board and batten siding

[PILOON]

Most old barns we see were sided with the cheapest woods available
At best they got a coating of whitewash from time to time.
In my area that would have been popular or hemlock as both are generally considered undesirable for construction. (in fact not admisable for studs)
Hemlock when dry wants to split but accepts nails easily when green.
Popular rots easily if it gets wet, but for siding OK if not in contact with earth.

Do nothing for a finish and it will grey fairly fast on its own.

Of course if you want the best, cedar is the most resistant and greys the fastest.

Myself, I'd use what is the cheapest and spray with light grey stain just to start the aged look process and never look back. (built a garage that way about 25 years ago and it is still in good shape, used galvanised tin for roof on home made trusses.)

Good luck! have fun.

 

[adammsmith]

I live right outside of Atlanta. The pine would be $1000 and the oak $1500. I am just a little concerned about the pine being a softwood. I don't mind spending a little more if the oak is a better product. The roof has a 1ft overhang.

 

[winston1]

I put an oak trailer floor in one time thinking it would hold up longer. Wrong! I have western siding on my house here in East Tx. We average 40+ inches of rain with a high humidity. I built it in 1983 and it has no evidence of decay. It will turn dark but can be cleaned up. So far as looks and durability I don't think you can beat it. It's not cheap.

 

[Ford850]

Anything in the red oak family has open cells and will rot quicker than pine. White oak has closed cells and is favorable for outside use.

 

[studor]

The pine will be much easier to put up and should last as long as the oak if kept dry by eaves and roof. Softwood has resins in it that make it longer lasting than a lot of hardwoods - remember cedar is a softwood. If you want to ensure carpenter ants and termites do not eat it, spray it with a borax solution (commercially called TimBor and other things) prior to any finishing. Even with a nail gun I think putting up oak must be tough -- JMHO

 

[2manyrocks]

Oak siding was usually installed green from the sawmill. Easy to nail green, but would split unless you blunted the nail ends first and you had to watch where you nailed. Once oak dries out and hardens, you can forget nailing it by hand or with an air gun unless you pre drill. Predrilling makes the most sense so you don't ruin any boards anyway.

The other thing some folks used to do was to soak the exposed ends in a product called penetrol or some other kind of preservative, but much of this siding was simply installed and painted.

Most of the barn siding failures I see are at the bottom where water from roof drainage splashes up on the siding over time. So you see a lot of repairs where tin has been installed in these places but the upper part of the siding continues to be the original wood.

 

[LRTX1]

Whatever wood you choose, dont get hung up on all of your boards being a certain width. Having some 10, 12, 14 inch boards all mixed in gives it that country look. Same goes for the batten.

Looking at old farm houses sided with heart pine thats what they did a lot.

As far as wood goes look into cypress, it may be rather expensive but no staining, rotting or bugs....ever.

 

[winston1]

I put an oak trailer floor in one time thinking it would hold up longer. Wrong! I have western siding on my house here in East Tx. We average 40+ inches of rain with a high humidity. I built it in 1983 and it has no evidence of decay. It will turn dark but can be cleaned up. So far as looks and durability I don't think you can beat it. It's not cheap.

I just noticed I put western siding. Wrong. Western cedar siding. Bugs don't like it either.