I have a general construction question regarding panel nailing,
Our house has cladding (unfinished, painted with traditional Swedish paint) from the late 1970s. We have a desire to replace it in the future for aesthetic reasons, but you never know what happens in life, so we've been satisfied with the idea that it works at least practically.
But when I removed some joint pieces to take a look at the construction, I noticed a few things about how this is done:
* The upper panel (cover boards) is nailed at the edges of the lower ones.
* The lower panel (base boards) is not painted or treated before installation, meaning they are only red in the middle where they aren't covered by the cover boards.
* The panel is completely straight at the bottom edge, meaning no "drip nose" and not treated with anything underneath (not even painted in the short end).
I'm not a carpenter, so I don't know... but it feels a bit flimsy to me? Or is it supposed to be like that? What consequences could this have for the house?
Our house has cladding (unfinished, painted with traditional Swedish paint) from the late 1970s. We have a desire to replace it in the future for aesthetic reasons, but you never know what happens in life, so we've been satisfied with the idea that it works at least practically.
But when I removed some joint pieces to take a look at the construction, I noticed a few things about how this is done:
* The upper panel (cover boards) is nailed at the edges of the lower ones.
* The lower panel (base boards) is not painted or treated before installation, meaning they are only red in the middle where they aren't covered by the cover boards.
* The panel is completely straight at the bottom edge, meaning no "drip nose" and not treated with anything underneath (not even painted in the short end).
I'm not a carpenter, so I don't know... but it feels a bit flimsy to me? Or is it supposed to be like that? What consequences could this have for the house?
Drop nose or straight at the bottom is somewhat a matter of taste.
However, the panel should be painted.
If the underboards are not primed before nailing, it can lead to stripes if the facade dries apart/moves. However, nothing can be done about it now, other than repainting if it goes apart.
However, the panel should be painted.
If the underboards are not primed before nailing, it can lead to stripes if the facade dries apart/moves. However, nothing can be done about it now, other than repainting if it goes apart.
Self-builder
· Stockholm
· 8 603 posts
My panel isn't painted under the cover panel either - this is because the modules from the factory were unpainted - and I’m not going to pry off all the cover panels to paint them! 
In a wild amateur assumption, I would guess that 90% of all regular wood panels are not painted under the cover panel - at least not in older houses or modular homes
Simply because you usually nail a wall section before painting - although of course you could nail the panel, paint, then nail the cover panel - paint again, and then paint with covering paint...
That the panel isn't painted/treated on the end grain is worse though - but you should be able to fix that relatively easily!?
/K
In a wild amateur assumption, I would guess that 90% of all regular wood panels are not painted under the cover panel - at least not in older houses or modular homes
Simply because you usually nail a wall section before painting - although of course you could nail the panel, paint, then nail the cover panel - paint again, and then paint with covering paint...
That the panel isn't painted/treated on the end grain is worse though - but you should be able to fix that relatively easily!?
/K
Thank you for the response!
That the panel is not painted underneath is perhaps mostly an aesthetic issue.
What I'm mostly concerned about in terms of construction is that the cover boards are nailed into the underpanel (a nail in each edge). That is, the wood cannot move sideways.
Some cover boards have developed cracks in the middle, but it's hard to say if this is due to that or if the wood was like that from the beginning.
That the panel is not painted underneath is perhaps mostly an aesthetic issue.
What I'm mostly concerned about in terms of construction is that the cover boards are nailed into the underpanel (a nail in each edge). That is, the wood cannot move sideways.
Some cover boards have developed cracks in the middle, but it's hard to say if this is due to that or if the wood was like that from the beginning.
Self-builder
· Stockholm
· 8 603 posts
My cover panel is only nailed to one panel - that is, not two nails next to each other -Ari Gold said:
Maybe because of this?
/K