shakes and shingles

[dirtydeeds]

being english..................................... I as always have different ideas as to what a word means

ive recently seen that SOME americans see shingles and shakes as very different

to me

a shake is a cleft piece of oak (feather edged, cut with a froe ) that does the same job as a shingle

is a shake and a shingle the same thing

modified to correct the spelling of froe 

 

[Brice Burrell]

  DD, if I were to use the term "shingles" most Americans would think asphalt roof shingles. What you are referring to, we call them shakes, used on as roofing or siding. Ours are made of cedar. Since they are used far more as siding here, few people call them shingles anymore. But to those in the know, they are the same thing.

 

[semenza]

Hi,

        Actually around me I hear people call siding made of wood shingles- "shake shingle siding".  Probably because as Brice said  Americans hear "shingle" and think of asphalt roof shingles.  And at least in my area siding shingles made of some type of fiber board (asbestos?) coated in similar fashion to asphalt shingles used to be popular. So I think people started using "shake shingle siding" to explain what they were talking about.

Seth

 

[Brice Burrell]

  Interesting Seth, around here people in the trades almost always call to them cedar shakes whether used for roofing or siding.

 

[Mettes]

If we're talking about wooden shakes or shingles, this is the diverence:

shakes have split faces and sawn backs. Cedar logs are first cut into desired lengths. Blanks or boards of proper thickness are split and then run diagonally through a band saw to produce two tapered shakes from each blank.

shingles have both sides sawn.

Because the face is split with a shake, there is no cutting thrue the fibers of the wood.  This way they are less prone to moss, fungus, mildew and other vegetation.

Cedar Bureau

for all the information

 

[John Stegall]

I usally hear the ones you were describing  in your first post as "hand-split". Down here in the southern part of the US then are not used, at least not commonly. They ("hand split") are still used along the coast of Oregon and Washington states.

 

[semenza]

  Interesting Seth, around here people in the trades almost always call to them cedar shakes whether used for roofing or siding.

Hi,

            Yes, "cedar shakes" is quite common here too. It is possible that the other (shake shingle siding ) is a real small local niche term.

Seth

 

[dirtydeeds]

just another variation on the word shake and its relation to splitting

we also use the term shake to descibe a split in timber generally caused by poor seasoning or a growth defect 

 

[Eli]

Here in Australia the sun's heat is far too intense in most cases for wood anything as a roof or siding (plus I live in a bushfire prone area).

When someone talks about shingles it means they didn't have chicken pox when they were kids.  ;D

Shakes are just something you have to live with before coffee on Monday mornings. ;D