Cedar siding installation
Ok..getting around to siding and what a nightmare trying to decide what to use for siding. We really would like a natural look and natural cedar comes in at about 1/2 the cost of LP smart siding and my understanding is smart siding is not installable over furring strips. I would like to install the cedar OVER the existing asbestos cement siding as to limit the massive labor and possible danger of removing the current siding. My questions are:
1. Do I have to locate the studs to mount the furring strips? The house is 135 years old and has 1″ tng sheathing.
2. Do I add house wrap over the existing shingles or just leave them?
And..does anyone have any experience with Iron Vitriol treatment..we like this natural grey look..it’s at the bottom of this page..thanks in advance
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Geoffrey,
You describe your siding as "asbestos cement," and later you mention "existing shingles," so it sounds like your existing siding consists of asbestos cement shingles. Is that right?
You didn't really describe the type of cedar siding you intend to install -- is it lap siding (clapboards) or regular boards (perhaps shiplap boards)?
Q. "Do I have to locate the studs to mount the furring strips? The house is 135 years old and has 1 inch tongue-and-groove sheathing."
A. Ideally, you would locate the studs. But if you can't do that, the sheathing will probably hold the furring strips OK, as long as you fasten the furring strips with screws.
Q. "Do I add housewrap over the existing shingles or just leave them?"
A. You need to have a plan for a water-resistive barrier and a plan for flashing your windows. There are a wide range of choices here. The casual attitude would be, "Well, there must be asphalt felt under the old siding, so I'll call that my WRB. I assume that the original builders figured out how to integrate the asphalt felt with the window flashing."
A more modern approach would be to say, "In the old days, builders didn't really focus on window flashing and WRBs, so I'm going to assume nothing. I'm going to install housewrap as a WRB behind my new furring strips, and I'll come up with a plan to integrate my new WRB with the window flashing."
This is a big issue. You need to use judgment. How big are your roof overhangs? Do your window sills get wet? Are there any signs of water entry? Is your house exposed to wind-driven rain?
Oh..I should have clarified.
The house is sheathed with 1" TNG white pine, then there is the original Lap Siding and then Cement Fiber/Asbestos Shakes/shingles over that.
I plan on installing proper window flashing (the flashing is pretty good as the windows were all redone and clad with aluminum via a state program a few years ago..it's a shame to tear that out but it isn't very pretty)
I plan on installing 6" traditional cedar lap bevel siding.
I know I really should just tear off all of the old stuff..but it's a monumental job and on top of that the asbestos and lead from the original siding would really pollute the neighborhood, not to mention the yard..
Thanks for your time Martin!!