Cedar Siding

Our cedar siding, which we acquired from Enyeart Cedar,  has finally arrived on site for our Passive House, and is in the process of being installed.  We are using  4″ tongue and groove boards in a horizontal rainscreen application.

Our cedar arrived prestained and ready to go.  Since we are using two tones of stain on the building, it was quite a challenge to find a set of colors that worked well together and that everyone on the team agreed to.  We found that testing stains is extraordinarily difficult since paint shops don’t offer samples, and most brands only sell their stains in gallons. We were not willing to take a leap of faith and order 15,000 linear feet of stained wood based solely on 1″ color swaths on a paper brochure, so our decision to go with the “Olympic” brand was largely due to the fact that they were one of the only brands that offered quart-sized samples.

The garage siding  is mostly completed by now, and the main house is quickly catching up.  Here are our latest photos:

Some samples of exterior wood stains on cedar. Many of these were blends we made from existing tones in an attempt to find the right combination of tones.

After months of testing stains, these two emerged as winners.

The siding will be installed as a rainscreen with a 3/4" air cavity behind. This screen will keep insects out of the cavity.

Our siding installer Yevgeniy.

The garage/shop in progress.

Completed garage siding.

Southwest corner of garage/shop.

North face of garage/shop as seen from house.

Siding started on the main house.

Siding being installed. The two pipes are for the future heat recovery ventilation system.

Main house detail.

Main house window detail.

Main house window detail.

Main house window detail.

South face of main house close to complete. Still missing soffits, sunshades, gutters, and the front porch and canopy.

South face of main house close to complete. Still missing soffits, sunshades, gutters, and the front porch and canopy.