Tuesday, November 17, 2015
A quick sidding job
The cedar clapboards on the south side of mom and dad's house were getting a bit long in the tooth after thirty five years of cycling in the weather. Especially at the bottom where water splashes back on them from the ground. The clapboards were weathered cracked and very brittle. So it was time for replacement before water got in to the framing and became a structural issue.
At first I thought I'd try only replacing the lower half but I was unable to get to a good stopping point without splitting the next row up while pulling the nails out of the brittle clapboards.
So I stripped the whole wall and started over.
The west end of the wall also needs replacing, but It might be a bit more complicated as the deck buts against the wall a bit tighter and I might need to remove the deck boards and some framing to get to the bottom three rows of clapboards. Fortunately on the part I did I had enough of a gap to work.
Two days of fussing and seven hundred dollars worth of red cedar clapboards makes it look new again.
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Good job, as usual.
ReplyDeleteEditorial power is what its all about Dough, you can hide all the mistakes ;-)
DeleteExcellent piece of work. Mike you are very clever. Rob
ReplyDeleteWell if I could only get the rest of the world to believe I am that clever, so far its only you, my wife and the cat that think so ;-)
DeleteI love the look of new cladding when it goes on. Looks like you've done a good job!
ReplyDeleteKev, Cedar clapboards are fussy stuff to work with as it is soft and mars easily and not at all cheap. One eight foot bundle with ten boards is over 100 dollars. So the trick with it is to minimize waste and make sure your cut offs are long enough to start the next row. But around here it is either cedar shingles like my own house, vinyl cladding junk, or cedar clapboards. They look nice when new but after a few years in the weather they turn black like the rest of the house.
DeleteWe try Gorges, some times we even get it right.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you missed your calling, could be something to think about, eh?
ReplyDeleteOh John I am sure I have, I have been in this line of work for 35 years and I am convinced there has to be an easier way to make a living . . . . LOL
DeleteI just recently tried my hand at this sort of job and ended up calling a pro to finish it. I envy your workmanship.
ReplyDeleteHi Doc, the trick to is is you just have to be meticulous about your cuts and make sure everything fits nice and tight so there are no gaps for water to get in. Best use a sharp pencil and a new tape measure with no slop in the end to minimize error. Always cut a hair long leaving the pencil mark and spring the boards into place so they are tight to the trim. Beyond that its a mater of keeping the reveal on your courses even, always measuring from the same reference point on the freeze board above and not leaving nickel marks on the clapboards.
Deleteyou're a hard working cuss.
ReplyDeleteI have been called worse Harry ;-) LOL
DeleteNothing I hate worse than vinyl siding. Wood always holds up. The family farm was built in 1914 in Aroostook County. The wind blew from the north. The clapboards were considerably thinner on that side, but most of the originals are still there.
ReplyDeleteHey Mark, on this one the north side is OK and looking quite reasonable, but the south side that cycles through wet and dry, cold and hot repeatedly is the one that took the beating. You can see how black the clapboards above between the upper windows are. They are almost turned to charcoal. The ones closest to the roof are all curled and brittle and need replacing as well but I have to set up roof staging for that so even though it is a smaller area its a bigger PITA. I suppose I will get to them next spring. The roof used to be wood shakes and it was also worse on that side until I stripped that and replaced it about 20 years ago.
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