Shake Siding with real character.
Cedar-texture shakes for gables, dormers, and full walls. The detail that turns a plain elevation into a house with a face.
Shake siding is the texture move. Where lap siding gives a wall clean horizontal rhythm, shakes give it depth: staggered edges, shadowed butts, the hand-cut look that made cedar shingle houses the postcard image of American neighborhoods. Used across a whole wall, shakes make a cottage or craftsman read as intentional. Used in the gables over lap siding, they’re the single best-value curb appeal detail in the siding catalog.
Modern shakes give you that look without cedar’s appetite for maintenance. We install engineered wood shakes, LP SmartSide’s cedar-texture line, which we’re certified on, along with fiber cement and vinyl shake profiles. Each carries the staggered or straight-edge look in materials that ignore woodpeckers, resist hail, and hold color for decades. Real cedar remains on the menu for the purists.
We install shake siding across Lansing, East Lansing, Okemos, St. Johns, Grand Ledge, Owosso, and the surrounding mid-Michigan counties. Licensed, insured, never subcontracted, and honest about where shakes earn their premium on your house and where they don’t.
What our shake siding work covers.
- Gable & dormer accentsThe high-impact detail over lap walls
- Full shake wallsCottage and craftsman character, wall to wall
- Engineered wood shakesLP SmartSide cedar texture, certified install
- Fiber cement & vinyl shakesThe shake look in every budget tier
- Staggered & straight-edgeBoth patterns, laid out to the elevation
- Trim & transition detailingClean lines where shakes meet lap and trim
Shakes are a detail trade, and details are our trade.
Shake work is layout work. Course heights have to land evenly under the gable peak, stagger patterns have to look random without repeating, and the transition line where shakes meet lap siding or trim has to be dead straight and properly flashed. A sloppy shake gable draws the eye for the wrong reason. A good one is why people slow down in front of the house.
It starts with the free look and a design conversation: whole walls or accents, staggered edge or straight, and which material tier fits the budget. We’ll bring samples so you can see the texture against your brick and roof color rather than guessing off a screen.
A shake gable is the house’s face. It’s worth doing like someone will look at it, because everyone does.
Behind the texture, the wall system is the same discipline as every job we run: moisture barrier, flashing at transitions and openings, correct fastening for the product. Shakes on gables take weather head-on, so the water details behind them matter even more than on flat walls.
Our own crew does the layout and the install. The stagger rhythm, the peak courses, the transitions: that’s finish carpentry thinking, and it’s why we don’t hand it to subcontractors.
Done the honest way.
Layout first
Courses planned to land the peak evenly, stagger patterns that never repeat. Shakes reward the crew that measures twice.
Every budget tier
Engineered wood, fiber cement, vinyl, or real cedar. The shake look is available at every price, and we’ll price the tiers straight.
Weather-first detailing
Gables face the storm. Barrier, flashing, and fastening behind the shakes get built for it.
Where shake siding makes the most sense.
The highest-return use of shakes is the accent package: shakes in the gables and dormers over lap siding on the body. It costs a fraction of a full shake wall, and it does most of the visual work, breaking up tall elevations, adding shadow and texture where the house meets the sky, and giving a builder-grade elevation the layered look of a custom one.
Full shake walls belong on houses whose architecture calls for them: cottages, craftsman and shingle-style homes, lake houses, anything that wants a softer, hand-built character instead of crisp horizontal lines. On the right house it’s transformative. On the wrong one it’s texture for texture’s sake, and we’ll tell you which you have.
Material choice follows exposure and budget. Engineered wood shakes are our usual recommendation: convincing texture, certified install, strong warranty, sane price. Fiber cement shakes bring maximum weather resistance for exposed elevations. Vinyl shake panels make the look available on tighter budgets. Real cedar is for owners who want the genuine article and accept the coating cycle that comes with it.
If you’re already planning a re-side, adding a shake accent package to the scope while the crew and scaffolding are on site is the cheapest it will ever be. Worth asking about at the free look.
From recent jobs.
Real Anchor work across mid-Michigan, the standard your shake siding project gets. More in the gallery.
Shake siding across mid-Michigan.
The shake work we do around here splits into two jobs. In the older neighborhoods, Lansing’s Eastside, Owosso’s four-square streets, the century homes around St. Johns, it’s honoring what the house already is: gable shakes that put character back where vinyl-era re-sides stripped it. On newer builds in DeWitt, Okemos, and Grand Ledge, it’s adding texture so a young elevation doesn’t read flat.
Michigan weather is why we push the engineered versions. Gables catch our wind-driven rain and hail head-on, and LP’s cedar-texture shakes with proper flashing behind them take that abuse without the curling and splitting real cedar shows after a decade of freeze-thaw.
Anywhere in the nine counties, bring us a photo of a gable you love at the free look. We’ll price your version of it in engineered wood, fiber cement, and vinyl, straight up.
Straight answers about shake siding.
No hedging. Here’s the plain version of what homeowners ask us most, and you can see finished work in our gallery.
Do I have to do the whole house in shakes?
No, and most of our shake work is accents: gables, dormers, and entry features over lap siding. It’s the best-value version of the look. Full shake walls are for houses whose style genuinely calls for them, and we’ll tell you honestly which camp yours is in.
What are modern shakes made of?
Four options: engineered wood (LP SmartSide cedar texture, our usual recommendation), fiber cement, vinyl shake panels, and real cedar. The first three give you the texture without cedar’s maintenance cycle, and we’ll show you samples of each at the free look.
Are shakes more expensive than lap siding?
Per square foot, yes: more pieces, more layout, more labor. That’s why accents are the smart play. A shake gable package adds modest cost to a re-side and does most of the visual work of a full shake house.
How long does shake siding last?
Engineered wood and fiber cement shakes carry the same decades-long warranties as their lap siding lines, 50-year substrate coverage on LP products. Vinyl shakes run like quality vinyl. Real cedar depends on your coating discipline, honestly 20 to 40 years.
Do shakes hold up to Michigan weather?
The engineered versions do, and gables are actually where they prove it, since gable walls catch wind-driven rain and hail head-on. Proper barrier and flashing behind the shakes, which is our standard practice, is what keeps the character durable.
Staggered edge or straight edge: which looks better?
Staggered reads hand-cut and suits cottages, craftsman, and lake houses. Straight-edge reads tailored and suits colonials and newer builds. We’ll hold both samples up at your gable line, and the house usually makes the decision for you.
Can you add shakes to my gables during a re-side?
Yes, and that’s the cheapest moment it will ever be, since the crew, scaffolding, and tear-off are already in the budget. Tell us at the free look and we’ll price the accent package alongside the base job.
Can shakes go over my existing gable siding?
We tear off first, same as every wall we do. Gables are high-exposure surfaces, and layering shakes over old siding hides the flashing and barrier work that keeps them dry. Tear-off on a gable is a small add and the only way the detail lasts.
Other things we do.
Serving Lansing, East Lansing, St. Johns and the surrounding counties. See our service area → · Questions? Contact us or call (989) 900-0018.
Want to give the house a face?
Call the crew for a free, no-obligation look. We’ll bring shake samples and hold them where they’d live.
(989) 900-0018