Rain screen with LP board and batten
sean1918
| Posted in General Questions on
I am wondering what type of rain screen is being used with board and batten siding. I was looking to use LP siding however on the website it says: “LP does not recommend panel siding for use over furring strips/strapping, if used it will not warrent buckling.” I was thinking of using watairvent strips…16″oc but now not sure what to do. Also not sure if watairvent strips worth the cost in general. Any thoughts? I’m in zone 6 Maine
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I've used the panel for soffits, and it's got a little flexibility to it, so I'm guessing they're not warrantying against things that can cause a cosmetic shape change if unsupported between furring strips with the full 4-foot width of a panel (thermal expansion with dark paint colors, differential moisture, etc). Probably some "oil canning" that may not occur if the sheet is flat against the sheathing. That may not happen in a narrower sheet, as the sheet is constrained differently with more joints to move, as compared to the width of a full sheet. It might be down to subjective cosmetics that occur under certain conditions.
If Hardie panel can be applied over a rainscreen, Smartside panel should have no problems at all. Hardie is pretty flexible.
There are some rather inexpensive furring strip options, like plywood ripped to size or 1x lumber. Vertical furring strips are fairly simple, and it's your choice to decide the cost/benefit tradeoffs of the watairvent strips against the many other options.
I will also say that "board and batten" does not necessarily mean "sheet and batten". There are different types of rainscreens for different types of siding that can be installed as board and batten, etc.
Chris,
One big advantage of "sheet and Batten" is the ability to use vertical furring as a rain-screen. I usually use Hardi-panels and trim.
So it sounds like board and batten...where boards are 16" wide and 16' long such as LP....and I may do Hardi instead, sound like vertical furring strips at 16"OC is ok...unless I am reading it wrong. Clearly LP would not warrenty it though. Still strange they say to not use it with vertical furring strips.
What are people in general using for cost effective but long lasting vertical furing strips?