I've been thinking about building a little house lately, and I've got most everything worked out on how I'd like to do it. I haven't actually started building yet, but I am aiming for installing vertical siding made from charred wood, like this (but just for the siding)
When I was working through my head on how it would be installed, however, I wasn't sure how to keep it from leaking. I don't want to rip a board in half and put it on the seams (batten siding), I'd like to just have straight boards without the one covering the gap.
My current thought is to nail plywood to your wall studs, and then put up a moisture barrier (tar paper, or some other type of vapor barrier) and then nail the siding to the studs as tightly together as possible.
Could someone explain the correct method to do this, or will this way work?
Best Answer
The best way would be to dado the boards so they have a small overlap; some people call this "shiplap". The dado can be done on a table saw and is best with a dado blade set whose width you can adjust. Take ½ the thickness off the face of 1 board and ½ off the back. You choose the overlap from 3/8" to 1" but make them all the same. This makes a nice seal. To make it even better i.e. a water tight seal, put a very small bead of caulk on 1 of the boards prior to nailing in place.
a groove cut in the face of a board, into which the edge of another board is fixed.