I have a 50″ by 50″ redwood barn dating from the ’40s that is in need of rehabing – maybe, 1/2 of it will become a shop. I’d like to frame in the sides and use sheet goods to sheath it, but I’d like to use the old barn boards again to retain the flavor (of old light green on redwood??).
The redwood boards are vertical and spaced about 1/2″ apart. They wouldn’t be water tight by any stretch of the imagination. What kind of materials or systems would work well as sheathing behind the old boards? How about treated plywood? Or tar paper over OSB?
Replies
Sounds about like what I would do in your case. Sheath with 3/4" pressure treated plywood. I would cut the long edges at 45 degrees so they could be shiplapped and run them on up. You could nail the redwood right over the plywood but I would get some Cedar Breather, cut strips to fit the boards and staple it on the back before I installed them. I've used unpainted PT plywood for the roofs of small sheds for years with no problems.
Mike,
Dont know what condition the entire barn is in, but I know someone that left the entire exterior of an old barn alone and actually built a complete new "building" inside of it. In his case the old structure was very sound, just not totally waterproof etc. Its pretty neat walking ito this old barn and finding a complete new shop inside without a hint of it from the exterior.
Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md