Siding over plywood?

[jennyf]

This may be a really stupid question--obviously I am NOT a carpenter--but when folks are building small coops with exterior siding, is there plywood underneath the siding?

 

[eggbert420]

Not always depends on the siding.

 

[jennyf]

How can I tell?

 

[eggbert420]

Vinyl or Hardie Siding usually has plywood underneath it. T-111 siding would ony have tar paper or Tyvek moisture barrier.

 

[Howard E]

This may be a really stupid question--obviously I am NOT a carpenter--but when folks are building small coops with exterior siding, is there plywood underneath the siding?

Are you wanting to build and need to know how, or do you already have and are trying to figure out what you have?

T1-11 siding is plywood, with groves cut into it to make it look like boards. It also has milled edges so the joints overlap at those same seams every 4 feet, but it is still plywood.

That is what I used, withing nothing behind it but the framing studs.

 

[jennyf]

Buying siding and building a small buildout coop to go in a small side yard. I'll look for the T-111, thanks!

 

[Howard E]

If this isn't an heirloom project and you only need shelter, you can also use plain old plywood alone. Exterior grade. Maybe ACX......a clear A face for the exterior, put the C face (the one with blemishes) on the inside. But it will have exterior glue.

T1-11 seems to be made of rough stuff these days........maybe yellow pine. Some complain about it not holding up over the long haul, although 30 years ago, a pant load of houses were sided with it. For reference T1-11 is 5/8" plywood.

What I did was to cut it out and get it ready to fit into place, then before screwing it on, Then before installing for the final time, I painted it, inside and out, plus all the edges. Basically, totally encapsulated it with paint. Two coats of oil based exterior primer, then two coats of exterior latex paint. One year later and it looks the same today as it did the day I painted it. I figure about it will need to be painted about every 5 years or so......exterior only. You could also use an exterior stain, but I"m not a fan of the new water based stains.

The same would be the case for any plywood. If you want to take plain plywood and make it look better, nail on 1 x 2 battens every foot or so including over the seam. Will look like batten board siding.

 

[cabincreations]

This coop is made of just plywood exterior with some decorative pine boarding as accents. Then stained. Just for an idea.

 

[Keeper4ever]

We are using t1-11 for our coop. Do we have to paint the inside of it? I am using Olympic exterior stain. My mom has been using it on her t1-11 garage for 30 years and it has held up great. She has restained it about 3 times over the years so i trust her recommendation for the stain.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Our coop was built with t111 in 1993 & stained a solid stain, not painted. the only thing we have replaced is the door. It probably has been restained twice. We built a mobile coop in 2009 using t111. That coop has several surface cracks or the last 2-3 years. Quality was definitely not the same, but perhaps it is still out there somewhere, but you may have to look around.