Our lumberyard sells the Sierra Primed Shake Deep Groove in 20 board bundles at $168.30 per bundle, which breaks down to approx $8.40 per 8' board. We did price out the pre-finished in Maple too...$259.25 per bundle or approx $12.96 per board. Those prices are with a 15% discount that they very kindly offered since we're OBing. :o)

Cedar shakes are typically random widths not less than around 3" up to no more than 12" or so. They are typically around 5/16 - 3/8" thick at the butt end and narrow down to about a 1/16" at the non concealed edge. They are usually 16-18" in length. To make shingles out of flat stock, (your 1/2") would mean a whole lot of painstaking planing by hand to get that taper. If you are closer to the west coast, the shingles are typically redwood while on the east coast they are red or white cedar. Canada has distributors as well. You should probably do more research for suppliers and compare shipping costs.

Well ... I guess we can shut off the lights and close and lock the door of this thread: I'm to fly out of Detroit early evening Fri. Jan. 23 - fly out of Phoenix morn. Mon. Feb 2 ... just under $250. For folks who might be in or able to come to Phoenix, my email address is available here, and I can send daughter's address - don't remember the suburb - and phone. Got a card in mail Fri. Nov. 28 saying item to pick up at P.O., picked up passport Monday ... postmistress says it somewhat resembles me. She's supposed to have identif'n., but not too concerned ... I got out photo driver's licence ... she said she doubted that she'd let me into States on that - look too much like terrorist. Application went in Nov. 21, it was issued Nov. 26 - really quick service. I am disappointed that I'll not get to visit folks along the route ... but hope that I can meet several of you some time in the future: maybe a spring or fall trip (summer too hot). I hope also that you have the start of a fine week under your belt. ole joyful

Tib...we had Certainteed. Many boards cracked. The co replaced the boards. We paid for the labor to replace them. They didn't match due to fading. House had to be repainted. They provided a few buckets of paint, lol. just a headache with all of the warranty issues. Then there was a class action suit that we chose not to participate in....yada, yada, yada. I haven't seen the issues online with the Nichiha and have considered this brand as well. lots of good stuff online about the LP Smart Siding but who really knows about that stuff in a few years. Gotta choose something sooner or later.