New mill owner sawing aspen B&B siding

[Dilly123]

Hello everyone, first post here.

I recently purchased a frontier OS23 sawmill to help take full advantage of my 40 acres in norther WI. I have mostly mature quaking aspen, spruce, and fir. My first project for the mill will be board and batten siding for the barn. I would like to use the aspen since I have the most of it, and from what I've read its not great for anything structural. I understand that it is not very rot resistant although it holds paint well, but ideally I don't want to paint it. I kind of want to achieve a grey, weathered look. 

My thought is that I would put it up green and un-treated, and once it had reached the desired color, I'd hit it with some type of oil. I was also thinking that I would use a more rot resistant species for a 6-8" grade board along the bottom where it will be subjected to more frequent contact with water/snow. I have not yet decided on the dimensions for the b&b but 
I'm thinking 1" thick and 8-10" for the boards, 2-3" for the battens. 

Does that sound like and ok plan or should I reconsider painting to increase its lifespan? Should I be concerned about the back side of the boards that are contacting the house wrap or am I over thinking? Any suggestions on other methods, finishing products, or any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Dylan

[Dilly123]

 

 

 

 

[barbender]

My only concern would be that aspen has a tendency to cup more than other woods. I wouldn't use really wide boards. 

[Don P]

I would use as wide as you can afford for a treated skirt board. Higher out of the ground buys you years at the far end.

I like doing a beveled bottom edge board that the bevel bottom boards sit on, then the battens run to the bottom of that horizontal critter stop board.


 

If you soak or dip the boards in a borate solution it will help slow down rot and bugs. A water repellant finish of some sort will help as well. Don't nail wider than about 4" apart on the boards and don't nail the battens to the boards, nail thru the crack between boards. Let the boards shrink without splitting.

[Firewoodjoe]

My grandfather built a barn/sawmill (very large) many many years ago. 35-40?  Aspen. Rock solid today. We replaced the pole rafters over the sawmill 20? years ago. Prolly from condensation of the steel roof. Otherwise fine. But if the grass touches it it will rot fast. The entire building siding is rotted 1-2 foot up. And yes it will warp and bow bad if let to. Over the years we use a lot of aspen for everything including firewood. Use what you have 🤷‍♂️

[Ljohnsaw]

Somewhere on here a couple people used metal roofing as a wainscoting. That would prevent any rot issues with the low parts. It actually looked great.

[Broncman]

Not familiar with Aspen , but I am building my saw mill shed out of Yellow Poplar and if kept dry, it lasts for years, but rots on ground contact.  I did board and batten green wood. Nailed the centers only and turned it so it would curl or cup in.  So far so good.

I did one small Wall section with the heart in and  it curled out and cracked. None of the heart out has cracked.

I just used Oulast Q8 log oil as a stain and preservative.