Not really.

Apparently, when the Bodleian Library at Oxford was built, the trees used for the beams at the ceiling were from 300 year old trees. When they built the library, they planted some more trees in a dedicated area just in case they needed to be replaced 300-400 years later. They were thinking ahead. I think they recently used a couple, and I wonder if replacements were planted

On the seashore of Maine and Cape Cod, where cedar shingles are common, the repair and maintenance of shingles is considered mundane and no one gives the pale patches a thought. Why worry about something that will take care of itself in time? Just think like a Yankee and move on.

Pal,
That's funny!

Renovator8,
I guess it depends on how long patches look like this (work done when the prior owner replaced the original windows in the kitchen with counter height windows for resale)
{{gwi:1518746}}

What Reno said. There's simply no way to "pre-age" a supply of shingles and then use them (if and when needed) and hope that they will match the weathering of existing shingles.

You need to get used to the appearance and aging of shingle siding. The photo above will be considerably different a year from now.

Good luck on your project.

Hi Virgil,

I know they wouldn't match exactly, but they would be a lot closer!

Thanks for your input.

In my area on Long Island a lot of contractors use a 50/50 mix of Bleaching Oil and Weathering Stain which will give it a grayer (?) appearance until the bleaching oil does it's thing.

If I had a shingled house I would seriously think about pre ageing a supply of shingles for patching repairs.

They may not match perfectly at first but they will be less distracting.

I do not buy into the idea that one should put up with the contrast for a couple of years. I say go for it.

Thinking about this from a practical standpoint...

Let's say you shake the side of the garage, and have lovely pre-weathered shakes at the ready. You need 1/3 of them for a repair.

Now what do you do with the side of the garage? I think the best bet would be to take off all the shakes, store them in the garage for the next repair job, and start over again with a new batch on the garage. Do you have a vapor barrier on the garage? That would be compromised after the first set of shakes were removed. Without a vapor barrier, I would think the walls under the shakes could only tolerate so many nail holes before that would also have to be replaced.

Is it worth the effort? Only the OP knows for sure!

Thanks so much, Annkh, -henry, millworkman, et al, for your comments.

I am going to talk to my GC, but we will probably try it. If and when we need shingles, we will draw from the far side of the garage, and replace the ones we take out with new ones, and leave the rest be.

I get the "Yankee" acceptance ... but I am a lot more NY'er than Yankee (not that I can't see the virtues of Yankees values), which means I am more impatient and demanding then Zen. I can't see spending what these oceanfront homes cost, dolling them a;; up, and then ignoring the several years it takes for any patched areas to lose that "missing tooth" look. I suppose I could just re-side the whole thing each time I needed a patch, but that's not a very "green" option.

I think I may start a business aging shake! I will side your house if you agree to be a "host" family for another house, LOL!