Been planning, up to now, to use regular Hardie plank (clapboard) on the outside of the house. Now we are thinking the board-and-batten (barn) look might be better for the house. Does anyone make a lookalike product that is fiber-cement but replicates the look of pine or cedar board and batten siding?
Or is there a reasonably good way to get 15-20 years of life out of plain old roughsawn pine?
Replies
We reproduced the board and batten look by installing 4 x 8 Hardie woodgrain panels vertically with 1 x 2 over the joints and @ 12" O.C. in the field. It looks very like the real thing. We used rough sawn cedar for the 1 x 2 (NOTE:prime cedar with oil based primer/otherwise tannins may bleed through).
Or is there a reasonably good way to get 15-20 years of life out of plain old roughsawn pine?
I am not familiar with the various cement products, but 20 years out of 'plain old roughsawn pine' should be no problem - attention to detail above doors and windows along with a strategy to keep the splash at the bottom of the boards to a minimum (eavestroughs) will result in years of good service -
Am currently replacing some windows and a few areas of siding on a 35 yr old house that was originally sided with 1x10 roughsawn shiplap pine (vertical with no battens) located in southern NH. I was certain that the plywood sheathing would be junk from all the gappy seams that have opened up over the years, but have been quite surprised. With the exception of the ends of a few boards near the ground, the pine has held up amazingly well (it was originally stained with a transparent, oil based stain, which was covered in recent years with a solid, oil based stain. The only areas of concern are around some window and doors where poorly installed trim has allowed water to be trapped. If you like this look, go for it. Screw shank siding nails (rather than ring shank) seem to hold it down pretty well.
from your post it wasn't clear if you knew this, but James Hardie makes a t-111 look alike; 4'x8' sheets that resemble board and batten.
I believe Tru Wood has a 3/4" x 2" (actual) batten. We are looking into using it over Hardie board to create the board and batten look. The website is below but I didn't find the batten on the website. My liturature is at work, and I'm at home. I can check it tomorrow if you can't find the info from the company.
http://www.collinswood.com/M1_WoodProducts/M1H6_TruWood.html
Hope this helps!