We are building an ICF house in Alaska and are looking at different siding options. My wife doesn’t like lap siding so we have looked at different “stucco-like” panels like HardiePanels. However, they leave exposed nails which I don’t like. Any ideas on other simulated stucco or cement options? Grailcoat and Permacrete are not options in Alaska due to the lack of dealers.
Thanks for the input.
Replies
How about genuine masonry stucco?
Genuine stucco would be nice, but it is not in our price range. We are looking for somthing we can put up ourselves. Maybe we should price stucco just for kicks!
Possibly it would not be as bad as you think. Of course everything is high in AK. Good luck!
Maybe we should price stucco just for kicks!
I did. Then decided to use copper. Immensely cheaper, long as it's not the copper lap siding. No idea what copper (rolls or sheets) might cost there. PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
How's your area for freeze/thaw cycles, temperature range, and seismic activity? Tom's idea of using copper would be better than stucco for freeze/thaw and earthquakes. If there's a wide temperature swing, you have to install it for expansion.
-- J.S.
"How's your area for freeze/thaw cycles, temperature range, and seismic activity? Tom's idea of using copper would be better than stucco for freeze/thaw and earthquakes. If there's a wide temperature swing, you have to install it for expansion."
Well, for freeze/thaw cycles we freeze for a long time then thaw just long enough to get smoked. No, just kidding, that was last summer. The coldest in our area is about -25F and the hottest is about 80F. We have quite a bit of snow, but lots of little freeze/thaws in the winter. Southcentral Alaska is one big earthquake fault (think CA without any people). The seismic code up here is D2. The wind is the big factor. We build with 100mph wind code.
Does anyone have a picture of their house finished in copper? I had never thought of using copper. How does it age? What kind of patina does it get? What is the procedure for installing copper?
Thanks for these interesting ideas!
Does anyone have a picture of their house finished in copper? I had never thought of using copper. How does it age? What kind of patina does it get? What is the procedure for installing copper?
Copper ages as your climate allows. Tells you nothing, which is what I know about Alaska. Here, it turns a dull brown. In some climates it turns a nice green that most everybody associates with copper.
I used 3'x10' sheets of 16 oz. (per sq ft), normally used for roof valleys. We've installed it twice, once over steel studs, using nylon tee washers to isolate stainless screws from the copper. The second time we got better and used copper Z strips to attach the copper with copper pop rivets. Both times we were getting insulation under the copper but outside the structural walls, concrete. Our winds, on a mountaintop (such as Virgina offers) has substantial winds which are no worry.
The last few days I've been installing copper on a post&beam building gable end on an unheated outbuilding, using copper nails. As John says, it's structurally better than stucco, the material I intended to use and gave up on (long story).
Another possibility is using traditional standing seam copper for walls. There's a house near here that has that, but I haven't gotten around to a pic yet. Doesn't appeal to me with its railroad boxcar appearance. Here's our place:PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
> Here, it turns a dull brown. In some climates it turns a nice green ....
Actually, in all environments it goes through a brown period before turning green. How long that takes is highly variable, like maybe 5 years to 25 years. The Copper Development Association web site should have more and better info,
http://www.copper.org
IIRC.
-- J.S.
Been there. We have local copper much older that's still brown. Far as I can tell, your first sentence is wrong. Copper's been common here for a very long time. No green.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
I can tell you that in high, dry climates you'll be many years into a dirt nap before copper ever turns from brown to green.The High Desert Group LLC