Exterior wood siding help, please!

9 years ago

Been busy trying to get the building plans approved. It was suppose to be close to approval back in March. We are still waiting.

We were told by our architect that we could not keep the existing redwood exterior siding as we are in a Wildlands Urban Interface area. He suggested stucco. We saw there is a WUI approved product list for California and talked to some of the vendors. We currently have 1x8" tongue and groove vertical redwood siding and the vendors told us that is WUI compliant. Can anyone shed some light on this? We would prefer to keep the wood siding.

Because the existing exterior is somewhat neglected, we are wondering how we can get the wood restored and how it will look with new 1x8" redwood siding that we will need to put in for the addition. Will this be the same kind of professionals we need to get a hold of as the ones suggested for the interior paneling? Thanks in advance!

Here are a few pics of the exterior siding:

Featured Answer

klem1

9 years ago

Your architect is an idiot. Even "Kal-a fornia"buracrats shouldn't insist you do away with existing Redwood in the name of some screwball conservation idea. It might be true that Redwood hearvesting is on hold but that doesn't mean all existing Redwood should go to the landfill.

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Comments (6)

lc
Original Author
9 years ago
I think the architect is trying to look out for our budget. He is under the impression that the only way we could keep the redwood siding is to first install type X gypsum board and then install the siding over it. He said that would be quite a bit more expensive than just going with stucco.

If we can install redwood siding without having to install the type X gypsum board, I assume the cost will be more reasonable. Does anyone know first hand if 1x8" tongue and groove redwood siding can be used directly?

If we can keep the redwood siding, how should we restore the existing siding and blend in the new siding for the addition? TIA!
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salex
9 years ago
I'm guessing the concern or regulation isn't about conservation - it's the danger that your house will catch on fire when a spark from a wildfire lands on the siding.

I agree with Klem that there's no sense in discarding redwood. If there's a way to keep redwood on the exterior, then doing so really depends on how risk-averse you are, knowing whatever fuels are in your area (i.e., the age and the structure of the forest within a few miles and in the immediate vicinity). If allowed by local code, I personally would be tempted to keep the redwood siding and simultaneously take other fire-wise measures such as removing trees within 100' or so of the house and installing a sprinkler system that can function in a power outage. (If these suggestions don't make sense, google "firewise".)

If the regulations say you absolutely cannot keep the siding without gypsum board underneath, sounds like you need to cover or lose the redwood. Again, there actually is a good reason for that in fire-prone areas.
lc thanked salex
lc
Original Author
9 years ago
salex,

Safety is always #1 priority. In my case, the lumber manufacturers are telling me I can use 1x8" redwood siding directly as the siding is on the CA WUI approved products list. My architect has not dealt with this before. I am assuming I will be able to keep the redwood siding. How do I find the right people to restore the existing siding and seamlessly put in new siding for the addition? Thanks.
klem1
9 years ago
Have you thought about hireing professionals that are familiar with local building codes and issues? It doesn't make sense telling people on your payroll what to do and not to do based on free internet advice.
lc thanked klem1
lc
Original Author
9 years ago
klem1,

Finally, some good news for us. The county has approved our building plans. It currently specifies type X gypsum board and then siding or stucco for exterior walls. We don't have a GC yet, as every GC wants approved plans first. We have talked to a few over the last year. They have always defered to what the architect put in the plans. No GC we have talked to so far can tell us definitively whether or not we can just keep the existing siding or if we need to rip them down and put in type X gypsum board first.

Now that the plans are approved, we can finally start getting quotes from the GCs and find the right GC for our project. I see pictures of homes with redwood siding in northern California, but I don't think I have seen any pictures of similar homes around southern California. I have asked at local woodworking shops and lumber yards and no one seems to know people doing wood siding restoration. We just can't seem to find anyone who knows.