Vertical vs Horizontal Siding

[Chuckca]

Sat, I was out shooting pictures of old barns.  I noticed that most very old barns have V siding.  Is V siding better....and.....maybe this explains why these barns have survived 100's of years.  Would V siding on a home be bertter of worse?  Something to consider?  Pros/Con?

[glenn kangiser]

I assume we are talking real wood.  One of the keys is being able to dry out after getting wet - Vertical works great for that .  Horizontal clapboard works pretty well too.  As you do, I like the old vertical board barns and buildings.

[John Raabe]

Board and batt, properly nailed to allow the boards to move, is a time tested siding for just the reason Glenn mentions - drying and air movement around the wood. This is the kind of siding you will find in Colorado ghost towns where untreated wood siding has been left exposed for 150 years and still has life left in it.

Also board and batt doesn't need any fancy edge planers. It can even be put up green and still come out looking pretty good (but do a good job on the flashing and tar paper  )

[Chuckca]

Thanks John!  Do you by any chance have any links that show proper care and installation?

[jraabe]

Here's an interesting thread on another forum:

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Green_barn_siding.html