hemlock, polebarn siding, 12'' boards and 4" battens

[BuzHolliday]

I am looking to have a pole barn built in Central New York State and someone said "going with 12" hemlock boards are too wide for the siding"... should I go with 10"...  ?    I will also be using 3" or 4" batten.  Also, I am looking to get some hemlock milled into 6x6 beams and 8x8 beams for inside the barn, will the hemlock twist as it drys ?  Thank you...

[petefrom bearswamp]

From experience 12" and I( have a lot,) is not too wide but 10" will also do.
4" inches for battens is excessive and 3 is plenty and even 2" will do.
My own building is 12"and some 10" as I ran out of 12" boards with 1-3/4" battens which worked just fine but mine had dried for about 2 months. Hemlock dries quickly when stickered and covered.
If it is green just butt the boards, nail either in the center and on 1 side or just in the center, nail the batttens on one side only the re nail after it dries.
Hope this helps
Pete
PS this is what I tell my customers and have had no complaints

[thecfarm]

I like the looks of 4 inch batten over 2 any day. But that is just me. I drove by a shed each day that was built with 10" hemlock and 4". Took me about 6 months before I saw someone out there to find out what they used for lumber. ;D I pulled in and I told him I reallly like the looks of his shed, Asked him why he went with them sizes and he tells me the sawmill up the road had a special on 10" and 4" hemlock,so that is what he used. Takes a good size hemlock to get 10" boards. I cheated on a few of mine,9½ inches,but never know from the outside. ;D  






I was almost done,and I did not want to cut another tree down,so I cheated on some of the boards. Seem like only 4-5 boards.

[BuzHolliday]

Thank you...

[thecfarm]

BuzHolliday,I want to welcome you to the forum. You will like it here.
On the hemlock twisting,I sawed out some 6X6 and had no problems with twist. I sawed out 10-12 of them. I did have some red pine I started to use,those twisted on me. I only used 2 of them and than I went to hemlock and they behaved the way they should. ;D  All this was put up green. I did not stack and let any dry.

[BuzHolliday]

Thank you...

[bobnic]

I like to use green hemlock for board and batten, but it is important to put the boards and the battens up with the pith side out.  I also like to use screws in the center of both, which resists the outward cupping of the center and forces the edges of the battens tight to the boards and the boards tight to the girts.

[kantuckid]

Here in my area it's one of the first choices for barn wood but that's also why there's not much left either. Much of it grows where the fed forest people no longer allow harvest now. Many old timers would suggest it has decay resistance which isn't really true but properly used it lasts a very long time. Splinters galore when you work it up dry. I used it for the trim boards on my own timber frame great room addition. Here, if a mill has White Pine in good sizes they usually have Hemlock too.  
I have maybe 5-6 trees on my entire woodlot and the grouse live in them all.

[BuzHolliday]

From experience 12" and I( have a lot,) is not too wide but 10" will also do.
4" inches for battens is excessive and 3 is plenty and even 2" will do.
My own building is 12"and some 10" as I ran out of 12" boards with 1-3/4" battens which worked just fine but mine had dried for about 2 months. Hemlock dries quickly when stickered and covered.
If it is green just butt the boards, nail either in the center and on 1 side or just in the center, nail the batttens on one side only the re nail after it dries.
Hope this helps
Pete
PS this is what I tell my customers and have had no complaints

thank you