More about Siding and Trim

When we began our search for an alternate to matching our existing cedar siding, we started with fiber-cement board siding. We knew we wanted something that looked like Ship-Lap siding but had some kind of modern twist to it.  We requested many samples from many manufacturers and the company with the product we liked most was Nichiha.

A NICHIHA VINTAGE WOOD PROJECT  http://www.nichiha.com/

They have a great product called “Vintage Wood” that would give us the look we wanted with the minimal maintenance.  So off we went to find our product.  We found that the plant that serves our region is in Georgia.  After conversations with a rep, with a distributor and a retail outlet, we discovered that this particular product is not available in our region. What?  But this is what we wanted!  But we can’t have it.  Going back to the drawing board and a few months later we settled on the beautiful garapa boards that I highlighted in my last post.

We had this winter to really think about our new selection, cost was a big mind bender.  This material would more than double our budget for siding.  The other consideration was, ‘would we like it on the east side of the addition’?  The exposed side for coverage above the brick is very tall.  Would 5″ boards become too much for how much we had to cover?  Yes it would, we decided.

So we returned to a new search.  We liked the look of stucco, but were concerned about cost and maintenance as well.  We had stumbled on a lot of photos in Houzz with homes clad in fiber-cement panels.  We liked the clean lines, and the stucco-like finish. We started with James Hardie panels because we knew that Hardie board siding is everywhere in our region.  Apparently, just because one product is shipped here, does not necessarily mean that all products are shipped here. Sigh, the panels are not available in our region.  Well, perhaps, it works the same way in the Nichiha distribution.  We went back to their site and left a message requesting someone contact us.  And they did!  From their commercial product line. Not only did they have their ‘Architectural Block’ product available in the upper midwest, they had several installations in Chicago!  So we were off to the city to scope out the siding.  And we loved it!  The rep sent us the three samples of the board with their stock colors, shipping time: 2 weeks.  We could have the boards customs colored, but the wait was 2 months.  Russ and Ken were available for our project in the next two weeks to hang siding, so we chose a standard color: Tuscan Tan. The other sample he sent left us a little sad…”Vintage Wood”.  Apparently it is now offered as a commercial product and it is now available to us. It was its lack of availability that led us through a 6 month journey sourcing other alternatives. Go figure!

So the siding has arrived and the boys are almost finished with the installation. These panels are 18″ high x 6′ long.  One panel laps over the other.  There is a rubber gasket applied on the outside face side on every panel that seals the overlapping joint.

SIDING DETAIL

SIDE VIEW OF THE SIDING BOARD

The panels are installed on clips like a rainscreen application.  After each row of panels is snapped into place, a new row of clips are nailed to the sheathing to catch the next row of panels. There are no nails in the siding.

The corner boards are factory fabricated with a 90º angle made as one piece, so there is no joint seam at the corner.  There is a channel of flashing bent and installed on site between the corner board and the adjacent panels that runs vertically up the wall.

CORNER DETAIL

THE EAST SIDE OF THE HOUSE

A VIEW OF THE BACK OF THE HOUSE

ANOTHER VIEW OF THE BACK OF THE HOUSE

THE MACHINE THAT BENDS THE FLASHING

This machine was sitting in the garage for about a week before I realized Russ was bending the flashing into the unique shapes needed waterproof our siding.

We are using another composite material for the trim, soffits and fascia boards.  The soffit board has continuous venting.  The holes are apparently small enough to prevent bees from entering the soffits, and the rest of the house.  However, we took no chances, we added a layer of screen over the holes inside the soffit.  The soffit is a light color, John wanted to make sure that light reflected back into the house.  We had the rest of the trim boards colored to match the windows, we may be running out of steam choosing new finishes.

WINDOW TRIM

June 2015

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!