T 1-11 plywood.... OK for use in the Pacific Northwest?

[hnash53]

I am living in a place that gets 70 inches of rain a year... the Oregon Coast.

I am thinking of re-siding a house with T 1-11 plywood with no grooves, and adding cedar battens to create a board and batten look.

Does anyone know how well T 1-11 holds up in this climate?  And if it does, other than painting it, what kind of preservative/protection would you recommend?

Thanks.

Hal Nash

[MikeT]

As I recall, PEG does not like it, and if you use it, he recommends the thicker stuff.  I went cheap and used the thinner stuff.  I am on the Oregon Coast.  I stained mine. 

mt

[hnash53]

MT

Thicker stuff?  Can you be more specific?  All I've seen is the 5/8" thick stuff.

What did you stain it with and has it held up?

P.S.  I thought PEG was a woman.

Thanks for a reply.

Hal

[JRR]

I am living in a place that gets 70 inches of rain a year... the Oregon Coast.
Hal Nash

I hope you aren't complaining ... that's some of the prettiest area I've ever seen.  I think I would stack stones together, if necessary, to live there!

[waggin]

My 1971 house near Puget Sound was sided with 5/8" thick, grooved T-111 that seemed to be in good shape before I buried it under Hardi-Plank a few years ago.  Granted, I'm drier here than the Oregon coast, but even on my full shade areas that got that greenish-black, moldy-mildew growth on them, the siding was still solid.  I'm guessing it was painted and repainted with an oil-based paint. 

[MikeT]

To expand on what I did:

I used 1/2" stained with oil based product:  Cabot's stain. 

Siding went on two years ago, and it appears to be fine.

mt

[hnash53]

JRR

I am NOT complaining at all... I love it here.  I just want to choose the right siding BECAUSE OF all the rain.  Cedar is expensive, and/or difficult to put up since the little shakes are so small, seems like it would take forever to side an entire house.  I know there's cedar lap siding but I don't want to put that up.

Anyway, if anyone knows how to successfully preserve and protect T 1-11 plywood siding in a wet climate, I would appreciate hearing from you.

Thanks.

Hal

[JRR]

I know ... I'm just poking at'cha.  I have noticed how wetness is a problem for all who live there ... rusting farm equipment, etc. 

When you get the sheathing question all figured out, let us know ... some of us may be joining ya.

[MountainDon]

Rather than searching for the answer to what would be the best finish finish for T1-11, perhaps the question should be what would be the best weatherproof rainproof siding for the PNW?   

[Pine Cone]

I used to live in the central Sierra Nevada between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe where we got about 66" of rain a year and there were lots of buildings made with T1-11 siding that seemed to be holding up fine after 15-20 years.

Whatever your choice of materials, I like a decent roof overhang to help keep walls dry which then leads to fewer problems.

It only rains somewhere in the 45 to 50 inches per year range where my cabin is, but the shed, deck, and cabin roofs have 18-24" overhangs and the walls stay pretty dry.  They get wet when the winds pick up during storms, but there are enough trees around that most of the winds go over us.

I have also started to view some of the exposed parts of structures to be sacrificial by design.  Something you know will need to be replaced in 10-20 years, but will be easy to replace, and protecting things which are hard to replace.  Fascia boards on your roof are a good example of a sacrificial component.  Much easier to have the fascia protect the rafter or truss ends.  Rotting rafters would be bad, but a rotten fascia board will only take a few hours to replace.

If nothing else, plywood siding is quick to install and would be fairly easy to replace if it did fail.

[John Raabe]

Hal:

You mention residing. Would you then be going over existing sheathing and siding?

T1-11 siding, properly installed and maintained, will last almost as long as other wood sidings. It is not as easy to patch or repair however and thus looks tackier quicker.

The best rated stains in Consumer's Report magazine are now the solid body waterbased products such as Home Depot carries.

Make sure the drainage works around doors and windows. Don't rely on caulk. That is one of the areas that have problems when T1-11 is used as BOTH structural sheathing and siding - ie: single wall construction. You will not be doing this if you are residing.

[PEG688]

 Hal,  PEG = Paul Edward Girouard , my sister thought it would be cool in my initials matched her nickname Peggy.

On T1-11 and a re-side job you'll have challenges at window, door , vents , and other penetrations.

Those challenges can be over come with lots of thinking about how to lead the water / rain to day light. Or to cover over long seams with things like rabbiting your side jamb casings over the top of the T1-11 and bedding those type connections in a good quality caulk like Sikaflex(sp) it's a brand of caulk used in the boat industry thats found it's way into some better of lumber yards. The Home despot here carries it as well, not sure if that is a normal item at H/D's or just this one in my town.

 

 We used it on this place , although this isn't standard T1-11 it's Okumie(sp) sounds like  O-kum-may  5/8" plywood with  the sides having a rabbit , like "normal " T1-11 , so it's made to over lap sheet to sheet.  The thing with Okumie ply is no football shaped patches. Price wise it's a bit more per sheet, you might look into what the cost differences would be in your area.

It's also on my shop , close to 30 years old ,





Needs re stained , but no time for that. One thing to note , that  corner  is the closest to the ground on my building , you can't let T1-11 touch or it will rot in  months , not years. As will most wood sidings , but with plywood, much quicker and as John mentioned way harder to repair.





 That third floor turret as also Okumie ply , it's all in how you detail it .