Some years ago in a FHB “Homes” edition there was a house in Vermont that had its gabled ends shingled in a wave pattern. I’ve searched the forum and found many references to weaving designs into siding but not about “waves” in the courses. Does anyone remember the house or have any insight about how to go about getting the look?
Thanks
Replies
I remember the house, I think it was in a Houses issue but I'm not sure. I heard the house burned down soon after the article was published.
When we've done a wave pattern we have the architect print out a full-scale pattern. Keep the sides of the shingles vertical, and cut the bottom of the shingles to follow the pattern.
There are two (at least) ways of getting waves in the shingles. You can cut the bottom of the shingles or you can cut the sides.
If you cut the sides, ie taper them, you will use more shingles and the spaces will not be vertical. The great advantage to this is that you can cut the shingles in advance and apply them as you go. This method is what is commonly used on imitation thatch roofs. This is the method that I would use with a paying customer.
On my own house I cut the bottoms of the shingles as I went. You cut each shingle as you go (I used a handsaw or a sabre saw). The advantage is that you use less material because the joints stay vertical and the courses can have greater exposure. The disadvantages are that you are cutting off some of the meat of the shingle and that it takes a lot of time.
Either way wll give a unique look to the house.
These methods can both produce a free form look. If you want a uniform set of waves, you should buy or make a series of shingles with concave and convex bottoms and apply them as you would any patterned shingles.
Edited 5/28/2006 11:26 am ET by Schelling
I have used your method #2 with a variation. Lay out a series of shingles on your bench with the tips aligned. Mark a wavy line along the butts and cut it with a jigsaw. Then nail them up in the order they were laid out. I clamped a 2x on my bench so that I could jam the tips under it and they would wedge in there and hold still for cutting.
This is the result on my house.
Wave pattern in cedar shingle
I was wondering if you ever ran into the issue of having an optical illusion of having the shingles not even for the shingles located between the top and bottom radius of the wave. We installed the shingles vertical with the cut at the bottom, 5" exposure.
We are doing this detail on the gable end and for some reason the uphill and downhill shingles look shorter even if they have the same exposure.
The illusion is not really visible from a distance but as you get closer i think it gets worst.
Any thoughs on how to fix the optical illusion?
If the exposure is totally consistent, I think the illusion is that the roof angle bisects the waves at different points in their cycle. You can really see it from the street view. I find it an interesting pattern though. You would have to change the period of the waves on each coarse of shingles to eliminate it. I don't think that would be a good look at all. If you dont understand what I am saying, you would have waves of say 3 peaks at the bottom, and 3 peaks at the top, which would be hard to do, and it would not resemble natural open ocean waves.
Wave pattern in cedar shingle
I was wondering if you ever ran into the issue of having an optical illusion of having the shingles not even for the shingles located between the top and bottom radius of the wave. We installed the shingles vertical with the cut at the bottom, 5" exposure.
We are doing this detail on the gable end and for some reason the uphill and downhill shingles look shorter even if they have the same exposure.
The illusion is not really visible from a distance but as you get closer i think it gets worst.
Any thoughs on how to fix the optical illusion?
Wave pattern in cedar shingle
I was wondering if you ever ran into the issue of having an optical illusion of having the shingles not even for the shingles located between the top and bottom radius of the wave. We installed the shingles vertical with the cut at the bottom, 5" exposure.
We are doing this detail on the gable end and for some reason the uphill and downhill shingles look shorter even if they have the same exposure.
The illusion is not really visible from a distance but as you get closer i think it gets worst.
Any thoughs on how to fix the optical illusion?
usa448
there have been several "wavy" shingled houses in FHB over the decades.. reasearch thatch weave for two examples.. (my magazines are all boxed up so I can't search for you)..
The method I'm gonna use is where you spilt shingles into thin pieces and slightly tilt each one in a somewhat random pattern.. My brother-in-law did it by making a simple cardboard template and then cutting and numbering each with chalk. They'd take turns sitting in front of the TV and during commericals run a few dozen or so shingles across the band saw. Commericals over they'd watch their programs..
Two questions
do you see the same differences when there's no sun shadow?
is the consistent 5" exposure a plumb scribe @ 5" or a 5" perpendicular to the arc of the wave?