Doh. A correction on this is that it looks like I actually have 3/4 x
8 rather than 1/2 x 8 boards. All the same questions still apply, though.
thanks,
doug
I recently bought a house which is sided with 1/2 x 8 beveled cedar
> siding. The price was right and theres a ton I like about the house,
> but the siding has issues I would like to address:
>
> 1. The color is dark brown which I don't like.
> 2. I don't like the large exposure size of the 1/2 x 8 siding. In
> fact, I've discovered that that the overlap they used is about 2 inchs
> rather than the recommented 1inch, so the exposure would be even
> bigger if I were to do it right with that size.
> 3. The surfaces are rough due to all the poor paint scraping over the > years.
> 4. There are areas that appear very weathered and could use replacing.
> 5. A fullsize dormer was added some time ago and they sided it with
> shaker-style shingles.
>
> It would be a bit costly just to rip down all the siding and replace
> it with new 1/2 x 6 siding, but if I were to do that, I could attack
> all my problems at once.
>
> I was wondering a few things some folks might be able to answer: >
> 1. I noticed in the New England Area where I live, most folks have the
> smaller size boards. In fact, its very hard to find the larger 8"
> size at lumberyards, although I managed to find one. Is there are
> reason why 6" is more popular? Any advantages or disadvantages to
> each other than visual appeal?
>
> 2. What could I do with the old 1/2x8" siding I remove? Are there
> places that buy old lumber?
>
> 3. A crazy idea popped into my head in that I might be able to recycle
> my own 8" boards and turn them into 6" boards using either a planer or
> a jointer. I'm not sure the time and cost to do this would in the end
> be worth it, nor am I hugely familar with either tools or the
> magnitude of the project I'm proposing, but I'm assuming it would be
> more work than just ripping the top two inches of board? I thought if
> there was a way to "plane" the beveled side of the board, it would
> help me to remove all the layers of paint over the years. Is this a
> crazy idea? Of course I would have to buy the tools to do this, so
> both time and money are factors, but I suppose it would be possible to
> try to resell the tool on ebay when I'm finished with it.
>
> thanks in advance.
>
> Doug