Timber Framers Guild

Re-Siding a 10year old Post and Beam House

Posted By: Kingsbury

Re-Siding a 10year old Post and Beam House - 12/27/12 07:54 PM

This may not be as old as this forum is used to but it seemed like it could be a good fit.

I purchased a Post and Beam home as my first house and the house was built in 1990. The building company is not around anymore.

The house has vertical shiplap siding that is peeling in areas and is starting to provide areas where moisture can come in and damage the sheathing. In certain areas some of the sheathing is already rotting. I believe the sheathing is OSB board and insulation panels that were attached to the outside of the house. If I was to replace the siding, which I want to do unless there is a better option, then will I be able to replace certain sheets of OSB board without replacing the entire panel? I do not want to blindly remove the siding and then realize the project as twice as big and as expensive as I realized.

Thanks for the help.
Posted By: D Wagstaff

Re: Re-Siding a 10year old Post and Beam House - 12/28/12 04:46 PM

Hello,

Hmm, very interesting to look at a first generation frame entering into it's repair & maintenance phase. We mostly get more initial build and historical stuff.

The longevity of the osb and insulation panels in practice comes under scrutiny.

I'm guessing the source of the moisture getting in there has been investigated and resolved though...

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff
Posted By: bmike

Re: Re-Siding a 10year old Post and Beam House - 12/28/12 09:56 PM

Doubtful that you can replace just the sheathing on the panel without destroying it.

Have you isolated the water issues and corrected that?
You could add another layer of sheathing, then siding...
Or at least do a rain screen detail.

But that will require adjusting the jambs and trim for all the windows too...
Posted By: Hylandwoodcraft

Re: Re-Siding a 10year old Post and Beam House - 12/29/12 06:02 PM

If the areas affected by rot are somewhat localized, and you are residing anyhow...Maybe you could add another layer of ply over the entire wall after tearing out any rotten areas. This would probably be cheaper and easier than tearing out entire sip panels.

Ditto on bmike's rain screen detail. They used to not include this detail, leading to problems like your's. It's pretty standard by now. If it's a horizontal siding after house wrapping I usually screw a batten every 16" to 24" giving an air space of 3/4".

Just out of curiosity, what is the situation with your roof insulation? Maybe you can nip a problem in the bud up there.
Posted By: Roger Nair

Re: Re-Siding a 10year old Post and Beam House - 12/29/12 10:56 PM

Before getting into how to repair the siding problem, you should consider the entire context of the structural and enclosure system. Some frames are sip dependent for frame rigidity other frames can be fully braced and not wholly reliant on the diaphragm. So without solid osb on both sides a sip becomes very less meaningful as a structural element, so you will be left with the question, is the enclosure or the structure compromised? How many panels can be lost before the structure suffers? Ask the big questions before you decide what to do.

Rain screens, windows and flashing details are a bit of a devil to get right the first time, just try to get good advice on site and keep at it until the full line of questions are resolved into a reasonable solution before acting.
Posted By: Roger Nair

Re: Re-Siding a 10year old Post and Beam House - 12/30/12 03:47 PM

Kingsbury, if the house was built in 1990, it is a fair likelihood that the panels are curtain wall or stress skin panels not structural insulated panels ie sips. Typical stress skin panels are composed of laminates of osb on outside, foam core and drywall on inside, such panels are without holding strength (for siding, windowa or just staying attached to the frame) if the decay becomes wide spread. Any building loads imparted to the panels will be carried by the foam core, drywall and siding. So I will stop my imagination from running, proceed with caution, get an onsite consultant.
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