Siding Question

[southernsis]

Need to get opinions on what you would do. We got the little old cabin moved, that we lived in before the house. Finished leveling and blocking yesterday. I thought we were going to lose it down the hill, quite a slope, but finally did it. Now, we need to get rid of the old vinyl siding and put something on it that will blend in. My husband keeps coming up with all kinds of expensive options and when he finds out the price, he changes his mind. I have suggested T111 and paint it a color that will blend in. Does anyone have a suggestion that won't cost me an arm & leg and first born? Well maybe they can have first born. I don't want to go into debt for his shop. It is just his shop to house his tools.

[Redoverfarm]

southernsis I personally have vinyle on my house. Although I like the maintenance free portion it is not very appealing.  But at the time it was the most economical for me.  Maybe one day when I hit the lottery I will change it.  Here is a link to several siding manufacturers.  I guess the first thing I would do is get a square footage of the materials you need and then determine how many square you need. Go from there on the price thing. 

In building the cabin I wanted something that would blend in with the surroundings and also the logs.  So I went with a "board & batten" look and then stained to my preference to match both.  But it is not that maintenance free so every couple years or so it will have to be sealed.  But there is a multitude of colors available in either solid or transparent.   

http://www.ebuild.com/manufacturer-list/siding-veneers--exterior-trim.hwx

[glenn kangiser]

Don't forget that you can use the plain T111 and add battens over it for a board and batten look, Sis.  It looks better than plain.

You may also get a mill to make the wavy siding for you fairly reasonably.  Depends on your situation on that.

[Woodswalker]

At the time I was buying materials for my cabin build, T1-11 sheets were selling in the box stores for $30.  I found a lumberyard that had "shopgrade" sheets for $20.  Some sheets have a couple minor defects or plugs to replace knot holes in the exterior veneer, but still very suitable for a storage shed, garage, cabin, etc.  At the Habitat Restore here, where I now volunteer, they recently had several semi-loads of T1-11 donated by a company, and quickly sold most of it for $13 ea.  Shop around, you can find siding for less than retail.

Steve

[southernsis]

Thanks for the imput. I will probably go with T111 and the battens. Glenn, I am not sure what the wavy siding looks like. Do you have a picture of it? I am hoping to get started on it this next weekend. Got the new wiring ran in and new circuit box, now I need to get the siding up. Want to get it sealed up before winter.
We have 3 pieces of double glass from some old sliding doors. My husband wants to make doors out of them. He is talking about putting a heavy wooden frame around them. He would like to get as much light into his shop as possible. Do you think this would work? Any suggestions?

[glenn kangiser]

I use the salvaged glass for all sorts of things so it should work fine.

Here are some siding pix.

[davidj]

We went with the "fake board and batten" on our shed, outhouse and garage and have been very happy with it.  We used cedar for the battens, though, and that starts to get expensive fast - you can spend as much on the battens and trim as on the siding if you're not careful.

It's good to play around with batten width and spacing.  16" oc is the obvious spacing, and I think something like 2.75" battens look good (certainly 3.5" looks too big to me).  For the outhouse we used 12" oc with slightly narrower battens and that looked best (matching genuine board-and-batten with 12" boards).    Nice 8'x4' premium external ply comes in close to $40/sheet (cheaper stuff more like $30/sheet) and I think 1x4 cedar was 68c/ft.  1x6 ripped in half would work well, but that didn't save any money as the 1x6 was proportionally more expensive.

[Redoverfarm]

Looks good to me.  On the cabin I used 1X8's so the batten strips were divided 1X4's.  I think anything wider would have looked odd given the board widths. 

[glenn kangiser]

I am working on a house that they used ripped 1x6 on for battens - they look pretty good at about 2 3/4 wide.