bank barn siding replacement question

[FredWalter]

Last week I had the south side of my bank barn resided.

Originally I was just going to get the missing boards replaced, but then I decided to replace them all, so I wouldn't have to deal with blown off boards from that side for a while. I should have stuck with my original plan - then the old boards would have been there, as a guide for how much below the sill/plate beam the barn boards should hang...

I work far enough away from home that I'm not there during the week.

The carpenter that I hired, said he has worked on barns before. Mainly he frames houses.

He put on the bottom row of barn boards so that they didn't overhang the sill plate/beam. In some spots, as much as 1 1/2" of sill plate/beam are now exposed. He and his helper didn't bother looking at the other sides of the barn, to notice that the barn boards were at least 1"-2" lower than the sill plate/beam.

I paid him time+material, so saying 'redo it' to him would just means my paying him a bunch more money.

What's the cheapest/easiest fix for this, so the sill plate/beam is best protected from rain/etc?

My cousin suggested getting galvanized drip edge, and sliding it under the bottom row of boards, so that it hangs at least 1" below the bottom of the sill plate/beam, and there is at least 1" under the barn boards. But I'm wondering, since the walls aren't watertight, and some water will still get onto the sill plate, if having metal there will slow down it drying out enough that it will start rotting. Has anyone done this?

The carpenter suggested wedging the bottom of the barn boards up enough so the nails can be cut, and then putting a barn board under them, so that it hangs lower than the sill plate, and the barn boards are then nailed through it to the sill plate.
I'm wondering, if having a horizontal board there, instead of vertical boards with gaps in between them, will slow down the sill plate/beam from drying out after it gets wet, so that it starts rotting? Has anyone done this?

Am I worrying over nothing, since sill plates/beams get wet somewhat when it rains because of the gaps between the boards? (It seems obvious to me that you want the barn boards to overhang the sill plate/beam to keep most of the water off of it, but it wasn't obvious to the carpenter.)

Any suggestions/comments from someone that has experience fixing barns?

 

[Rustyiron]

I kinda like your cousins idea. The doofus that did your work should do it for free. Did he offer an explanation why he left the sill open to the weather? If you pulled (or sawsall'ed) the lower nails on your new siding boards so that you could slip in a metal strip (flashig material, alum or steel) maybe 12" tall to completely cover the sill plate and extend up above it 4"-5" that would likely protect your sills.

 

[/pine]

rather than using "drip edge" ...I would use flat flashing...

 

[farmer2009]

I have few ideas for you to ponder. One is to bend some aluminum flashing to cover the top of the sill and down the side behind the siding. Installed from the inside.

Or install a pressure treated sill. Then you could adjust the siding length to what you want and maybe back fill to it to slow water and air.

The other is to but in a treated ledger on the outside of the barn under the siding.

Last is leave it and see how long it last may get you to the next siding job or another repair but should at least buy you a few years before anything must be done.

Good luck.

 

[oosik]

I would suggest that what you end up doing be a "final", long lasting solution. Unless your plan is to redo in the near future. Your final solution should be expected to last at least as long as the area you are repairing.

 

[GGB]

Remind me to never hire that carpenter to frame my house........hard to understand how he didn't notice the corners not matching unless he started from the middle of the wall.