LP SmartSide 8-Inch Brushed Smooth Shake: What Michigan Homeowners Should Know
- Lake Effect Exteriors
- 20 hours ago
- 6 min read
If you have ever tried to replace traditional cedar shake siding on an older Michigan home, you have probably run into the same problem we have.
A lot of products can give you a shake look. Far fewer actually capture the scale, smooth finish, and proportions of the cedar shingles that were originally used on many Michigan homes.
That is what makes the new LP SmartSide 8-Inch Brushed Smooth Shake interesting.
Lake Effect Exteriors had the opportunity to work with the product during an early test installation on a home in Huntington Woods, Michigan. The house originally had smooth cedar shake siding, and the homeowner wanted to replace it without changing the character of the home.
After seeing the 8-inch Brushed Smooth Shake installed across an entire exterior, we think it fills a gap that has existed in the siding market for a while.
Here is what Michigan homeowners should know.
It Looks Much Closer to Traditional Cedar Shingle
The first thing that stands out is the scale. Traditional cedar shingles often have a smaller reveal than many of the shake-style siding products homeowners are used to seeing today. That difference might sound minor, but it changes the appearance of the entire house.
When the exposure becomes too large, the siding can start to feel more decorative or exaggerated. That can work well on certain homes, especially when shake siding is being used as an accent, but it does not always look right when you are trying to recreate an original cedar-shingle exterior.
The 8-inch Brushed Smooth Shake has a smaller, more traditional appearance.
On the Huntington Woods home where we installed it, that made a significant difference. The new siding kept the horizontal rhythm and scale of the original cedar instead of making the house feel like it had been redesigned.
For an older home, that is often exactly what you want.
The Smooth Finish Matters
The word smooth is just as important as the size. When people picture cedar shake siding, they often think of heavily textured or rustic shingles.
But that is not the only way cedar has historically been used.
Smooth cedar shingles are common on older Michigan homes, cottages, lake houses, and homes farther north throughout the state. They have a much cleaner appearance than rough-sawn shake siding.
That was one of the reasons we liked the Brushed Smooth Shake as soon as we saw it installed. It does not look overly rustic.
It has the clean appearance of a traditional smooth cedar shingle, which makes it much easier to use on homes where maintaining the original architectural character matters.
It Can Work Across an Entire Home
This may be our biggest takeaway from installing it.
A lot of homeowners are accustomed to seeing shake siding used as an accent.
You might see it:
In a front gable
Around dormers
On the upper portion of an elevation
Combined with traditional lap siding
The 8-inch Brushed Smooth Shake certainly can be used that way.
But after seeing it installed across an entire house, we think limiting it to accents misses a big part of what makes the profile interesting.
On the right architecture, this can be the siding.
That was important on our Huntington Woods project because we were not adding shake siding to a house that never had it. We were replacing an existing cedar-shingle exterior.
The new product needed to look right across large wall sections, not just in a decorative gable. For homeowners with traditional homes, cottages, lake houses, or existing cedar-shingle exteriors, that may be one of the strongest reasons to consider it.
It Gives Older Michigan Homes Another Option
Replacing siding on an older home is not always about making the exterior look newer.
Sometimes the better goal is keeping the house looking like itself.
That can be difficult when the original siding is cedar.
Homeowners may like the appearance of their existing cedar but no longer want to maintain an aging wood exterior. The problem is that moving to a completely different siding profile can dramatically change the character of the house.
The 8-inch Brushed Smooth Shake gives homeowners another option.
Instead of asking:
“What newer siding can we put on this house?”
You can start asking:
“What product will let us preserve the look this house already has?”
That is a much better starting point for a lot of remodeling projects.
It Is Built Around a Familiar LP SmartSide System
From an installation standpoint, this did not feel like working with an entirely different type of siding.
The profile and sizing were new, but the product is built around the LP SmartSide siding system and installation principles our crew already works with.
That matters because a new appearance does not necessarily require contractors to learn an entirely new exterior system.
During our test installation, our crew was able to focus on the layout, details, and appearance of the house while working with a siding platform we were already familiar with.
For homeowners, the important part is making sure the product is installed by a contractor who understands LP SmartSide installation requirements and how the profile should interact with windows, doors, corners, trim, flashing, and the rest of the exterior.
Why We Think It Fits Michigan Particularly Well
There are certain siding products that make sense almost anywhere.
This one feels particularly appropriate here.
Michigan has a long history of cedar-shingled homes.
You see them in established Metro Detroit neighborhoods.
You see them around lakes.
You see them on cottages.
And you see them throughout northern Michigan.
There is a certain architectural character associated with smooth cedar shingles that is difficult to reproduce with a large, heavily textured shake profile.
The smaller scale and smooth appearance of the 8-inch Brushed Smooth Shake fit that architectural language much better.
That does not mean it is only for historic houses. A newer home designed around a traditional or coastal-inspired exterior could look great with it too. But for homeowners trying to preserve the appearance of an existing cedar-shingle home, we think that is where the product becomes especially compelling.
How Does It Compare With Real Cedar?
Visually, this is probably one of the closest engineered siding options we have seen to the type of smooth cedar shingles commonly found on Michigan homes.
That does not mean it is cedar.
It is still an LP SmartSide engineered wood siding product, and homeowners should evaluate it based on what it actually is rather than expecting it to behave exactly like natural wood.
But from an architectural standpoint, it does a very good job recreating the look we were trying to preserve on our Huntington Woods project.
The smaller reveal is a big part of that.
The smooth surface is another.
And when it is installed across a full elevation, the repeated shingle pattern creates an appearance that feels much more like a traditional cedar exterior than a decorative shake accent.
Who Should Consider LP SmartSide 8-Inch Brushed Smooth Shake?
We think the product is especially worth looking at if:
Your home currently has smooth cedar shake siding
You want to preserve the original proportions of an older exterior
You like the look of cedar but are considering an engineered siding product
You own a cottage, lake house, or traditionally styled home
You want shake siding across an entire house rather than only as an accent
You are trying to update an older home without making it look overly modern
It is not going to be the right profile for every house. And that is okay. Good exterior design is not about finding one siding product and putting it on everything. It is about choosing a material and profile that actually belong on the house.
Our Take After Installing It
We like the 8-inch Brushed Smooth Shake a lot. Not simply because it is a new product or because we had the opportunity to install it early. We like it because we can see where it belongs.
There are homes throughout Michigan where the original cedar siding is part of what makes the architecture work. When that siding eventually needs to be replaced, homeowners should not necessarily have to choose between maintaining old cedar forever or completely changing the appearance of the house.
This gives us another option. And after seeing it installed across an entire home, we think that is where the product is particularly impressive. It does not need to be treated as a decorative shake. On the right house, it can carry the entire exterior.
That is what makes the product worth paying attention to.
Considering LP SmartSide for Your Michigan Home?
Lake Effect Exteriors is an LP SmartSide Preferred Contractor based in Southeast Michigan with hands-on experience installing the 8-inch Brushed Smooth Shake as part of an early test installation.
If you are considering LP SmartSide, replacing an existing cedar exterior, or trying to update an older home without losing the details that make it distinctive, we would be happy to take a look at the project and walk through the options with you.
