Wavy Siding

[rimski]

[:-sonar]

What is causing wavy siding? Most of the houses are either newly constructed or less than 8 years old. I've seen some that are noticable from a block away. All of them have beed sided with Hardie Plank Lap Siding. Is it because of the lousy materials used behind the siding? Is it a framing defect?

I think the siding has been installed correctly because there are small gaps at the butt joints and it doesn't look like it is buckling. When a client asks me about this condition I really don't know what to say, especially on new construction.

Out here in Seattle it rains some, can this be caused by applying the siding on wet or damp OSB sheathing and it gets wavy when it eventually dried out?

Is there a fix?

Thanks

[hausdok]

It rains some? Boy, is that an understatement.

I see it all the time. I don't think there's a whole lot anyone can do about it.

Think about it for a minute. We get our lumber here fresh from the yards, only days from the mill and little longer from the forests - unlike folks elsewhere in the country. Ever moisture checked new lumber on a building site here? Doesn't matter what they claim, the stuff is usually 13% or higher and hasn't even begun to dry and distort yet. They put it in when framing and by the time the last coat of paint goes on that wood has dried and begun to squirrel around, causing all of the buckling that we see so much.

I hardly ever see a builder culling a pile of lumber here, but back East in my younger days we had to go through two piles to get one of straight lumber, because all of that wood from this neighborhood dries, warps, twists and cups on its way to the East coast, so we left a lot of it at the yard. I don't see that happening much here.

What do you think? Is that a reasonable hypothesis or have I been into Aunt Sadie's brandy batch?

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[rimski]

Mike:

[:-banghead]

I think your right and I have used that explanation in the past, but it sounds like there isn't much for a buyer or homeowner to do. I inspected this house last week, it was 7 years old, the siding was so wavy it almost made me dizzy looking at it. The gaps at the butt joints were 1/4" wide in most areas, the east facing wall was the worst. The buyer was concerned, so I reported the condition and recommended to have a siding contractor evaluate. What would anyone else have reported?

Thanx

[crusty]

Originally posted by rimski

Mike:

[:-banghead]

I think your right and I have used that explanation in the past, but it sounds like there isn't much for a buyer or homeowner to do. I inspected this house last week, it was 7 years old, the siding was so wavy it almost made me dizzy looking at it. The gaps at the butt joints were 1/4" wide in most areas, the east facing wall was the worst. The buyer was concerned, so I reported the condition and recommended to have a siding contractor evaluate. What would anyone else have reported?

Thanx

Was the inspection by any chance in the morning?

[rfarrell]

I would add one comment to the above. You might look into local practice but it sounds like the carpenters do not crown their wall framing. Even a slight crown gives you an indication of which direction the wood is moving and will help minimize the in and outs. The clue may be that it does not appear on all houses.

[crusty]

I think Mike is right. Ever since the big orange box took control of the lumber market it's gotten worse and worse.

Here's a thought. Green wet lumber. Wet climate. Cement based sding that the humidity has little effect on. The house is framed with the moisture laden materials in the wet climate. In the rain. The siding is applied. The lumber in said house shrinks as it drys. The siding of course does not, being cement based.

Voila', buckling. It should be most noticeable on longer runs. The gaps will still be there because the siding has little movement on its own. The wood is shrinking underneath it.