Hoping some of you well seasoned wood manipulators can give me a little insight into T&G cedar siding installation. Our crew is currently working on a renovation/addition to a home built in the 80’s in northern New Jersey. The new work is to be covered with stained 1×4 v-groove A and better Western red cedar to match the existing siding run vertically and at a 45 degree angle. During the demo we found the existing siding to have been applied over 1/2″ Styrofoam siding leveling board with galvanized pneumatic finish nails. Surprisingly the siding has stayed flat with little separation. It appears to me the Styrofoam underlayment has acted as a cushion allowing the cedar to swell without putting a pulling stress on the finish nails. Looking at the home one could never tell the siding was not installed with traditional ring shank nails through the tongue. Our new work is spec’d to match the existing, we have 20+ squares to apply, very chopped up. I would like to save some time on the install labor by using pneumatic nailers, but I would feel more comfortable using the tried and true method of ring shank nails hidden in the tongues. Has any one come across this particular application in their travels? Are there ring shanked galvanized or stainless steel finish nails available for Senco finish nailers? I’d rather sleep well and loathe redoing work, with that said, should I even entertain the thought of applying the new material in same manner as old to save on the install labor? Thoughts, insight and information welcome!
Is there anybody out there?