Redwooding siding??

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My house was built in the 60's and was sided with premium clear heart redwood like many homes were. Like the rest of them, folks simply slapped paint on it every few years. When I bought the house in '91, I spent untold hours sanding 30 years of peeling, ugly paint off to reveal the beautiful redwood already there.

Several years later, I built an attached garage and went down the street and paid dearly for readily-available redwood to make it match the rest of the house.

Now my old house needed some repairs a year ago and I had to remove the siding on the front side. There was just no way to save it. Much of it was already cracked and the rest cracked no matter what technique I tried to remove it intact.

I had enough redwood left over from the garage to get all the way up to the windows below the gable end. I have spent a year trying to find the piddlin' amount I need to finish it. But there is NO redwood siding available around here, nor can any of the dozens of lumberyards I have visited order any.

Even crazier, they can order all the dimensional redwood boards I want, just no siding.

It is still available out West, but even stopping on our summer vacation out West yielded no "on-hand" supplies for me to strap to the camper roof and bring home.

I desperately need to get the house buttoned up for winter. Even clear red cedar will not come close to looking right. If it was the rear of the house, i would not care so much. But it is the front, and it looks like crap half-sided and half-tyvek for over a year now.

Does anyone here have access to redwood or suggestions? It is plain old 1/2" by 8" bevelled lap siding. I don't need much, and can get by with lengths as short as 6 to 10 feet. Even salvaged redwood is fine with me.
 
I resemble that remark!

Now that the leaves are gone, my house is again visible from the road. People think I am the world's slowest homeowner/carpenter. I am, but that's beside the point.



Half my son's football team showed up recently and offered to finish the siding for me, so folks are noticing. It was a nice gesture, but I had to tell them it was a matter of not being able to get the materials. They seemed embarrassed until I realized they thought I meant I was too poor to buy the materials. I am, but that, too, is beside the point. I then explained to them the facts of life regarding treehugger nazis. :rolleyes:



You would think by now that I would have seen a reduction in my property value and taxes, but such is not the case. I guess I need to put a few more trucks and cars in the yard and substitute cement blocks for the wheels and tires... Maybe a couple of trucker mudflap chrome girlies on the mailbox will help? I think it would be original, at least.



If I could find a little time, maybe I could even get a couple deer carcasses hanging from my front porch. I could stand to kill something about now and the meat would come in handy. Plastic pink flamingos are too hard to find anymore, and every seller paints the concrete coachmen holding lanterns white these days. (Boring)



My mom and uncle tried to find me some redwood in Oregon a month ago. No luck. My brother in San Diego found a local mill, but they only offer a much thicker, rabbeted type of siding and charge more than my house is worth for it. He sent me a sample and it simply won't fit with mine, either. I think the 6 inch sample was "only" $20 or so... (Actually, they charge about $4 per lineal foot. ). Kalifornians obviously make more money than Iowans.



Believe it or not, I am SO close to being able to implement "Plan B" that it is really frustrating. That plan would entail making a change to western red cedar shakes for the gable end above the windows. If I MUST change woods, I think making a texture change would make it look "planned". The cedar shakes, with their color variations and shadows would blend nicely with the redwood once stained.



To get that far, I need eight lousy 6' foot pieces and six measley 4' pieces... Might as well be 1000 board feet...



In addition, I built a small entryway over my rear basement exterior steps. If I got really lucky, I would buy 28 more 8' pieces of redwood and make that match the house, too. But if I must switch to cedar in back, I really don't care that much.



But on the most prominent part of the front of the house, to switch to cedar siding now would be quite apparent and would not look good at all (I put a few pieces up to see). Man-made materials that contrast just don't quite work, either. At least none I or the lumber sales reps have come up with.



The front of the house is Anamosa limestone and clear, all-heart, vertical grain redwood. The windows and doors and gutters are terratone (sometimes called bronze; depending on manufacturer) color.



For over a year now, the prominent feature and color has been Tyvek-silver. I switched to silver plastic tarps on my boats to try to get a color theme going, but it just isn't working. I just need to find a few redwood siding boards and get on with life...



i have tried many internet sources, thanks for linking to some, Kenny. Here's the results:



The 1st one gives you a voice mail to leave your number. The guy never calls back. My local lumber yard even tried him, and he never called them back, either.



The second link is for a dealer who will NOT deal in small quantities.



The third gets you a very sexy sounding girl on the phone who will tell you with tremendous sympathy that they do not stock redwood and don't know where to get any, despite what their webpage says and shows.



The fourth and final link simply won't load on my computer.
 
SRath, pm me with a detailed description of your siding. include D X W on both edges, as well as texture. pic would also be great. i operate a small millworks in n. calif and have rough sawn 1 x 8 ready to shape. v-rustic, cove rustic, t&g or shiplap siding all doable. rough textured bevel lap is one of the few that i don't process myself, but i know a sawyer who would probably do it for you. shipping might be the deal breaker, but maybe other tdr members heading your way could help out a bit.
 
SR, maybe get some rattle cans and color the Tyvek to match the siding. It may help hide it from the road and will buy you some time. ;)

If that doesn't work, I have some old farm tractors you can have for cheap to lower your property value. I know they work, it did for me. Unfortunately, my wife can't deal with the asthetic issues associated with saving money, so they have to go. :-laf
 
Well Rath,



You just can't help going political, can you? :-laf



I wish I could help you with siding, but seeing as how I live over 1400 miles away...

Maybe we could work out a deal of sorts.



I have a self propagating supply of those tax lowering automotive lawn ornaments to which you referred; maybe I could tow one of 'em out to you and you could find me a reasonably priced(dirt cheap) JD compact tractor to haul back.

I know...

dumb idea.



Maybe while your abode is wrapped in elegant silver, you should snap a few pictures of it- it could become an icon in the battle against rabid environmentalism.



I have a couple of concrete lawn deer littering my yard, one is sporting a rebar ear. I'm not sure why I need them there anymore, they'd be more useful as snowplowing ballast this winter-I have enough real deer eating all of the shrubs.

Anyhow, I could just throw 'em on the trailer with one of my automotive lawn gems. They're sturdy little fellers; I can tell you that much. You probably could prop up a car or truck on one of them-yielding that authentic, happy redneck look.



Oh yeah; those sexy sounding girls that tell you to leave a voice mail... .

they're all 300 pounders, probably ascending giant redwoods and giving them names like "Luna"-eating out of and pooping in the same bucket.
 
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IF seafish cant hook you up send me the same stuff he asked for and I'll go by the local lumber yard. With the amount of multi million dollar homes in my area I'm sure they might know where to get some themselves.

IF not I can help improve on PToombs Idea. Take a picture of the good siding then print it out and tape em all over the tyvek... .
 
I will try to get some photos posted tomorrow. Any of you who think you can help, I would also be happy to send a sample piece of what I need to you if you pm me your address. Thanks for the interest, guys!

C. Fish, my siding is just basic 1/2" x 8" (nominal) beveled lap siding. Like sawing a 1/2" x 8" board diagonally through the crossection. It is rough on one side and smooth on the other. It was installed on the house smooth side out. I can have a piece in the mail to you tomorrow if you can pm an address.
 
I will try to get some photos posted tomorrow. Any of you who think you can help, I would also be happy to send a sample piece of what I need to you if you pm me your address. Thanks for the interest, guys!



C. Fish, my siding is just basic 1/2" x 8" (nominal) beveled lap siding. Like sawing a 1/2" x 8" board diagonally through the crossection. It is rough on one side and smooth on the other. It was installed on the house smooth side out. I can have a piece in the mail to you tomorrow if you can pm an address.



SRath, I am on the road with my truck right now, helping my Mom to move... I won't be back at the shop until mid next week and then I can call my sawyer freind to see how busy he is and when he can get it done. I'll pm you my address now, but maybe wait to send the sample until next week, unless you don't mind investing the few dollars for postage. But if you wait, then I'll have a better idea on availability and cost of the material. Shipping will be another matter, right?? Also, you would have to be OK with air dried lumber, not kiln dry...



You can pm reply me with more questions; Also, please do pm me if you find an another source meantime... .



Thanks.

Clark
 
My luck might be changing!

I went into Lowes yesterday morning after work. I wanted to see what they had for cheap siding to button things up for the winter. Yeah, it would still look bad, but I spent a lot of money on new sheathing and insulation and do not want it ruined.

A manager from the commercial sales department passed by me and asked if I was finding what I needed. "Heck no! I need redwood, but right now I also need to get my house covered with anything. I already asked here about redwood siding a long time ago and was told you don't have any and can't get any. Neither can anyone else. But I don't even see any cedar or hardboard siding here. What gives?"

I was stunned when he told me he could get redwood. I did not believe him at all. So we went to his desk and he called the supplier (In Indiana of all places!). It appears he can, though I am having him send a sample of my siding to the supplier first to make sure it is what I need since I must pay special shipping charges and the siding is not returnable.

It had better not snow here for a couple months (yeah, right). The Dodge is going to remain in pieces in the shop since the parts money for it I have been gathering is now going for the priciest of siding... Oh, and lets not forget Christmas... what a lousy time to get hit with a 27% pay cut (hours cut). Oh well, just finding redwood makes my week!!

edit: Did I really type "Redwooding Siding" for a title? That's bad... :rolleyes: Worse yet, Kenny didn't even hammer me for it! :D

I pm'ed you Clark and would not mind a bit sending you a sample in case this does not pan out. A padded mailer and postage is cheap.
 
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