Hello,
I'm replacing the red cedar shingle siding on my 1908 house because the old shingles are covered in lead paint. The house has several angled bays, and the existing shingles are bent over the interior and exterior angles. I'd like to reproduce that detail and am looking for advice on the best way to bend the new cedar shingles. The new shingles are 18" long and 0.45" thick at the butt edge. I need to bend the shingles 22.5 degrees out of flat (1/16 bend). A few questions:
1) Will soaking the shingles be sufficient, or will I need to steam them? Should I kerf out the backside at the point of the bend? It will obviously be easiest to use the building itself as the bending form.2) Most of the shingles I'll be installing will be pre-staind with Cabot Clear Solutions #9102, which I believe is primarily linseed oil or similar. Is there any chance of bending the pre-stained shingles, or do I need to get untreated shingles and stain them afterwards? Can bending be facilitated by pre-staining the face that will become the inner angle, providing an unequal rate of moisture absorption on the two faces?
Thanks, Wayne