Siding install links

[John W. Springstead]

Had an inspection Friday, 1-2 years old home, horz. rough sawn cedar siding,
gables T-111. Owner/builder ( spec house ) installed 6" siding with 4" exposed, ( apporox. ) nailed aprox. 2 1/2 - 3" from lap bottom. Many areas are already curling. I see no way to remidy short of remove and replace. Anybody know of a link that shows proper installation techniques? As it stands, owner/builder is going to contact supplier to come out and make recommendations. This was a prefinished product. Sorry, no close up pics.

[msaxton]

maybe I'm not understanding you correctly, But if the siding has an exposure of 4", and it is nailed approximately 2.5-3 " above lap bottom, then all the nails are exposed, any siding I've ever installed requires that the nails be located within the overlap coverage area so they are hidden from the elements, I believe it is the exposure of the nails and the moisture intrusion at these nails that is causing the curl....Sorry no link just an educated opinion...when owner/builder contacts the supplier he should be able to get installation reccomendations from them

[John W. Springstead]

While this may be true with some types of siding Mike, rought sawn cedar has to be nailed closer to the bottom ( but not penitrate the piece behind ) and is nailed with prefinished matching color stainless steel ring shank type nails. The problem with nailing higher is what's happened here, the siding is curling out from the house. I believe if he want a narrower exposure, he should have used a narrower siding so it could have been nailed approx. 1" - 1 1'4" above the bottom edge, and yes, the nail head is exposed. Typical of what I've done over the years and normally see. I'm just trying to locate a link on proper installation of this type over the weekend. I'll be talking to the supplier tomorrow. Thanks!

[msaxton]

oops, open mouth insert foot, I totally missed the rough sawn cedar part, but saw the prefinished part and thought we were talking about prefinished manufactured siding such as masonite or Hardy, sorry, i better learn to read more thorough

[Peter W. Bennett]

What are the acceptable/unacceptabe gaps between the shakes, especially since the edges of the shingles are not straight?

[ckratzer]

When you install shakes you put them as close together as they will allow.
In time , they get dryer,the gaps spread a bit.When it rains the shingle swells back up hence allowing no moisture in the house,(although we use felt to prevent that nowadays).Nails heads should not be exposed.
Years and years ago shakes were installed w/no felt.If you went into the attic on such a roof and you would see day light through the gaps.Again,as unbelievable as it sounds, rain would cause them to swell effectively swelling them realitively closed.As long as they are installed with the gaps staggerd you are good to go.
If you wanna get really dirty tear an 80 year old shake roof off

Sorry . Obviously not about siding.

[dfogleman]

Check out the website for the cedar shake and shingle bureau, www.cedarbureau.org. This should give you some of what you are looking for.

[Larry D. Kage]

Originally Posted by pbennett1

What are the acceptable/unacceptabe gaps between the shakes, especially since the edges of the shingles are not straight?

Typically wood shakes are spaced 3/8" to 5/8" apart and wood shingles are spaced 1/4" to 3/8" apart.

[Bruce M. Graham, III]

You can fine some articles on www.jlconline.com or at www.Taunton.com/FineHomebuilding/

[Peter W. Bennett]

Thanks, this helps. Peter

[Peter W. Bennett]

The installation in my photo has the correct/allowable spacing of the shingles, but the fasteners are exposed. The whole house is this way, and most of it's original ( circa 1970 ) What's the downside of exposed fasteners in this case, and does it increase/accelerate the failure mode?

[Russel Ray]

I thought that was a good post, Barry. Why did you delete it?

[Barry Adair]

Originally Posted by jspringstead

Had an inspection Friday, 1-2 years old home, horz. rough sawn cedar siding,
gables T-111. Owner/builder ( spec house ) installed 6" siding with 4" exposed, ( apporox. ) nailed aprox. 2 1/2 - 3" from lap bottom.

Russel,

I thought so but it turns out they were talking about shingles not lap siding. The way I read it was LAP.
I don't want to be labeled as a thread drifter.

FYI:
http://www.rmfp.com/RMFPPDFS/siding.pdf

http://www.wrcla.org/pdf/WRCLA_Installing_Siding.pdf

http://www.wrcla.org/cedarspecs/installing/overview.asp

If I missed something oh well.

[Barry Adair]

Originally Posted by pbennett1

The installation in my photo has the correct/allowable spacing of the shingles, but the fasteners are exposed. Non-standard installation method. The whole house is this way, and most of it's original ( circa 1970 ) Non-standard repairs. What's the downside of exposed fasteners in this case, and does it increase/accelerate the failure mode? Unsealed fasteners lead to moisture intrusion, rot, WDO (wood destroying organism), shingle, and structure system failure.

????