Pro's Picks: Tando Beach House Shake

Sean Cummings 

Project manager & partner 

Miken Builders, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Design a houseboat that looks like a beach house: This was a great challenge one of our clients recently gave us. We had to figure out how to achieve the beach house cedar cladding look without also dealing with real cedar’s high susceptibility to moisture and sun damage (not surprisingly, a huge issue for a home that lives on water).

To avoid this, we chose Beach House Shake, a new cladding option from Tando. I’d used it a few years ago while working on another project nearby, and remembered that this cladding gave us the same natural look and texture of real cedar shingles without the intense installation process and costly upkeep. It’s not affected by moisture and salty air either—perfect for a houseboat.

Beach House Shake also provided us with highly effective wind resistance—certified by Miami-Dade County, which has one of the strictest building codes in the country, thanks to its familiarity with hurricanes and high-wind events.

Normally we’d pay four times the amount for this kind of look, and knowing it’s going to stay looking fresh for decades makes it even better. After this project, I actually ended up recladding my own house with the product (although my home is significantly further from the water).

When it came to installation, the crew was on board. It has interlocking flanges and lightweight panels, so it’s easy for one person to install it using regular woodworking tools and a nail gun.