shingles as siding?

[Jared Drake]

My grandmother's house was sided with shingles and I saw one today that was done the same way. Now, my Mam was poor so maybe that had something to do with the shingles, but was this something done regularly at one time? Or just poor folks that did it?
Jared

[glenn kangiser]

In the old days we didn't have all of the corporations making products to sell us so we had to use our natural resources.  In some areas that meant that shingles were used a lot.  In a few areas it was slate.  In the very early days it may have been sod.  The new materials are easier to purchase and use though.  No splitting with a fro and mallet.

The hand split ones were usually called shakes and the sawn ones were shingles although the name was used interchangeably a bit as I remember my dad taking us to a shingle mill where a machine split shakes.

[John Raabe]

Shingles are still very popular for folks who want natural materials for siding their home. I use shingles in combination with cedar lap siding on many designs. Shingles (sawn cedar) hold stain well and will last a very long time. They add no structural value to the wall of course.


Sidewall shingle siding

They are not inexpensive anymore and vinyl and cement sidings have replaced singles for lower cost projects.

[PEG688]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Jared is talking asphalt (comp) shingles , a lot of older homes back east had a asphalt shingle that looked like brick, generally nailed over nice old wood clapboards with 2" roofing nails

 I haven't seen that product for sale nor have I installed any in my career  , which spans 3 decades now , thank my luck stars.

It was poor siding product , IMO , it got brittle and broke off in chunks , there was not good way to flash around windows and doors , and it looked like He dbl. hockey sticks  .

[MountainDon]

This brings back memories. Growing up in an older part of town (older back then, ancient by now) I recall shingles being used for siding on a lot of homes. Sometimes shingled first floor or only the front, with clapboard siding on the upper floors. Mostly 1 1/2 or 2 floor houses crammed onto 25 ft wide lots. Never understood that; sitting in the middle of an expansive prairie. It was like they never got over circling the wagons as in the early days of the west.

I recall some of the houses had "upgraded" shingles of an asbestos compound.

And real plaster walls over wood and metal lath. Now that was fun to tear out.

Lumber yards back then sold mostly stick, board or plank lumber. Anuone know when sheet goods (plywood, waferboard, etc.) become prevalent?

[NELSELGNE]

I think PEG688 might be right.  My parents house and out-buildings were covered with brick-style asphalt siding.  For example see the following URL:
http://www.arkansaspreservation.org/historic-properties/national-register/siding_materials.asp?page=asph

[PEG688]

#1: I recall some of the houses had "upgraded" shingles of an asbestos compound.

 
 #2: And real plaster walls over wood and metal lath. Now that was fun to tear out.

  #3: Anuone know when sheet goods (plywood, waferboard, etc.) become prevalent?

  #1:  My first summer as a carpenters helper 1970 ,   we stripped 4 roofs with , IIRC , 18" x18" asbestos shingle on the roof , they useda cut in half 4" pipe for ridge cap, boy did the bats like that for a day time home .  The bats would fly out sort of blind   and run  right into you, we took to demo-ing that cap with a 2x4 killed the bats and crushed the ridge cap for removal.  Ya I know killing the bats was not a good idea but it worked.

Anyway you know who loaded all those busted shingle into and out of the 3/4 ton 4x4 Chevy  

#2 : Try some with the old horse hair mixed in the plaster , lots of little sticks to pick up , and dusty

#3: I'd guess late 50's , a bit earlier in Ca. and bigger city's in other areas, by the early 60's sheet goods where pretty much every where. Thats my guess anyway ,  at least something happened before I can remember So I must not be quite as old  as dirt

[Jared Drake]

Ashphalt shingles, yes. And boy did they ever come off in chunks. I bet I would've gotten my butt beat if I'd ever been caught tearing off as much of that stuff as I did.
Jared

[benevolance]

we demo'ed a building that had the ashphalt siding and it rotted the wood underneath it....Pure crap!

But I think that cost aside John is right that wood and natural products are going to get more popular...Board and batten Siding and Cedar Shingles are going to be in style again

Any day now someone here will take a drive or work in one of those exclusive sub divisions and some architect will think he has re-invented the wheel coming up with a way to build a million dollar home with wood shingles on it...

Telling people that board and batten or Shingles is some ancient rustic building method only known to rare craftsmen who had the skill passed down from father to son or some such crap...

I am waiting for it to happen....The way the Urban Sprawl has taken over the wilderness here it is only a matter of time.

[Rover]

As PEG688 mentioned, there are asphalt 'shingles' which look like brick.  I think it was called Insulbrick.
The insurance companies and firemen don't like it, especially if close neighbouring homes have the same.  

[Amanda_931]

And then there is (was) your classic tarpaper shack.

[John Raabe]

Asphalt shingles are not a bad alternative siding material even now. But don't put them on an uninsulated wall as they will serve as a pretty tight vapor barrier and interior moisture will condense on the sheathing and rot out the framing. This is not quite as big a concern on an unheated building.

However, they won't breathe and you have to be able to deal with that.

I have been thinking of using such a siding material for the old Little House we built that still has its aging tar paper exterior.

[Jens]

Any day now someone here will take a drive or work in one of those exclusive sub divisions and some architect will think he has re-invented the wheel coming up with a way to build a million dollar home with wood shingles on it...

We are building a million dollar cedar shingled home for some people right now.  What really looks strange, IMHO, is cedar shingled siding, with comp roofing.  Why not just roof with wood?  

According to Larry Haun from Fine Homebuilding, plywood started seeing use in framing in about 54.  First plywood plants were in 20's or so.  I have a Popular Mechanics from the 40's with an article about how it is made.  

Going by renovations, sheetrock gained popular use in about the mid to late 50's, usually wood lathe if built before the war.  

One of the garages on the property we are leasing right now is sided in comp 3-tab.  Interesting, but not pretty.  Our house in OR, had asbestos shingle siding over the 2" lap siding.  About 8000 nails were used to hold on all 2300lbs of the crap.  My wife started to hate my anal-retention when it came time to caulk all the holes, and the lap between each board, but when you are trying to do a nice remodel, and she picks out a 4-color paint scheme...

Oh yeah, the VG fir floors in our house were first painted, then covered with a different linoleum in each room.  Two of the rooms were asbestos tiles.  I hate traveling salesmen.