This video details the installation of LP Smart Side board and batten siding on a house, emphasizing meticulous planning and specific flashing techniques. The focus is on the pre-installation layout to ensure battens align aesthetically with window and door trims, avoiding awkward cuts. It showcases practical on-site adjustments, challenges like forgotten tools, and strategic decisions, such as running the board full height on gables in post-frame construction to maintain a consistent trim plane. Detailed instructions are provided for critical kickout and garage door flashings, highlighting their placement under the siding to manage water effectively, along with tips for achieving a professional finish.
Installing LP Smart Side Board and Batten Siding: A Comprehensive Guide
0:00 Project Overview: The team begins transitioning from stone work to installing LP Smart Side board and batten siding on a house, preparing for interior concrete pouring and door installations.
0:30 Strategic Layout Planning: Emphasizes the critical importance of pre-planning the board and batten layout to ensure battens do not awkwardly align with window and door trims, which would compromise the aesthetic.
1:46 Smart Side Panel Spacing: Discusses the 16-inch width of Smart Side panels and the necessity of incorporating a 3/16-inch gap between pieces for expansion and contraction.
4:50 Optimizing Board Placement: After careful measurement, the team decides to start with a full board centered on the windows to achieve optimal batten placement around all openings and corners.
8:02 Initial Installation Challenges: The crew encounters a setback, realizing they forgot their primary siding nailers and sufficient nails, leading to temporary "tacking" of the boards until proper tools are available.
10:30 Essential Gaps and Flashing Protocol: Explains the requirement for a 3/8-inch gap between the bottom of the siding and the metal flashing at grade. Also notes the need for window header flashing before installing boards above windows.
22:33 Gable End Strategy: An unconventional decision is made to run the vertical board siding all the way up the gable ends, even where horizontal lap siding will eventually be installed, to ensure all trim pieces (corner, rake) maintain a consistent plane.
26:04 Balloon Frame Construction Advantage: Highlights that the house's "balloon frame" (post frame) construction allows for continuous vertical siding without interruptions, unlike traditional stick-frame homes that require trim lines at floor breaks due to compaction.
34:53 Enhanced Efficiency with Cordless Nailers: The team switches to Paslode cordless nailers, significantly increasing efficiency by eliminating the need for a compressor and air hoses.
36:01 Consistent Nailing Technique: Demonstrates a method for consistent face nailing on vertical siding using a scrap piece with marked dimensions to ensure uniform nail placement.
36:54 Innovative Framing Square Prototype: Showcases a prototype Martinez square designed for easy pitch adjustments for rafter, hip, and valley cuts, seeking viewer feedback for potential production.
47:31 Kickout Flashing Detail: Explains the installation of crucial kickout flashings at roof-to-wall intersections to divert water away from the siding and into gutters, detailing how the Smart Side is cut and sealed around them.
51:29 Garage Door Flashing System: Details the installation of a specialized flashing system for garage door openings. This flashing, with a kick-out, is installed under the Smart Side boards to ensure any water getting behind the siding is properly directed out.
57:17 Hiding Gaps for Aesthetics: Since trimming over the siding requires a 3/8-inch minimum gap above flashing, the bottom edges of the Smart Side panels are painted black to visually hide this necessary gap.
58:37 Future Steps: With the main board installation complete, the next phase will involve installing all perimeter trims, battens, and preassembled window trims, which will significantly enhance the final appearance of the LP Smart Side system.