THIS AIN’T NO VINYL HAVEN When ‘perfect is good enough’, clapboards are the clear choice to retain Colonial’s charm

It’s not as if my wife, Elizabeth, and I wanted to replace all the clapboards on the front of our house. I mean, we had been renovating our 200-year-old Colonial in Montville over the last three years and had plenty of projects. But the water pouring through the front-hall light fixture during heavy rains got our attention. As did the dark water stains forming on the front wall of our living room. As always, I was hoping the problem would heal itself. You know, just go away. But that has yet to be my experience.

So we called in the professionals. Real People. I’m a beginner at home repair, eager to learn, but I need help.

Elizabeth and I asked a friend and carpenter, Bill Horton, to help us. Bill’s three sons, Nathan, Jake and Bill Jr., were enlisted as well.

Playing Sherlock Holmes, we deduced that water could be entering above the ledge above the front door. We felt confident it wasn’t the roof since we had already replaced that.

We agreed to remove the clapboards around the door for a better look. After further discussion, we decided to remove all of them. We’re not masochists. It’s just that that would be the best way to see everything. New pine clapboards would replace the old. No vinyl or aluminum siding here. We wanted to keep the charm of our house intact. Even if it meant putting painting and clapboard repair on my list of things to do forever.

Using a flat bar, a hammer and some aggression, clapboards were removed by jamming the flat bar under a section and prying it up. Chunks came off, sometimes a whole section depending on how rotten the wood was underneath. We finished in 21/2 hours.

Now what? To me it looked awful. Under the clapboards are sheathing boards. Twelve-by-12-inch planks of hemlock. Many wet and rotted spots formed around the front door and above the ledge. So far, our theory was correct.

Removing the damaged boards, rotted, wet posts, wet lath and wet insulation were revealed. I gasped at the lower right corner of the house. About 8 inches of the post and beam were rotted, gone. Overall, Bill said it wasn’t so bad. Sure. Right.

We removed the wet insulation, sprayed the areas with bleach and water to kill mildew, chipped away damaged posts until we got to good wood, and let the whole house dry out for two days. I dried out, as well.

Next, we installed R-19, blanket insulation, sistered onto the damaged posts with new boards, and replicated new sheathing. The original sheathing had a 45-degree bevel along the top and bottom edges so each board would overlap, thus shedding water. Very clever.

Ice and Water Shield went around the windows and ledge. It’s an incredibly sticky, rubbery paper that you’d better place where you want it the first time. Once it’s down, it’s down. We caulked and foamed all openings. Typar was next, over the whole front. More caulk.

We purchased pre-primed, No. 3 grade clapboards. Starting at the bottom of the house, we snapped a line of chalk that lined up with the bottom of the clapboards from around the corner of the house. We lined up the bottom of the new clapboard with that line, tapped in stainless-steel siding nails every 18 inches or so, and moved up to the next row, continuing to the top of the house. Bill and his sons made sure the clapboards lined up with the bottom and tops of the windows for a clean look.

We installed a new ledge. I sanded the top so it angled down from the back to the front. Bill added a 4-degree bevel on the back to encourage water to flow off. Lead flashing was placed on top and secured. We caulked, replaced trim, put on two coats of paint and called it a day. Actually, it was 10 days. How did we do? As Bill says, “Perfect is good enough.”

Elizabeth and I are pretty confident the house is buttoned up tight. I guess a big rainstorm will tell. Until then, onto the next project.

David Jacobson is a free-lance writer and graphic artist living in Montville. He can be reached at jcubson@privot.net.

On replacing clapboards

. Pre-primed clapboards save painting time

. Caulk, caulk, caulk and more caulk

. Use stainless-steel siding nails

. Always wear safety glasses

. Be generous