# Best wood for Board/batten barn siding?



## jirwin

What would be the best qlty/$ board and batten barn/ house siding? Thanks --J


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## Bearfootfarm

Cypress is the best wood, but it's not cheap


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## scorpian5

you can use pine or oak we have used poplar and cottonwood and as long as it doesnt touch the ground and is painted or stained it doesnt matter


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## vicker

White oak lasts almost as long as locust. (I am told) Termites love red oak. 
IMHO anything is fine as long as it is under the roof and eves. Give it a coating of a water sealer (like Thompson's, though I hear they are not the best). The mill I work at is selling 3/4 inch mixed hardwood for about $175 per thousand board foot (it is mixed, but mostly red and white oak, maybe a little hickory). What ever you use will probably last longer than you. Most of the old barn boards around here are poplar and are older than me.


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## Ramblin Wreck

I've had good luck with both poplar and pine, but I treat both with linseed oil. In addition to the oak and cypress noted above, another superior wood for rot/bug resistence would be cedar. If you decide on one of the "harder" woods, I'd pre-drill the nail holes or attach it with screws. Best wishes in whatever you choose to do.


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## just_sawing

For the cost poplar off the ground is the best for the cost. Sassafras is as good as it gets. 
Everything else is good or bad in some way.


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## CSA again

I agree Cypress is the best or Cedar ...Both very expencive here.

I used Hemmlock It is easy to find here in WNC ...and cheep
And is easy to work with ,Resistant to bugs and boring bees. Not apt in crack of split
Will last a lifetime if keep off the ground.
My second choice would be Poplar or Sassafras
I used Treated pine and Locust for the poles and where I came into contact with the ground

Oak or locust are much harder woods and much harder to work with..you must drill pilot holes for your nails or screws ..or use concrete nails. ....or put it up green and watch it warp and srink.

good luck with whatever you use.
eddie


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## vicker

Ramblin Wreck said:


> I've had good luck with both poplar and pine, but I treat both with linseed oil. In addition to the oak and cypress noted above, another superior wood for rot/bug resistence would be cedar. If you decide on one of the "harder" woods, I'd pre-drill the nail holes or attach it with screws. Best wishes in whatever you choose to do.


Here in WV it is common to use rough cut hardwoods. The common practice is to stick, stack and cover the green wood for a couple months, and then use it before it is too dry to nail easily. You nail the battens only on one side and wait to nail the other side, or wait till the siding boards have dried to attach the battens.
If you try to use thoroughly dried white oak or hickory, you will definately have a difficult time with nails. And, the bent nails are just about impossible to pull out. Oh, and don't even think about trying to drive a nail through dried hickory 2x:bash:


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## Jolly

Cypress, hands down.

But....if you can't afford cypress, longleaf pine. Make sure you seal you bottom edges, and have a good overhang on your eave. It'll be there longer than you are, with proper maintenance.


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## maplehollow

We used hemlock, rough cut, purshased from amish neighbors for gable ends on the upstairs of our cordwood house. Of course, that is off the ground and we have good overhangs. Had it a few years so far, and no problems with warping or twisting. We like it, and just sprayed it with a anti-fungal, anti-insect material we purchased from the Perma ***** co. The place that I missed near the eaves have started to gray up, but the places I sprayed have stayed the natural color.


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## maplehollow

We used hemlock, rough cut, purshased from amish neighbors for gable ends on the upstairs of our cordwood house. Of course, that is off the ground and we have good overhangs. Had it a few years so far, and no problems with warping or twisting. We like it, and just sprayed it with an anti-fungal, insecticidal material that we purchased from the Perma ***** Co. The place that I missed near the eaves have started to gray up, but the places I sprayed have stayed the natural color.


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## Michael W. Smith

I resided two sides of my barn several years ago and used Hemlock. I made a deal with the amish that ended up logging our place - told them I wanted to use the large Hemlock trees in the woods for this, so they cut them down, they got loaded up on the log truck, the amish mill sawed them into 1" boards and brought them back on the log truck when picking up more logs.

I restacked the Hemlock letting it dry outside for about 2 years (1 year would be enough) and then had the amish put it on after they took off the old wood. (Which was hemlock as well.)

Just make sure it has time to dry, as if you put the wood on your barn when still green, the boards will shrink and you will end up with large cracks between the boards.

I think you can pretty much use whatever wood is cheap in your area. As long as it's off the ground, the little rain it gets on it when on the barn quickly dries. My barn was built over 100 years ago, so I know I won't be around when the two sides of the barn need resided again!


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## Gideon

A bud nearby uses burned motor oil and diesel for stain. It really looks great and truly preserves the wood from any thing or critter. An old customer had Sweetgum trees cut from his pond site, had them cut into boards and the top boards cut with a 1/2 inch raised portion in the middle about two inchs wide. He put the dried boards on with a two inch gap and then added the "T" boards using 30# tar paper strips under the overlaps. He now has a rustic looking cabin overlooking his twin ponds that is very weather proof. He used the used oil/Diesel combo also. It makes the wood a light brown and the odor soon fades leaving a bug proof board highly resistant to rot,mildew, and moss. 
For you NC/SC folks we are having a gathering in a board and batten hunting lodge April 4-5-6. Those interested please PM/E asap. Several from here have been coming for several years-we have a great time and learn lots, wc


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## goatsareus

in SE Ohio, tulip poplar is the traditional wood to use. We've used it on three buildings; one being board and batten the other two we ship lapped the edges. Keep the wood off the ground. Ages well.


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## slider

​


Ramblin Wreck said:


> I've had good luck with both poplar and pine, but I treat both with linseed oil. In addition to the oak and cypress noted above, another superior wood for rot/bug resistence would be cedar. If you decide on one of the "harder" woods, I'd pre-drill the nail holes or attach it with screws. Best wishes in whatever you choose to do.


EPA has limited oil based products you can no longer buy raw linseed oil its boiled will it still do the same job i would like to apply to cedar but unsure of quality


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## silverbackMP

Michael W. Smith said:


> Just make sure it has time to dry, as if you put the wood on your barn when still green, the boards will shrink and you will end up with large cracks between the boards.


It is supposed to go on green for hardwoods. Battens cover the cracks. You can't nail through most hardwoods when they have dried. I understand the hemlock is a softer wood. 

Short answer (if your using hardwood). Nail the boards up green. Then nail the battens over the boards with the (this is the important part) nails in a a straight single verticle row with the nails going in the crack between the boards. This will allow for shrinkage and (latter) expansion. You will not get cracked boards with this method or cracks that show. This is the traditional way to put up board and batten.


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## just_sawing

Tulip Poplar is naturally termite resistant. 
1 I suggest that you put it up Green with the cup out ona the batten cup in. It will make a water tight seal.
2 Oak is termite bait
3 No wider than 10 inches 6 is better


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## English Oliver

My house, barn, and three outbuildings, are all board and batten. All are Poplar and after six years they are holding up fine.

"O"


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## oeb2

I've got a buddy who uses the cheapest motor oil, even used, on any outdoor wood including his buildings. It looks great and he claims it has held up on the barns for 30-yrs. with a one coat touch up. Still looks great to me.

oeb2


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## RebelDigger

Bearfootfarm said:


> Cypress is the best wood, but it's not cheap


Definitely. Our Victorian house we sold before moving here to the farm was sided with cypress clapboards. All we had to do was pressure wash, scrap and paint, 117 years old and attached with square nails.


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## jwal10

Here in the Northwest a lot of barns have Douglas fir. No paint and no maintanence. It should be let to dry and shrink first. Most are 1"x12" rogh sawn. Some have milk or lime paint (white wash)....James


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## City Bound

Ramblin Wreck said:


> I've had good luck with both poplar and pine, but I treat both with linseed oil. In addition to the oak and cypress noted above, another superior wood for rot/bug resistence would be cedar. If you decide on one of the "harder" woods, I'd pre-drill the nail holes or attach it with screws. Best wishes in whatever you choose to do.


What is your method for treating with linseed? I use linseed oil to hydrate and seal wooden handles on shovels and other tools but when I tried to finish an end table with linseed oil after one year the table top was dry and needed more oil. Is that normal? Do you have oil the barn every few years?


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## countryboy84

Locus, hemlock, white cedar are all really good. But to me the best wood or this is sycamore. Hard to find but last forever. My grandparents house is done with it and it has been on the house since the 1940s at least and only need painted a couple of times. Oak is not bad but most of your second growth oak is much harder then frist growth lke the old timers used. So much so that it may split out due to the tight grain as it cures around the nails. Black oak rots the fastest of the oaks. Red oak is a favorite of termites. White oak is higher in cost then it is really worth. Hickory is so hard that it is almost liking working metal at times. Hemlock or one of the cedars will be the best wood at the best price. Tulip poplar is what my house is going to be just because it is abunant and I have my own mill. It is really good as long as it dont get wet. I have a 8 ft covered porch going all the way around mine so it should not get wet. Also think about how each wood type takes stain. Some woods dont take oil stain well at all and will need a sanding sealer put on frist in order to make them last as city bound found out with his end table. Poplar sucks up so much stain that it needs almost double the recomended application rate. Also take a look at the movment table for the woods as the move during drying. You want a wood that dont move much and oak moves alot as mot hard woods do while soft woods move less. This helps keep from having loose boards from where it comes loose around the nails. since you are not dead set on one wood and very limited to with what you can get take some time looks over the qaulities and cons of each wood and make a choice that fits for you and you will be happy with less work in the future. One a last note make sure that what you stain it with has UV protection in it the sun goes a long way in breaking down any wood.


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## stanb999

I think there are several. As pointed out in this posting many times. You get the best siding that is available local. Here it's hemlock. 100 year siding without paint. 

If you paint don't use a modern one that films. You want to a breathing paint. Use barn paint, real white wash, or stain. Of these real white wash is cheapest and easiest. IMHO


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