Detailing Open-Joint Vertical Siding
ron0923
| Posted in General Questions on
Looking for feed back on using a non woven geotextile fabric behind an open joint vertical siding [board and batten without the battens]. The siding will be installed over a vented rain screen that is intalled ontop of eps foam. I would place the fabric over the furring before I install the siding to keep bugs out and uv rays from harming the foam.
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Most geotextiles are not UV rated and will deteriorate in a couple of years. No easy answer here, need to wrap the foam with a UV stable black WRB. There are more options out there now, they are not the silly price they once were.
If you want an ultra low cost DIY option, you can paint hosue wrap with a black outdoor water based paint. The paint should protect the WRB from UV damage and since it is behind cladding it should last.
Ron,
I know it's not what you asked, but open cladding, especially installed vertically, doesn't provide most of the attributes of a rain-screen. It simply transfers the responsibility for doing what cladding does to the WRB behind. If you live in a climate where rain-screens are necessary, or need one to make your wall assembly work, open cladding is a bad idea. The only reason to use one is aesthetic.
That aside, if you decide it works on your project, I think Akos has given you good advice.
thanks for the feed back guys.
I live in climate zone 4 there is a small bump just above the Pa.boarder zip code 17363 but pretty much surrounded by zone 5
I was originally going to use board and batten but But I think it might look better with out the battens. I will butt the 1x12 tight to each other so other than some seasonal movement and wetting and drying I doubt if the gap wiil ever be much larger than 1/4 to 3/8 ". would you still consider this a true open joint clading?
Ron,
I would define any cladding as being "open-joint" if it was installed in a way that allowed bulk water to make it's way back to the WRB behind unimpeded by a continuous plane of protection.
You can see how much water gets to the back of the siding, and to the back of the cavity, in this link: https://www.rdh.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/RDH-BSL-Drainage-Balance-Spray-Rack-Report.pdf
Ron, this product is made for open-joint cladding: https://foursevenfive.com/fronta-quattro/. Whether a 10-year warranty is enough to make you feel confident is another question. Here's another one: https://sigatapes.com/product/majvest-700-sob/. And another: https://www.rothoblaas.com/products/airtightness-and-waterproofing/breathable-membranes/traspir-evo-uv-210.
I know open-joint cladding is trendy and I like the look, but have you considered a reverse board-and-batten system? That would give you better resistance to stormwater while achieving a smoother face than traditional board and batten.
Ron,
As suggested above your best bet is a reverse board and batten. This gives you the look of open cladding without any of the issues of open cladding.
You generally never want butted boards. The smaller the gap the more it shows when the gap is uneven, next to impossible to have even gaps with lumber so you want these big. With 1x12, probably around 1/2" is good but if you have very straight knot free boards, you can go closer to 3/8".
For the battens behind the boards, I would go with either vinyl trim painted black or very dark composite deck boards ripped.
If you really want to make the shadow line pop, you can even router a pocket into the batten (make the batten U shaped but with the boards overhanging about 1/4" over the side of the U).