So I turn to the trusty website again for some needed information. I recently posted hear about putting FC on my house and the info was great. I kind have another question only a DIY’er could ask. I have removed all the old cedar clapboard on my exising walls, and am placing 5’1/4 FC with an 4″ exposure on the house. As I work with this stuff I find the boards have somewhat of a “sag” to them as I move horizontally across the house. This is from the factory, I have not ripped them or anything. I check constanlty with the level and often find myself pushing up the board slightly to get a straight line and keep the 4″ exposure. Is this common? I also seem to have some boards not laying flush ontop the previous board, is this doe to overdriving the nails or pushing up on the board to keep it in line? Thanks for any info and I can try some pics next time as well to better describe this.
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Replies
Pushing the boards could very well cause a bowing out. To understand the theory, push one board in a substantial manner and watch how it reacts.
Are you keeping the nails at the 4 1/8" mark or are you "playing it safe" and nailing up higher? If you nail higher, you will be allowing substantially more slop. Put the nails as low as possible.
You might even go with a 3 3/4" reveal. That extra 1/4" will lock everything in a significant way. It will cost you one more board at the top of a typical wall.
I have been nailing about an inch down or so, blind nailing. I thought about going with a slightly smaller exposure but that would have increased the materials and cost. Being a "newbie" at this I am learning by fault. I have set the nail gun to keep the nails from over-driving. Maybe a wider board would have given a tighter fit. Thanks for the info.
It's that "inch or so" that I'm trying to get you to understand is critical. I had the same problem with 99.999999% of the framing carpenters I supervised. They all wanted to speed through the work and one way to get more speed is to cheat the nailing up because you know it will be covered then. Tomorrow, test my theory. Nail a piece at the 1" mark. Nail into every stud. Feel how loose or tight the board is. Then, carefully nail the next board at 1 1/8 or 1 3/16". It will be SIGNIFICANTLY tighter.
BV,
Like Jim said. Hit every stud. I like continuous plywood or osb sheathing.
Make a guage block for nailing FC and a story pole.
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Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
I am really trying to hit the studs as much as possible. The sub wall is the old 3/4" tongue and groove boards used in the 1920's. Its solid but I'm sure the house is not as level and flat as it once was. I am also using story pole and some guage blocks to help give the proper exposure. I see you are face nailing the FC in the picture, what type of nails are you using?
16 ga galv. and all the laps were caulked.
View Image
Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
Did you caulk under the FC to close any gaps and give a flush look? I wasn't sure if that is something to do or not as the manufacturer doen't seem to want any horizontal areas around windows and flashing caulked.
And I forgot to say your work looks AWESOME!
Thanx,
You can check the whole job out here.
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=79773.1
Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
I like that light block. Looks neat. Wood? I'm going to copy it with a redwood cutoff I have laying around
Thanx Mark,I used 5/4 yellow pine. Primed and pre-painted with ICI Fortis. Some where in my Small Addition thread under "Photo Gallery" shows how.http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=79773.76 Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
I definitely will try nailing lower, it's not a speed thing because I end up spending more time with trying to get the board straigt as well. I usually am more worried about the nail being exposed so that's why I am shooting higher on the board. But I'll try marking a line on the board to give me a better reference for the overlap. Thanks!
This is why I use a storypoll and chalk lines. I chalk both horizontal and vetical on the studs. As long as your bottom piece is level, you don't have to pull it out on the entire wall>G<
I used that narrow FC once and didn't like it. You really need to lap further than 1 1/4 if you're blind nailing. I also thought the narrow stuff shrunk more in length, all butt joints were tight and they all shrunk.
In my opinion, you will need to face nail all of it, maybe finish nails would work with the blind nails.
I am currently residing my house with FC. I have a 6 inch exposure. I was originally buying 7 1/4 inch siding from the lumber yard. I ran short last weekend and ended up buying some 8 1/4 inch from HD. Not only was it $1.20 cheaper per piece, I really like having the extra room for nailing. The farther you can get the nail down, the tighter it is pulled to the wall. Just don't overdrive the nail. It doesn't stick out much further on the laps either. ( less than a 1/16 )
edit for lousy spelling
Edited 8/20/2008 8:31 pm ET by cmiltier