The siding has arrived!
In early May we started receiving siding, soffit, and trim material! So exciting!
Our original intent was to match the new siding to the existing cedar siding that has been on the house since 1962. Great idea in concept, not so great in reality. The original boards are 11″ x 1-1/8″ thick cedar planks. Just like 2×4 studs are no longer 2″ x 4″ but rather 1-1/2″ x 3-1/2″, cedar plank siding boards are no longer milled to the old dimension, more like 6″ not 11″, and no longer a consistent width but rather they are tapered.
To match the existing would be an endeavor of immense expense to mill custom boards. This made us sit back and analyze what we really wanted the house to look like. If we were going to spend more than we budgeted, then we really had to love what we were buying. We discovered that neither of us really liked the lap siding, nor the woodpecker holes and the nests of bees that the siding offered to our wildlife.
The board side that faced the house had never been stained and had a smooth finish. The rough sawn side faced the public outward side (a feature we did not care for). The framing carpenters and our contractor assured us that our boards could be reused for covering our exposed soffits over the deck and front porch, as well to wrap some of the beams that were created to make these overhangs. So Steve very carefully removed all the siding material last fall and stockpiled it in our garage.
The underside of the roof over the deck on the new addition
I can’t wait to let you see what this will look like finished with our recycled cedar siding!
After hours of driving through random neighborhoods and scouring the pages of Houzz.com, we knew we preferred “ship-lap” siding over the traditional “lap-siding”. We like the smooth transition between the boards. Our search led us to discover Wood Haven, Inc. in Perry, Kansas. Not only did we like what they had to offer, they shipped material to our region of the country. An important detail to consider when you fall in love with the perfect material!
http://www.rainscreenclip.com/project-gallery/
They have created their own Rainscreen Clip that creates an installation where the fasteners are hidden. A rainscreen system provides an added layer of defense against the penetration of water into the walls. An air gap between the back of the siding and the vapor barrier on the sheathing (1/2″ plywood or similar material) helps keep the wall dry and minimize the formation of mold in the wall.
I have to admit, our choice was based on how great the siding looks. We chose the 5″ garapa material, a Brazilian hardwood that is resistant to rot, decay, insects and fungi. These were important qualities for us in our choice of wood species. Wood Haven, inc. has a great selection of wood options. We are staining our garapa to maintain a rich reddish brown that works well with our exisitng brick. Because this will require staining every few years, we have limited the use of this material to be used as an accent. More later on the the products we chose that will require much less maintenance.
After installing the vertical battens that have been predrilled in the factory to accept the clips, Russ can start installing the wood siding. One of the challenges of this install was making sure the drilled holes on the battens were completely level and lined up with each other.
These clips are drilled into the holes in the vertical battens and the boards are slid into place, supported by the clips.
OVER THE GARAGE
There will be one more layer of stain applied at the end of the project, but we love it already. I am referring to our constant transformation as our variation on a modern prairie style. We are seeing a faint light at the end of the tunnel!
A Dream Under Construction 