House siding question

[Aklogcabin]

Hello folks. I need to get the siding for our new home. I'm currently thinking TnG pine boards. I have lowes that sells what they call whitewood #2 grade. And HD sells pine not specifying grade. What are your experiences between the two ?
And I admit I am partial to wood. And know very little about any of the newer products available. I will say that I do not like vinyl or aluminum either. Cement ? The LP strand board doesn't seem to hold up. And more expensive than wood.
Hey any help is appreciated

 

[Curmudgeon]

Have you considered cedar shake or cedar clapboards? Probably an expensive venture nowadays.

A buddy of mine built a house and used cedar clapboards and it looked great.

 

[SheepDog]

What kind of conditions are you planning for?
Fire resistance?
Wind resistance?
Rot/mold resistance?

Will it be painted or left natural?
Is function or looks more important?

 

[havasu]

I personally like cement board. It is termite proof, fireproof, easy to install, hard to damage, never needs staining, and if caulked properly, is windproof.

 

[zoomzoom]

Concrete board has worked fantastic for me so I'll second the recommendation.

My house is cedar, a touch over 30 years old. The boards are cracking everywhere, nails are popping out, it's different colors depending on what side you're looking at (e.g. North side is much darker as it gets no sun).

On my buildings (all around 25 years old):
1) One building has wood T-111. It's doing "OK" since it's in a relatively shady area and the roof has 2' overhangs. I can see a little rotting on the bottom of the boards but it's not bad yet. The boards are several inches from the ground.
2) Two buildings are Hardie Panel (concrete based boards) with the T-111 look. There's different designs available but I was going for consistency on the exterior of my buildings . I bought them unfinished so I had to paint after they were installed. The boards still look like new without any issues. They really don't need paint but I may do a paint job in the next 5 years or so.

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

I don't know about paint prices in the US, but here they are astronomomical. Paint is $80+ a gal. Polyurethane is $108-$134 per gal and I don't know what stain is worth. It is also hard to get in quantity.

Before deciding on wood, decide if the finishing and maintenance is worth it. It would depend on the size of your house.

 

[Peanut]

Cypress is big here in the south, makes great siding. It cut and milled here, have no idea what it’d cost to truck a load to AK.

Side note… my cousin had a portable sawmill set up for cypress siding. All the local loggers knew this. If someone cut a tract of cypress he’d set up his mill at the loading ground. Instead of logs being hauled out they’d use flatbeds and haul siding out of the woods.

 

[Caribou]

Alaska is known for wildfires. As you age you will want less maintenance. I'd go with cement siding, and pick my color when I bought it. Fire resistant, no maintenance. HaridBoard is good but there is a better brand. Sorry I don't remember the name.

If you have stone available near you that might be an option.

I would invest in a metal roof. It is best for fire protection and rain collection. I've collected water off a morning dew with a metal roof, and no other material.

I have done cedar siding, shake, and shingle. Cedar burns quickly, especially the shake and shingles. I've done cedar roofs but never if rain catchment was part of the mix. A friend of mine got cedar poisoning from their roof.

As mentioned above aesthetics will have a certain weight. I loved my log cabin. It was built stockade style with mortar chinking and a cedar roof.. I heard that it burned down after I got rid of it.

 

[Aklogcabin]

Guess you'd think a fellow who lost their home in a forest fire would not want a wood sided house. And my body is already worn out. I am considering hardie.
Yes a rain wall..

 

[LadyLocust]

Hello folks. I need to get the siding for our new home. I'm currently thinking TnG pine boards. I have lowes that sells what they call whitewood #2 grade. And HD sells pine not specifying grade. What are your experiences between the two ?
And I admit I am partial to wood. And know very little about any of the newer products available. I will say that I do not like vinyl or aluminum either. Cement ? The LP strand board doesn't seem to hold up. And more expensive than wood.
Hey any help is appreciated

If you go with any type of wood, this is the best stain/sealant I've found (& I think I tried most of them before finding this). There are stains and sealants, weatherproofing. You can find it here at Bimart or Sherwin Williams - Bimart is less expensive.

 

[hashbrown]

I pretty much use LP smart board on everything since 2005 it holds up extremely well and much easier to work with than concrete siding. I usually use the prefinished siding it has a 30 year paint warranty. It’s expensive but worth it in my opinion. I put it on our home a few years back and it performed extremely well.

 

[Aklogcabin]

Is there a cement board that comes in 4x8?

 

[zoomzoom]

Yes. I know HardieBoard has it.