Composite Shake Siding Stands Up to Salty Sea Air

Go to the very end of St. Pete Beach in Florida and you’ll find the town of Pass-a-Grille Beach. That’s where you’ll also find the newly remodeled home of Naviza and Vince Dailey.

“We stumbled on Pass-a-Grille while vacationing,” says Atlanta resident Naviza Dailey. “We loved it so much we instantly decided to buy a second home and become snowbirds.”

Composite shake siding gives the oceanfront home the timeless look of cedar shake with added durability and less maintenance.
The house they chose has many challenges. The interior was outdated and moldy. The outside decks were not structurally sound. Above all, the exterior siding was vinyl and extremely ugly.

“My husband almost passed on buying the house because he hated the siding so much,” says Dailey. “I assured him we would definitely change the siding to something we both love. That’s when we jumped in and made the purchase.”

On the Hunt for Beach-Friendly Siding

The Daileys started researching beach home styles. He is from the northeast and leans toward Cape Cod styles. She agreed with his choice. Together they began looking for cedar shake siding online.

“We’re just a block from the ocean,” says Dailey. “And the house is in the high velocity hurricane zone. Plus, considering the salt air and intense sun conditions, we knew real cedar shake was out of the question.”

Fortunately their research brought them to DaVinci Hand-Split Shake Siding. Made of virgin resins, UV and thermal stabilizers plus a highly-specialized fire retardant, the siding resists impact, fire, mold and algae. In addition, it resists insects, salt air and high winds. And, while it looks as attractive as real cedar, composite shake siding will not curl, cup or split like real cedar.

The Daileys had eight colors to choose from in the faux shake siding. “We can’t believe how realistic the DaVinci two-tone colors are,” says Dailey. “We absolutely love the Aged Cedar color we selected. It looks very natural on the house exterior.”

Residential Aged CedarSmart Choice for Seaside

As renovation work continued both inside and outside the home, the team from Reobote Construction came to install the DaVinci siding.

“This product was very straight-forward to install,” says Brian Weissman, co-owner of Reobote Construction out of St. Pete, Florida. “I can see the appeal of the DaVinci siding. It’s attractive and realistic-looking. At the same time, with the ability to stand up to Mother Nature without requiring maintenance is just great.

“For our crew, this is the first time we’ve installed the DaVinci siding. I can’t imagine it will be the last time. People seeing this product around here now will want it. Beachfront living equates to an easy lifestyle … and this product matches that lifestyle.”

According to Dailey, they’re already sharing the good news of their composite shake siding with the neighbors.

“We enjoy sitting on our new decks surrounded by our beautiful DaVinci siding,” says Dailey. “We love hearing people as they pass by comment about how much they love our house. A few neighbors even asked us if the siding is real cedar. We’ve shared our ‘secret’ with them and have recommended DaVinci siding to anyone who is ready to go maintenance free. No painting, no mildew or mold, just beautiful siding!”