Types Of Vinyl Siding: Shakes And Shingles

Posted on Friday, December 9th, 2011

If you haven’t learned about all of the different profiles, textures, and layouts of vinyl siding, it would help to start there before you dive deep into the world of shakes and shingles. Shakes and shingles bring detail and character into the look of any home. While the difference between the two types of siding used to be more stark, with modern siding materials like vinyl, they’ve merged. The only real difference between shake and shingle is the texture. Shake has a deep, vertical wood grain texture that gives it the resemblance of split wood. Shingles are more flat since they originated from smooth boards of wood. Either way, both choices can be used to make a home look rustic, classic, or even modern. The large diversity of styles means they can meet the needs of any homeowner.

Layout

While horizontal and vertical sidingalways has a straight edge, shakes and shingles have a diversity of layouts:

  • Split
  • Staggered
  • Variegated

Splitting is normal with shake style vinyl. Splitting sets the pieces further apart to cast more shadows and make it look like it was done by hand. Oftentimes, it can have a flat or staggered edge. Staggered layouts apply to shake and shingles. It makes the edges appear off-kilter, so that there are no perfect horizontal lines. Variegated is like an extreme version of split. What makes it extreme is that the splits make the bottom edge appear rugged. Shake eliminates the horizontal lines by texturing the bottom line of the shake.

Unique Shingle Styles

Half-round edged shingles are also known as Scalloped or Fish Scale. They are often used on the smaller area of a house peak to add detail. Since the areas they are used are often shaded, half-circles bring texture and color to an otherwise shadowy spot of a home. Since each shingle can be a different shade or color, it adds a crown like effect to a home.

Textures

The texture of shake is what differentiates it from shingles, though they are practically the same. Still, shingles are normally made with a wood grain effect since their look is meant to soften the look of a home. As you increase the graininess, eventually a shingle will be considered shake. The added lines cast shadows everywhere adding much more character to a home than perfectly flat boards with straight, horizontal lines.

Taking Textures To The Extreme

Some people don’t just want the texture of split wood, they want their siding to look like natural split wood without any paint. This market segment is small, but growing quickly. Instead of looking at recent history, they want to go even further back into the past so that their vinyl mimics raw materials like stone, brick, and logs.

Get A Free Quote

Categories

Recent Posts

© 2011, All Rights Reserved
Dixie HomeCrafters

Legal Statement | Site Map