Old Garage Dilemma

[Steve Braverman]

I have a three car garage on my property that was built in 1935. It is a pole barn type of building, in that it has vertical studs every four feet or so. It's actually straight and square after all these years. The exterior walls are tongue and groove bead boards. There is nothing else.

The building is in bad need of paint, but I think it's time to put another layer of siding on this building, as I can see from inside the staining where water leaks between the boards. I don't want to spend a fortune, but I also don't want to ruin the character of the building. I'm thinking of either board and batten siding or T-111 siding.

The board and batten is more authentic, but the T-111 is cheaper and easier to install, I think. Either way, I'll cover the building in Tyvek first. Of course, I could just scrape and paint what's already there, but I think a second layer will strengthen and tighten up the structure.

The other issue is the doors. Two of them are original sliding barn-type doors, and the third is a fiberglass overhead door (ugly). The sliders are not tight at all. I figure there are probably ways to tighten up the doors and keep them, then I was going to paint the fiberglass door to match. I'll even paint on the cross-bucks. It's not a perfect solution, but it's cost-effective. Eventually I'd like new overhead doors that look like carriage house doors, but they are quite expensive.

Okay, what's everyone's opinion on this? The siding issue needs to be done first.

[Jim Bollman]

I'll pass on the door part of your question.

Since you're on LI you may not have the option I will suggest. I did my barn in vertical hemlock rough sawn planks. When I checked into it originally it was actually cheaper than T-111 by buying directly from the saw mill. When I first talked to the saw mill I didn't know what kind of wood I wanted and was only going to do the front. The owner (old timer) told me I wanted hemlock, said that's what all the old 100 year old barns in are area was made of and mine would last 100 years to if I didn't do anything for a finish and longer if I did. When I got the price I decided to do the whole barn. T-111 does go up a lot faster but I find that it looks fake when your done. If your trying to get a little rustic look on something modern it is fine but on an old barn it looks modern.

I put my planks up over flake board that I covered with tar paper. I used tar paper so I could do the planking without batten and the cracks that would show up in time would just look dark. By not putting on batten, it was cheaper/faster and I could use random thickness and widths, cheaper no planing.

Built in 1981-82 and it till looks pretty good. Picture is from 2005, I have put a new steel roof on since the picture, but it still looks pretty much the same. I put CWF on it after it sat for a year and once more about 10 years ago. Will probably put on another CWF application in another year or so.

[Guest bchevy]

1 vote against t-111, it's cheap for a reason.

[Steve Braverman]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bchevy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">1 vote against t-111, it's cheap for a reason. </div></div>

OK, what's the reason?

[Steve Braverman]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Jim Bollman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Since you're on LI you may not have the option I will suggest. </div></div>

Thanks Jim, there are not too many saw mills around these parts, but there's a lot of decent lumber yards. I'll ask around. Your barn looks great.

[Mark Shaw]

Steve,

I built a pole building onto the side of my house when we relocated 5 years ago. When my neighbors heard I was planning to build a shop, they were very concerned. I told them that I would match the house as much as I could.

I used T-111 siding to match the original cedar siding on the house. The photo below shows the slant installation on the side of the garage as well as the vertical installation on the house. I also used the same roof pitch and matched the garage doors. The shop is left of the chimney and matches the house so well, the neighbors hardly noticed it when it was done. It holds Five cars (two under a four post lift).

T-11 holds up just fine when primed & painted or stained correctly. I had it on my last house and barn for many years and it still looks good after about 15 years of NW weather.

[greenie]

Steve:

T-111 is a moisture sponge, and should never be used in an environment where there are large swings in humidity. When I built my polebarn, about 10 years ago, I selected Hardiplank. It is a manufactured product that is made from cement and wood fibers. It is positively immune to moisture, insects, etc.-and has a 50 year warranty. It comes in various styles, including lap siding and sheets like T-111. It is heavy, and you need a good dust mast when you cut it. It can be painted or, as I did, stained. It sucks up the stain and wears very well. After 10 years it shows no signs of needing a new coat. I used the lap siding and installed it with the reccomended screws-which are consealed by the lap. You should be able to put it right over the existing siding. get more info at: http://www.jameshardie.com/developer/products-exterior.shtml

[Bhigdog]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Okay, what's everyone's opinion on this? The siding issue needs to be done first.</div></div>

One issue would be the integrity and eveness of the existing siding. If it's sound and even then you could go with any kind of siding that suits your fancy, from composition boards to vinyl using the existing siding as the substrate. All you would need to do is renail and tighten any loose boards. If the siding is uneven or wavy that will telegraph through any lap type siding and you need to use furring strips to even the walls or a sheet type siding could be used without the strips. There are some nice sheet type sidings that have have a much nicer pattern than the generic T-111 and are available in cedar if your budget can stand it.

Any wood siding will require periodic maintenance. Steel board and batten pattern is also an option.

If the walls are uninsulated now is the time to use an insulation panel under the siding.

Actually this forum is probably not the best place to ask this question. Make the rounds of your areas building supply houses and I don't mean Home Depot. Many suppliers have on-site sales people who will check out your building and offer different suggestions and options........Bob

[JZRIV]

I would not use T-111 as others have also said. If for no other reason, painting or staining it is not easy with all the groves unless you have a sprayer. It does nothing for the aesthetics either but thats just my personal opinion. If you must use T-111 paint two coats of high quality primer before the top coat. Anywhere T-111 is a couple inches from the ground in a wet environement it will suck moisture up from the bottom edge. Then the paint peels from the bottom up. So you would want to seal/paint the bottom edge as well but that will be temporary also because the end grain of the siding is more porous.

Don't just look at the up front cost of siding. Consider how much primer and paint will cost to finish it then maintain over the years.

Unless you have a specific need or desire to go with wood, another consideration should be vertical metal siding. I have seen many old barns in our area that were freshened up with metal siding and they look really good and thats coming from someone who tends to be more of a traditionlist on these things. The vertical ribs still give it a hint of the old time look and many have a two tone effect which is even nicer.

Besides looking great and minimal labor to install it, my biggest reason for going metal is you will never have to paint it, worry about insects or moisture damage. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to go with something maintenance free unless you anticipate being bored and needing something to do.

The slider doors are very difficult to seal. Although it can be done, they just aren't made to seal to the point of keeping out small rodents or keeping heat in if you plan to heat the building. I like them because of their simplicity but not preferred on a building where you need a sealed door.

If you must have a door that seals tightly, construct a frame and install a standard sectional garage door....which would also look nice with the metal siding.

[Friartuck]

A point not said here is where T1-11 sheets meet other sheets for heights greater than 8 feet, meaning the horizontal seam. A horizontal metal trim is supposed to bead off water, but really doesn't. It's at these transition points where the T1-11 absorbs water and buckles.

I would have suggested the Hardie plank (which can be screwed or nailed) or the vertical metal siding. Good thing about the metal is it comes in lengths up to 40 feet long (intended for roofs at that length), but as a siding, no horizontal seams for water to enter.