Cut Cedar Shingle Layout

Trim Boards

Determining the layout of your Cut Cedar Shingle installation is the critical first step. Visualizing the installation before you start nailing can save much time, work and money. This process also tells you precisely how many Cut Cedar Shingles and in which patterns you will need to order. It is usually a good idea to have a few extras, just in case. The additional cost is often out weighed by the time spent waiting for a few replacements to arrive so you can finish. Cut Cedar Shingles are precision cut to 4-15/16" width. Proper installation with a 1/8" space between Shingles will maintain a uniform 5" spacing per Shingle.

Exposures
• Sidewalls and Mansards. Do not exceed 7-1/2" exposure. Wider
exposure will not give adequate weather protection. A Mansard at
7-1/2" exposure must have a pitch no shallower than 20/12.
• Roofs. Except for Mansards, Cut Shingles on roofs should
not exceed 5" exposure. Do not apply on a slope less than 4/12.
• Interior Application. Use a maximum 10" exposure. 1" x 4" wood
nailing strips should be applied horizontally across walls, fastened to
studs and spaced for proper nailing. You need solid nailable sheathing, even
indoors. Sheet rock will not hold a nail.

Estimating the Shingles you'll need. A carton of 104 Cut Shingles will cover 25 sq. ft. if your rows are 7-1/2" deep, and 33-1/3 sq. ft. if they are 10" deep. If your layout has rows that are less than 7-1/2" deep, your coverage will be less than 25 sq. ft. The safest way to estimate is to do a layout and make an exact count of the individual shingles required. Divide the height of the area to be covered by the length of shingle that will show in each row.
Example: 80" divided by 7-1/2" = 10 rows plus an extra 5". The extra 5" will be placed at the bottom of the wall, making it your starter row. Measure up the wall and mark off the depth of each row. Mark the depth of your narrow starter row at the bottom, then continue with your regular spacing. Repeat the measurements and markings every 4 feet along the wall to be covered.

Cut Cedar Shingles Square foot coverage per carton at indicated exposure.
Maximum Exposure	roofs, 5"	exterior sidewall, 7-1/2"	interior, 10"
Coverage	16-2/3 sq. ft.	25 sq. ft.	33-1/3 sq. ft.

Corners
If your job goes around an outside corner, be sure to line up your courses at the corner. See Making Cedar Shingle Corners for installation details. If you decide to butt your Cut Shingles against Trim Boards at the Corners you will have to take into consideration the width of the Trim Boards in your layout. At inside corners you will run a piece of cedar 2" x 2" up the height of the corner, and butt the edges of the shingles to it. Be sure to include this in your layout as well.

Mix Cedar Shingle Patterns for Effect

Mixing Patterns
If you plan a decorative effect, combining two or more Cut Shingle patterns, with different row spacing, you should prepare a sketch layout in advance. Use graph paper ruled in a 1/4" grid. Since Decorative Cut shingles are 4-15/16" wide, a scale of 1/4" = 2-1/2" is usually satisfactory. Then each square represents an area 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" of the actual job.

Width
If the width of your area is not an exact multiple of 5", you will need to take extra care to get a balanced effect. Divide the width by 5 to get the number of full-width shingles required. If there is extra width, divide that by 2. You will need narrow strips of shingle this width at the ends of some rows; on the ends of the alternate rows you will need pieces that are this width plus 2-1/2".
Example: Width 63", divided by 5 = 12 shingles plus 3" left over; divided by 2 = 1-1/2". Thus, some rows will have 12 shingles across, plus 1-1/2" wide pieces at each end. The alternate rows will have 11 full shingles across, plus 4" (2-1/2" to achieve offset + 1-1/2" as calculated above) pieces at each end. If this extra width is 1" wide or less, you may prefer to space your shingles slightly further apart to eliminate the need for using very narrow end strips.

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