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redwood siding

guitarjack | Posted in Construction Techniques on July 23, 2007 07:23am

I’m installing 1×10 redwood shiplap siding on my addition and am using #8 x 2 1/2″ stainless trim screws.  I am putting one screw into each stud, about 2 1/2″ from the bottom.  My thinking is that this secures the top of the board below as well.  My concern is that too many screws will not allow for wood movement and may cause splitting.  Nonetheless, should I be putting two screws per stud? 

The older part of my house was sided using two SS nails per stud…but, that was old-growth, mostly verticle-grain redwood and the new siding is almost all flat-sawn.

Thanks,

Jack

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Replies

  1. rez | Jul 26, 2007 07:02pm | #1

    Greetings jack,

    This post, in response to your question, will bump the thread through the 'recent discussion' listing again which will increase it's viewing.

    Perhaps it will catch someone's attention that can help you with advice.

    Cheers

     

     

    1. guitarjack | Jul 26, 2007 07:19pm | #3

      I called the California Redwood Association and recieved their pamplet which tells how to nail various siding styles, and for a shiplap, indeed, one screw/nail per stud, about 2-3" from the bottom edge of the siding is correct.  The wood movement issue is resolved, and the bottom screw/nail secures the top of the previous course. 

      Jack

  2. FastEddie | Jul 26, 2007 07:15pm | #2

    I don't do siding, but ...  hat you are getting is two scrws per course of siding.  If you raise the scrwew so it only catches one course, the the siding will be able to move with humidity changes.  Two screws traps it, and might cause a split.

    "Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

    "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

  3. DanH | Jul 26, 2007 09:26pm | #4

    Generally with wide wood siding you face-nail/screw just above the top edge of the course below. This secures the course below without locking it against cross-grain movement. With composite it's arguably better to nail/screw through both courses, but, like I said, "arguable".

    Only one nail/screw per stud.

    So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
    1. guitarjack | Jul 26, 2007 11:12pm | #5

      Thanks, I'm glad to know that I'm installing it correctly.

      Jack

    2. DanH | Jul 27, 2007 09:48pm | #10

      I missed the word "shiplap" the first time through. With regular lap siding you nail just above the top of the course below so that the nail location is reasonably supported. (Too high and the siding is apt to crack through the nailhole.) With shiplap you can nail a bit higher (maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of exposed width), since the back of the board is laying flat against the sheathing. Nailing higher helps assure that the siding will lay a bit flatter.
      So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin

  4. mmflynn | Jul 27, 2007 04:46am | #6

    are you installing the redwood flat on the sheathing?

  5. MikeCallahan | Jul 27, 2007 06:29am | #7

    Use 10p SS (3") ring shank nails. 2.5 " nails are too short. If you can't drive a nail without leaving a mark then you are not a carpenter. If you need to use screws because you can't nail then you need to hire a carpenter who can. Using screws is a huge waste of time. It will take more than twice the time for no reason. Trim screws are brittle and will not be as strong as SS nails. No self respecting carpenter would use screws. Besides... they are fugly too and the appearance will scream..., "Amateur has been here". People like me notice stuff like that and it makes me wince. " Gee... nice redwood but the idiot that hung it ruined it".
    If you can't nail without missing than use a coil nailer that shoots SS nails. Nailers can be messy though with double firing and inaccurate placement. High end is all hand nailed.
    If your 1x10 is 9.5" then I would go for an 8.5" exposure. I would place each nail 1.5" up from the bottom to just clear the board below to allow for expansion. The head of the nail should be flush with the surface. Do not set the nails. That is another mark of an amateur.

    Mike Callahan, Lake Tahoe, Ca.
    1. FastEddie | Jul 27, 2007 03:11pm | #8

      If you can't drive a nail without leaving a mark then you are not a carpenter.

      Hey! I know some carpenters who say they are leaving their mark on the project, and apparently they want to leave it many times.  And they're real carpenters ... they gots the Home Depot hat and new ryobi tools and everything."Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

      "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

    2. guitarjack | Jul 27, 2007 09:31pm | #9

      Thanks for your comments.  The cove shiplap siding that I am installing is, unfortunately, going to be painted.  When our home was built in 1948, the redwood cove shiplap siding was left natural for a few years, and the previous owners painted it numerous times over the next decades.  My decision to use screws was based on this fact.  I did buy SS siding nails for my framing nailer, but discarded that approach with the first dozen nails.  Each nail leaves too large of a divot. 

      The original siding was nailed twice on each stud with SS finish nails.  Many of those nails keep popping out, which I periodically replace with SS trim screws.  I little Bondo over the recessed screw leaves a smooth finish.  Perhaps not as esthetically pleasing, but the whole issue is compromised with the paint anyway. 

      At one time, I actually contemplated removing all of the siding, running each board through my planer to remove the paint, and then nailing it back up.  Life is too short for that kind of fanaticism!  I am a very good nailer, by the way, and those screws are super expensive...

      Jack

      1. User avater
        Sphere | Jul 28, 2007 04:53am | #11

        Never contemplate running a painted anything thru your planer, unless you want to ungunk it forever...use someone elses.

        The heat of the planing softens the paint, and loads up the knives, which then soften more paint cuz they aint cutting, and then that gets on the feed rollers, and they get fatter, then they lose thier grip, and that spins up more paint...then the board comes shooting out like a smoking sticky arrow....

        trust me. 

        1. rez | Jul 28, 2007 07:44am | #12

          yep, that sounds like the voice of experience there! snorK*

           

           

        2. guitarjack | Jul 28, 2007 08:22am | #13

          Ruining my planer was one of a number of reasons why I abandoned the idea of planing all of the siding.  I would likely have destroyed the majority of the siding when I took it down.

          Good suggestion about the nailing point.  I have put up about 1/4 of what I have, and I think I'll be switching to ring shank nails after all.  The screws have worked well, but I'm having trouble with the screw heads stripping out.  I'm getting tired of backing stripped screws with channel lock pliers.

          Jack

        3. Jer | Jul 28, 2007 03:28pm | #14

          I'll bet you can do a Rubic's cube in under a minute.

          1. User avater
            Sphere | Jul 28, 2007 03:47pm | #15

            Never a problem...LOL 

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