I would agree with MSDG; the Hardie board and batten system is hard to beat if your going to paint and not stain. Cedar & clear redwood sidings will be the most expensive to install and maintain. Your next options would be paint grade material like Advantage (finger-jointed pine that is treated for rot and insects) which is also a good choice but I'm not sure what would be available in your area. I've also seen decent results with resawn plywood install directly over the exterior ply or OSB. The framing needs to be clean and flat but with thoughtful layout to keep the battens symetrical it can be very cost effective and clean with good primer and paint. did I say the Cedar and RW would be very expensive...

Hardie board here. This is before paint

After · More Info

House build · More Info

Hi danamyt,

We are also in Southwestern Ontario. We used Maibec board and batten siding (out of Quebec) with an opaque colour on it. The architect strongly recommended the painted wood vs the stained wood for maintenance reasons. However, we did not investigate Hardie Wood as an even lower maintenance option.

Carol

We have cypress board and batten. I don't know what it's like where you are, as I'm in Mississippi and I assume our climates are very different. ;) However, just know, carpenter bees LOVE our wood. We have such terrible problems with them - and no matter how much primer is used, the boards just soak up the paint on the exterior. When we build, we will for sure have vinyl.