Fastening vertical wood siding
Hey All,
I know versions of this question have been asked before, and i’ve spent a good bit of time reading similar questions /responses/recommendations from over the years. I also know there are new fasteners and tools on the market.
Background Info:
– CZ6
– Cladding house in vertical 5/4 x 6″ shiplap cedar
– One of the walls has exterior foam and furring strips that the siding will be attached to
– The other walls have a 3d mesh rainscreen, so the siding will be fastened to the sheathing (zip), since it’s a vertical install and there isn’t interior horizontal blocking
– 2500 sqft of siding
– Stainless fasteners will be used
I feel like there’s a lot of conflicting info on all this. Some people say you can blind nail with a nailgun. Others say that won’t hold. Some say you can’t blind nail a shiplap product because it’s effectively only holding one side of the board, and the other side will be likely lift up / warp / cup. The Paslode tetragrip nails seemed promising but our siding is likely too thick.
So I’m a bit lost and thinking the fine folks here would likely have some moderately strong opinions.
I think my leading idea at the moment is to get the boards up by blind fastening the tongue with a ring shank nail and then coming back and face screwing with a stainless trim screw. Overkill? Better ideas out there?
As always, thanks
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Replies
The entire point of shiplap siding (originally) was to face-nail one edge while allowing the piece below to move with changes in moisture. Blind-nailing alone will result in curling. This should not be something that is debated; it's very basic wood science.
6" boards are narrow enough that your plan of blind-nailing one side and then face-nailing the other side is fine. I would hand-nail ring-shank stainless steel nails. Yes it will take slightly longer than using a nail gun but it will look better on the face.
If you don't want any fasteners showing on the face, then I would use tongue-and-groove boards, which can be blind-nailed; that's how most wood flooring is installed.
If Joanna Gaines has convinced you that "shiplap" means any boards put together with a slight gap, that is unfortunate. She has caused massive confusion by applying the name of the way a board is milled to what was previously known as nickelgap, because the gaps are usually the width of a nickel's thickness.
Thanks for your insight Michael. I'll definitely follow your guidance on one bind fastener and one face fastener. I'll probably end up using screws on the face but good to hear hand nailing ring shanks will work as well. If if were you, how far apart would you space your rows of fasteners? Thanks
Sean,
My two cents: I love how blind nailed siding looks, but it's not appropriate in all cases. Think horizontal clapboards: if you blind nail those, you're nailing through the smallest and most-likely-to-split part of the clap. Same for your vertical shiplap: nailing only through the rabbeted edge doesn't give much meat for the nail to hold on to. For 1x6 vertical shiplap, I would put one nail in the face, closer to the overlapping edge but being careful not to hit the tongue of the board behind it. I don't think I'd use two nails for 1x6; probably better to use one nail and let the wood move a bit without tearing itself apart. If you go any wider than 1x6, I'd use two nails on the face.
Thanks Paul. Will do. Any concerns with holding power in the sheathing (some boards won't hit a stud, but many will hit at least the top and bottom plate) with this plan in your mind?