When designing a pole building, the details matter. One feature that surprises many of our customers is how much a gable treatment can do for a building’s appearance and how many options are actually available. The gable faces the street, the driveway, or the house, whichever view matters most to you, and the peak naturally draws the eye. A plain steel gable reads as purely functional. A treated gable reads as intentional. Beyond the visual difference, these treatments make your building look better while also protecting it. Gable surfaces take direct weather exposure at the peak, where overhangs offer less coverage, so the material you choose there has real functional consequences as well as visual ones.
This guide covers the full range of gable treatment options we offer, the accent elements that layer alongside them, how to choose the right treatment for your property and building style, and our recommendations for what holds up best in Western Washington’s climate.
Gable Treatment Options Worth Considering
Pole building customers often come to us thinking there are two or three gable treatment options. In practice, the range is considerably wider, and each option produces a different aesthetic result. Here is what is available and what each one does best.
Hardie Shingles
Hardie shingle siding gives your pole building a timeless, coastal look. The shingle pattern adds a nice, textured effect that works well with both traditional and modern styles. Plus, these shingles are tough and easy to maintain, and come in a range of colors to match your building’s design. Our Ravensdale customer chose Hardie straight shingles for their 48×70 post-frame shop specifically to match the exterior of their home, and the result is a building that looks like it has always belonged on the property.
Cedar Shingle
If you want warmth and natural character, cedar shingles bring something that fiber cement cannot fully replicate. The variation in grain and tone gives each gable a handcrafted quality, and cedar pairs beautifully with steel siding, the contrast between natural wood and painted metal doing most of the design work on its own. Our Bothell customer added a cedar shingle gable treatment to their garage specifically to match the feel of their house. Cedar does require more maintenance than fiber cement in a wet climate, but owners who keep up with it find it holds its character for years.
Board and Batten
Board and batten brings a strong vertical profile to the gable, which creates a natural contrast against the horizontal lines of steel siding below. The result is a modern farmhouse aesthetic that has become one of the most requested looks in residential pole building design. Our Covington customer combined a dark board and batten gable with warm-toned horizontal siding on the walls and contrasting trim throughout, producing a building with a layered, custom quality that reads more like a designed structure than an outbuilding.
Lap Siding
Lap siding in the gable is one of the most effective options for customers who want their pole building to read as a seamless extension of their home. The horizontal profile is familiar and residential, and when matched to the house in color and profile, the outbuilding stops looking like an outbuilding. Our Snohomish customer’s one-car garage does exactly that, pairing a gray-green lap siding gable with bold white rake trim and gable returns to match the neighboring house. We most commonly install lap siding gables in Hardie plank, which holds up well in Western Washington’s wet climate and comes in a wide range of colors.
Belly Band
A belly band is a horizontal strip that goes around the building, usually between the top and bottom. It adds a nice touch to the design and helps break up the height of the building. Belly bands also protect the bottom part of your walls from moisture and weather damage, which can help keep your building in good shape for longer. On taller buildings, the effect is especially noticeable. Our Stanwood customer’s shop with a loft is a good example. The belly band creates a clean horizontal break between the shingle gable above and the siding below, giving a building with significant wall height a composed, layered quality rather than an uninterrupted expanse of material. It is also one of the more versatile accent options on this list, pairing naturally with nearly any primary gable treatment.
Additional Design Choices for Your Building’s Gables
A gable treatment is often just the starting point. Several accent elements can layer on top of or alongside it to bring the overall exterior design together. Here are the ones we use most often.
- Gable vents. A louvered rectangular vent at the peak provides ventilation while adding a detail that makes the gable feel complete rather than bare. Decorative versions with arch tops or more elaborate profiles can become a design feature in their own right.
- Gable returns. A gable return is a short horizontal extension of the roofline at the eave corners that creates a classical cornice look. It adds architectural weight and a sense of craftsmanship to the roofline without requiring a material change, and on smaller residential garages, it can make a simple gable feel considered and complete.
- Cupolas. Cupolas sit at the peak or along the ridge and combine ventilation with a strong visual accent. They are especially well-suited to agricultural and horse barn builds where the traditional barn aesthetic is part of the appeal, though they work on residential shops and garages too. We offer them in multiple sizes to suit buildings of different scales.
- Rake board trim. Contrasting rake board trim along the roofline edges sharpens the gable’s outline and frames the treatment below it. It is one of the smallest changes you can make to a gable design and one of the more noticeable ones.
- Fishscale siding. For customers with a specific architectural vision, fishscale siding is a distinctive option. The overlapping scale pattern has Victorian and cottage roots and works well on properties with older homes or more ornate architectural details. It is not the most common treatment we install, but when it fits the property, the result is unlike anything else.
Choosing a Gable Treatment That Fits Your Property
The right gable treatment depends on three connected considerations. Working through them in order will get you to a choice that fits your building, your property, and your long-term goals.
Match the Treatment to Your Building Type
Building type shapes the starting point. An agricultural or working barn suits cedar shingle, contrasting steel, or board and batten, materials that feel appropriate to a working building while still showing care in the design. A residential garage or shop tends toward Hardie shingle or lap siding, which reads as residential rather than agricultural. A barndominium can carry virtually any treatment since the goal is a fully residential result throughout. Horse barns pair especially well with cupolas and cedar, which reinforce the traditional agricultural aesthetic most horse property owners are after.
Echo What Is Already on Your Property
Your existing home is often the single most important reference point. The most common reason our customers choose a specific treatment is to match or complement what is already on their house, the same material, the same color family, or the same trim profile. Our Ravensdale customers chose Hardie straight shingles because they matched their home. Our Bothell customer chose cedar shingles for the same reason. The Covington build used Hardie plank throughout, and the result is a garage that looks like it was built with the house rather than added to the property later.
Think in Systems, Not Single Decisions
A gable treatment works best when it is coordinated with the rest of the exterior. A shingle gable pairs naturally with a belly band. Stone wainscoting at the base ties to a lap siding gable above it. A cupola at the peak completes a board and batten gable. The buildings that look the most composed are the ones where those decisions were made together rather than one at a time.
Begin Designing Your Custom Gables Today
Whether you are looking for a coastal, rustic, or modern feel, we have what you need to make your pole building stand out. At PermaBilt, we use high-quality materials that are built to last, so your building will not only look great but also stay strong for years.
Schedule a complimentary on-site consultation with one of our building specialists, and we will walk through the full range of options together, helping you find the treatment that fits your building, your property, and your style.
