The Best Nailer for Cedar Shakes & Shingles

For cedar shakes and shingles the tool is a coil roofing or siding nailer — but the nails matter far more: use hot-dipped galvanized or, better, stainless steel, because cedar's natural tannins corrode ordinary nails and streak the wood. Set the gun so it seats flush without splitting the cedar. This guide covers the fastener choice in detail, which gun to run, and the technique that keeps a cedar roof from splitting, staining, or blowing off.

Why cedar is different from asphalt

An asphalt shingle forgives a lot — it's a flexible mat, and a slightly overdriven nail still mostly holds. Cedar is a natural wood with two properties that change everything. First, it's acidic: the same tannins and extractives that make cedar rot- and insect-resistant actively attack ordinary steel. A bright or electro-galvanized nail in cedar starts corroding within a season, bleeds ugly black streaks down the roof, and eventually loses its head entirely — at which point the shake slides out. Second, cedar splits: it's a thin, straight-grained wood, and a nail driven too hard, too close to an edge, or into the wrong spot opens a crack that runs with the grain. That's why fastener choice and depth setting matter more on cedar than on any other roofing material.

The nails come first

Get the fastener right before you think about the gun. Here's how the options actually rank on cedar:

• Shank: ring-shank holds dramatically better in cedar and battens, and is the smart default in any wind area.
• Length: long enough to penetrate the sheathing or batten by about ¾″ — typically 1¼″–1½″ for shingles and 1½″–2″ for heavier shakes. Same penetration logic as our asphalt nail-size guide, thicker material.
• Count: two nails per shake or shingle, never more — extra nails don't add hold, they add split points and pin the wood against seasonal movement.

Yes, stainless coils cost several times what HDG costs per box. On a roof that's the point of cedar — a premium material chosen to last 30+ years — saving two hundred dollars on fasteners that fail in ten is the worst trade on the job.

The gun: roofing nailer vs siding nailer for cedar

Both work, loaded with the right stainless coil nails — here's the honest comparison:

If you're buying a gun for a cedar job, get the coil siding nailer — the longer nail range covers shakes, and the smaller head suits concealed nailing. The Bostitch N66C is the value pick; the Makita AN613 adds finer depth control. The key spec either way is depth-of-drive adjustment — cedar splits and crushes if you overdrive, so you want the head seated flush on the surface, never sunk into it.

How to fasten cedar without splitting it

1. Dial the gun in on scrap first. Drop the compressor pressure to the low end and set the depth so the head lands flush — kissing the surface, not crushing into it. A sunk head cuts fibers, invites water, and starts splits. Fire ten test nails into a scrap shake before the first course.
2. Stay off the edges. Keep nails roughly ¾″–1″ in from each side edge. Closer than that and the thin edge grain splits — if not today, then the first hard freeze.
3. Two nails per shake, placed about 1½″–2″ above the exposure line so the next course covers them (concealed nailing). Never face-nail the exposed butt.
4. Leave the keyway gaps — about 1/4″–3/8″ between shakes (about 1/4″ for shingles) so the wood can swell when wet, and offset joints at least 1½″ course to course so gaps never stack.
5. Don't bump-fire the field like asphalt. Cedar rewards a slower, sequential-mode pace — every nail placed, every head flush. It's still far faster than hand-nailing.

Shakes vs shingles: same wood, different fastening feel

The two products nail differently enough to plan for. Shingles are sawn on both faces — thin, uniform, and predictable; your depth setting from the test scraps holds across the bundle. Shakes are split (at least on the face) — thicker, irregular, and varying in density piece to piece, so the same gun setting that seats flush on one shake sits proud on the next. Run shakes a touch shallower and finish the occasional proud head with a hammer tap; that beats crushing the soft ones. Shakes also typically get an 18″ felt interlay between courses in many climates — lay the felt as you go, and make sure your nail length accounts for the extra layer.

What's under the cedar matters too

Cedar wants to dry from both sides. Depending on your climate and the roof build, that means either spaced sheathing (skip battens) — 1x4s or 1x6s with gaps, the traditional method that lets the underside breathe — or solid decking with a ventilating underlayment mesh beneath the cedar. Your nail length has to suit the base: into battens you want the point just passing through the batten; over solid deck plus mesh, add the mesh thickness to your penetration math. Nailing cedar tight to unvented solid sheathing in a wet climate is a premature-failure recipe no fastener can save.

How many nails to order

Cedar coverage runs differently from asphalt: at typical exposures figure roughly 4 bundles of shakes per square (100 sq ft) and about 250–350 fasteners per square at two nails apiece — plus 10–15% for waste, starters, and hips/ridges. A single box of stainless coils typically covers a small roof; price it before the job so the fastener bill doesn't surprise you. (The ordering math works the same way as our nails-per-square guide.)

Frequently asked questions

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