cedar, causing it to turn black and blotchy. So in the 1979 renovation, the house was re-sided using white cedar. And while it does weather to a pleasing, uniform silver, with less tannin and wider grain, white cedar is not as durable or long-lived as its red cousin.
When the McCues’ house was originally built in 1883, the roof was also covered with finely textured western red cedar. But by the time Janet and David McCue bought the place, the top of the house sported flat, deteriorating asphalt shingles — about as suitable to the Shingle Style, as one This Old House Magazine writer put it, “as a mohawk on a Gibson girl.” Instead of restoring traditional cedar to the roof, the McCues chose to install shingles made of pressure-treated southern yellow pine, milled from 25- to 50-year-old plantation-grown trees and impregnated with chemicals that ward off fungal decay and wood-boring insects — a product that comes with a 50-year warranty, 20 years longer than the highest-end red cedar roofing.
Pro Tip: There is a third option worth considering: Alaska yellow cedar. According to This Old House Magazine, it is a tight-grained, durable wood from the coastal rain forests of British Columbia and Alaska that weathers to a light gray like white cedar but has the longevity of red cedar — offering the best of both worlds for homeowners who want a silver-gray appearance without sacrificing durability.
Although they liked the silver hue of their white-cedar house, undertaking a complete architectural overhaul of their home also presented the McCues with the opportunity to re-side using the more historically correct red cedar. In the end, modern shingle-treatment technologies have allowed them to have the benefits of both.
Because of the historical approach to the restoration, most of the newer solutions in siding materials were out from the beginning. For instance, had longevity been the only factor, a material such as fiber-cement siding stained with water-based coating would have been a perfectly viable option. But fiber cement and wood shingles weather very differently. There would be little natural weathering effect with fiber cement, and the appearance over time would not have been appropriate for a traditional Shingle-style house.
Historical accuracy, as well as the McCues’ own aesthetic preference, dictated that the new siding should be cedar. But would it be white or red? Even though this large Manchester Shingle has worn it for the past 20 years, white cedar is traditionally a material more typical of Nantucket-style cottages. Red cedar, coming mainly from the Pacific Northwest, has long been considered the more high-end shingle material. More expensive than white cedar, hardy red — often dipped in creosote to combat weather and decay — was a premium building material that accentuated the prestigious character of grand New England Shingle-style homes.
When the This Old House team built its Shingle Style Dream House in Wilton, Connecticut, general contractor Mark Cromwell faced a similar decision—and found it easy. “After all,” he said with a shrug, “it’s a Shingle Style house.” He chose red cedar roofing and siding shingles, reinforcing red cedar’s reputation as the premium choice for grand Shingle Style homes.
What the McCues decided was to go with red cedar shingles that have been treated with bleaching oil. Regardless of color, cedar shingles do require initial treatment and some maintenance. Proper shingle coating and protecting stains are critical to the longevity and desired appearance of a house’s exterior. Basically composed of linseed oil and bleach crystals, the bleaching oil not only will protect the McCues’ shingles against decay, fungus and other coastal contamination, but also impart a much different visual effect than creosote. Contact with the elements will activate the bleach crystals in the oil, causing the red cedar shingles over a few months’ time to take on a natural, light gray color similar to the weathered look of white cedar.
Pro Tip: Norm Abram, master carpenter on This Old House, cautions that bleaching oil has its limits in coastal environments: “It works for a while, but you don’t get the same nice silver gray, and eventually it will turn black.” Shingle specialist Tillman insists a new coat every three to five years will keep blackness at bay. For homes farther from the coast, Norm recommends a different approach: “Inland, I’d stain red cedar shingles over an oil-based primer. If I were going to paint, I’d use the new preprimed white cedar shingles.”
Mildecide, another key agent in the bleaching oil, works against the often misunderstood blackening effect many red-cedar-shingled buildings undergo when left untreated, especially by the sea. This blackening is a combination of mildew infestation and natural extractives in the wood. But treated with bleaching oil, the red cedar shingles can weather naturally and evenly while enjoying protection against discoloring mildew.
To keep their shingles in good working order, the McCues will need to re-coat them with bleaching oil every four to seven years, depending on the severity of the seaside weather. But in return, their house will have its historically proper shingles once again, as well as a beautiful, naturally weathered appearance that will last for many years to come.
The long-term payoff of proper shingle care can be remarkable. Roofer Greg Blake, owner of Cedar Restoration Inc. in Birmingham, Michigan, has seen the extremes firsthand: “I’ve been on cedar roofs that were 70 years old but looked like they were installed yesterday. And I’ve been on roofs just 7 years old that looked 70.” According to Blake, the enemies are too much sun, which slowly breaks down fiber, and debris, which traps water and fosters decay. With regular maintenance, he says, a properly installed wood roof with top-quality shingles should last 40 to 50 years.
Brett Reily is a representative of Samuel Cabot, Inc., who supplied wood-care products for the Manchester project.
