Preserving white pine board and Batten

[jerryf609]

I dont know where to post this.

I'm building a stick built cabin in northern Michigan. Im going to side it over house wrap with raw rough sawn white pine. 1" x 12" about 9 foot long with 2.5" battens.

I'm not going to have it kiln dried.

How do I preserve and protect the boards. I would like to give them a  brownish color stain but i have not picked out the product or color.

I assume I should treat it with a borax type of solution? What about moisture or UV protection.?

The cabin will be 1 story with 18" overhangs.

Should i treat all 6 sides before installation?

Thanks.

[PoginyHill]

Unless you want a specific color or don't want it to change color naturally, you don't need a preservative to keep in sound. The most important thing is to use a rain shield - about 1/2" separation between your house wrap and the siding. Don't apply it directly to house wrap - it doesn't allow the siding to dry out. Drying out is the single best thing you can do to prevent rot.

[jerryf609]

Thanks PoginyHill. I was going to use some of the sawn 1xs ripped to about 3 inches for horizontal nailers and air gap. Do you think that would be too thick? Would that be a good rain shield? What about carpenter ants etc.?

[barbender]

 A rain shield is a good good idea, and also a bit of a pain. I used 1/2" x2" strips for spacers behind my siding iirc, and a vent product that you use at the top and bottom the name of which escapes me at the moment. It was corrugated plastic 1/2" thick.

 I didn't treat mine (which is red pine, I used what I had at the time) I used an oil based penetrating stain. I haven't had any bug issues. 

 With the wide board and batten, fasten towards the middle of the boards and let the battens hold down the outside edges.

[PoginyHill]

I should have used the term rain screen - more common than shield. Spacers for rain screen shouldn't go horizontally as the air flow should be from bottom to top behind the siding to keep things dry. You can buy a product like Barbender mentions which can provide the vertical airway or you'd need vertical and horizontal wood strips to accomplish the same thing.

Here's a link to an example: https://hammerandhand.com/best-practices/manual/4-rain-screens/4-6-horizontal-rain-screen-battens-vertical-siding/

[Stephen1]

You don't have to stain the siding but it will gradually change colours as it ages. if you do stain it make sure to cover all 6 sides with a least 1 coat. The outside 2-3 coats. Air Flow top to bottom is the best for long life.