Cedar - splits and shakes?

[nev]

Should it be expected that cedar untreated will split and shake ?
My neighbour has just had a nice pair of modern gates made, steel frame with cedar vertical planking. He's a little miffed that the lovely smooth cedar facing is starting to crack and flake. Theres also a little cupping on a few of the planks too.
It is expected that the cedar will grey and weather naturally but seeing as the gate is only a month or two old theres a panic setting in that the whole lot is going to end up cupped and split.
So before he gets on to the manufacturer it would be nice to have a general opinion from those in the know if you would be so kind.
Thanks in advance

 

[RobinBHM]

WR cedar is usually quite wet as its 'shipping dry' rather than kiln dried and I expect the recent sunny days have accelerated the rate at which the boards are being acclimatised.

Assuming each board has a gap between the end of the tongue and the groove, the boards will only shrink across their own width and in relation to the fixing screws.

I think the splits that have appeared were probably existing faults that were in the timber anyway and the warm sunny weather has made them open up.

The crown cut boards will always cup a bit, it cant be avoided, it be impossible to expect the boards to not move at all outside and untreated.

I dont think your neighbour has too much to worry about, cedar is pretty stable. It looks as though the boards can be unscrewed so if there are any boards that end up with fundamental splits rather than surface checking, they could be replaced.

generally the metal gate frame is well designed for the cedar cladding, IE protected top and open bottom for rain water to run off and allow the board end to dry out in the air.

The screw fixings could have been better positioned, and strictly speaking are not allowing movement, but cedar is pretty soft and the screws are quite close together so any shrinkage that may cause an issue is only the distance between the screws.