Greetings,
Sorry.. newbie here with some basic and possibly dumb questions. I have a few questions pertaining to a small cabin I'm designing and building. The cabin will be located in western Wisconsin in a river valley. It features fairly wet and humid summers and dry/cold winters.
An image of the cabin is attached.
The actual structure is quite small - 14’ x 16’ with a loft and attached screened in porch. It is current designed as 2x construction – balloon framed.
The structure has no electricity and no running water but does have a wood burning stove planned.
We like the look of board and batten siding and are thinking of “simulating” this with plywood sheathing and then vertical running 1X’s to simulate the battens.
Here are my questions:
a) I am finding conflicting directions on mounting the plywood siding directly to the studs – versus putting a layer of plywood or OSB sheathing on the studs and nailing the siding through the sheathing into the studs. Some people have said I should just put a vapor barrier right on the studs and then nail the siding through the vapor barrier skipping the sheathing and using the plywood siding as the shear wall and siding. Others have said that this is a mistake and you should put a layer of plywood sheathing down, covered with a vapor barrier and then the siding. Any opinions on this given our geography and intended use would be appreciated. If we do eliminate the sheathing and put the siding on the studs, any advice on flashing the windows would be appreciated.
b) Speaking of the vapor barrier, some people have said that for this type of structure I can skip the vapor barrier entirely. What would be the ramifications on not using a vapor barrier on an unheated (except for wood burning stove) structure with no drywall?
c) Finally, for the “simulated” board and batten I want to run vertical 1X5 battens or so every 12” or so. I’m not sure how to attach these to the siding. Because the studs and the battens both run vertically some of the battens will not fall on studs. I would rather not have nails poking in through the siding (because I won’t be finishing the interior walls this year and would rather not have lots of nails exposed. If I use nails that are short enough to not poke through the siding will the battens pull off? Do I need to install blocking and nail into the blocking? What kind of spacing do I need on the nails that hold the battens on?
Thank you very much!
Sorry.. newbie here with some basic and possibly dumb questions. I have a few questions pertaining to a small cabin I'm designing and building. The cabin will be located in western Wisconsin in a river valley. It features fairly wet and humid summers and dry/cold winters.
An image of the cabin is attached.
The actual structure is quite small - 14’ x 16’ with a loft and attached screened in porch. It is current designed as 2x construction – balloon framed.
The structure has no electricity and no running water but does have a wood burning stove planned.
We like the look of board and batten siding and are thinking of “simulating” this with plywood sheathing and then vertical running 1X’s to simulate the battens.
Here are my questions:
a) I am finding conflicting directions on mounting the plywood siding directly to the studs – versus putting a layer of plywood or OSB sheathing on the studs and nailing the siding through the sheathing into the studs. Some people have said I should just put a vapor barrier right on the studs and then nail the siding through the vapor barrier skipping the sheathing and using the plywood siding as the shear wall and siding. Others have said that this is a mistake and you should put a layer of plywood sheathing down, covered with a vapor barrier and then the siding. Any opinions on this given our geography and intended use would be appreciated. If we do eliminate the sheathing and put the siding on the studs, any advice on flashing the windows would be appreciated.
b) Speaking of the vapor barrier, some people have said that for this type of structure I can skip the vapor barrier entirely. What would be the ramifications on not using a vapor barrier on an unheated (except for wood burning stove) structure with no drywall?
c) Finally, for the “simulated” board and batten I want to run vertical 1X5 battens or so every 12” or so. I’m not sure how to attach these to the siding. Because the studs and the battens both run vertically some of the battens will not fall on studs. I would rather not have nails poking in through the siding (because I won’t be finishing the interior walls this year and would rather not have lots of nails exposed. If I use nails that are short enough to not poke through the siding will the battens pull off? Do I need to install blocking and nail into the blocking? What kind of spacing do I need on the nails that hold the battens on?
Thank you very much!