Step 27 - Siding

Our siding is a combination of board-and-batten and cedar shingles. Both are a very authentic Craftsman look. The existing part of the house has been board-and-batten since 1995 (it was stucco before that). So the combination will blend nicely with the rest of the house.

The board-and-batten is rough-sawn exterior grade plywood with 1x wood battens spaced 16" apart. It is an economical way to go, and we will use it on the north side of the garage where it is less visible.

Shingles are somewhat expensive to install, so we went with an engineered unit from Shakertown. It is a row of real cedar shingles glued and stapled to an 8 ft. strip of plywood. This provides a lot of advantages. The backs of the shingles are really well protected from weather by the plywood and glue. They won't warp as much as individual shingles because the plywood holds them very flat. And they go up more quickly so there is a savings in labor cost. Even so, there are some intricate cuts that have to be made to fit the shingles around beams and other features. Mark Oleson has been doing most of that work.

Corners are usually a trouble spot for shingles. The Shakertown units come with corner pieces which makes that part of the siding much stronger and weather-tight. Overall it gives a beautiful look, and we are really happy with them.

Underneath everything is 60 minute building paper. All window openings are protected with a combination of Carlisle air and vapor barrier and Protecto-Wrap or Moistop. Everybody that looks at it is impressed with the level of workmanship that goes into every step.