I am new to the Forestry forum and I plan on re-siding my large bank barn. I have TONS of mature standing chestnut oak, tulip poplar, white pine, red oak, soft maple, hickory, and white ash. Unfortunately I have no living hemlock. Can somebody please point out the pros/cons of the varieties regarding the durability? I do not plan on painting the building, I want it to age naturally. Thanks in advance for your help.
First, Welcome to the Forestry Forum, sallvord. :)
My first choice for barn siding would be Poplar.
sallvord,welcome to the forum. Got a good over hang on the barn? I have no idea. But what type of siding? I did a horse run in with hemlock,10 inch boards and 4 inch batten. Looks nice. Got a sawmill too? How are you getting the wood out?
Welcome to the forum. My first choice would be the popular.
I apologize for being vague. The siding will be board/batten. I was picturing something in the ten inch range for the boards. I have a wm lt 15 and I saw regularly as a hobby. I drag trees out with tractors/grapples so this is not a problem. The eave has a 2 foot overhang on the front and a 4 foot overhang on the back. The gable ends have 20 inch overhangs. The barn is mid to late 1800's and in very good condition. It is currently covered in aluminum siding and that is not the look we are going for. Thanks
We like barns too. Pictures?? hint,hint. ;D
I built my first barn in the mid 70s and used poplar for the siding. It has never been painted and aged great. Bugs will leave it alone, and it will last a life time.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Sallvord.
My choice would be White Pine!
Saws good, easy to work with and it will last a long time!
Welcome, and I would use POPLAR
Frank
The main thing is to stay away from the hickory. It is not particularly weather resistant, and hard to work with. Oak is a lot heavier and harder to work with, but we used red oak for vertical siding on our house 35 years ago, and there is no problem. Would have used poplar if it had been available, though. Here's an old thread that might be helpful.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,30942.msg446043.html#msg446043
Good luck, and keep us posted.
Quote from: sallvord on November 26, 2013, 08:38:41 PM
Unfortunately I have no living hemlock.
I love hemlock for siding. If you have any standing dead that is still solid, you might consider using it. Hopefully you wont have any shaky wood. Hemlock makes beautiful siding which ages very nicely. Otherwise, Poplar.
Thanks to everyone for the help so far. I see that poplar seems to be the most popular choice. I have heard that chestnut oak is very resistant to the elements...is this true? I know it has a lot to be desired as far as workability goes. Also, I was thinking about using 1inch thick boards because that is what's under the aluminum...does this sound reasonable? Final question, how dry should the lumber be before installation. (this is not a rush job, I have plenty of time)
P.S. thecfarm I will upload pics soon.
I would prefer one inch boards. Any insulation that will be touching the boards? That would really change the answer. I built the horse run in all green. Go in the woods cut down a tree,bring it out,saw it on the sawmill,build,run out of lumber head for the woods again. There was nothing but a shell of a building,no way for the moisture to get trapped.
Practically 100% of the "farm lumber" that I saw is 1" thickness.
Depending on the longevity u are wanting from the wood; I personally would not use poplar, in my own experiences poplar rots faster than any other wood type. If it were me pine would be my first choice my next choice would be white ash, for it is just as strong as oak, but a lot lighter than oak. And seems to last longer exposed to the weather than oak
Chestnut oak is the most rot resistant of all the species you listed. It is in the white oak family. You will find it heavy and hard to work with, though, which is why it is seldom used for siding. Durability of pine may depend on species. The longleaf pine here in Missouri doesn't last nearly as long as yellow poplar. As far as drying, as long as there is air movement on both sides of the boards, put 'em up green. Board and batten siding is perfect for green lumber, as it allows the boards to shrink, and the battens cover up the cracks. Look for an 8" wide board to shrink about 1/2" in width, but almost no change in length.
QuoteDepending on the longevity u are wanting from the wood; I personally would not use poplar, in my own experiences poplar rots faster than any other wood type.
Are you talking experience with the tulip poplar species? Or an aspen species?
Around here people mostly use white pine for barn siding. Lots of it everywhere is probably one of the main reasons and it holds up well.
Well, Beenthere, that's a good question, not sure exactly, I know the poplar around me (northern Michigan) I've milled and used on a shed for siding and in the weather it didn't last 7 years, I then replaced it with hemlock