Exterior Siding & Soffit

Real wood exterior siding not only makes a good first impression it makes a statement!!! It says I’m proud of my home and I’m not going to cut corners. Plus it has an appealing, natural beauty and energy that only comes from a natural substance. At RBM Lumber we have hundreds of siding options to choose from to get the exact look you want.

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Wood Siding Profiles

• BEVEL: (also known as lap siding) Always has a horizontal application with a thin top edge and a thick butt which laps over the thin edge.
  
  Widths: 4”, 6”, 8”
  Species: Cedar and Spruce
  Grades: #2 tight knot and select
  Textures: band saw and smooth

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• NATURAL EDGE: (Live edge siding, one edge siding) this is a rough cut at ¾” thick and has one straight edge on top and a natural log edge exposed on the bottom. It is always applied horizontally. We hand-pick logs with more character to give it a very rustic, pioneer feel.
  
  Species: F&L only
  Textures: Band Saw

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• CHANNEL RUSTIC: Has a vertical application but is frequently misapplied horizontally. Has a rough face with a 1 1/4", smooth channel exposed at the edge and is a shiplap product.
  
  Species: Cedar, F&L and White Wood (Alpine Fir, Grand Fir, and/or Spruce)
  Grades: #2 and #3
  Textures: Typically has a rough faced but can be smooth

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• DROP SIDING: Is basically the same as Channel Rustic but has a coped channel that will shed the weather for a horizontal application and comes in the same options as Channel Rustic. It is also a shiplap product.
  
  Grades: #2 and #3
  Textures: Typically, rough faced but can be smooth

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• Shadow board: Is like the channel rustic but has a narrow 1/4" channel exposed at the edge.
  
  Grades: #2 and #3
  Textures: Typically, rough faced but can be smooth

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• TONGUE and GROOVE: Exterior tongue and groove is usually used for soffit material. Any of the T&G paneling products in the 12% moisture can be used as exterior siding and come in all 3 species and several different profiles.
  
  Grades: #2 and #3
  Textures: Smooth and rough faced

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• Fine Line: Is a tongue and groove product with a tongue that is 1/8" longer than the groove is deep so there remains a 1/8" space between the two faces of the board.
  
  Grades: Can be run in any grade available in each species.
  Textures: Smooth and rough faced

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• BOARD and BAT: This is simply wide rough boards applied vertically with a narrow strip nailed over the crack between the wider boards. Any species, grade, or width may be used.

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Rough Grades for 1"

Note: the rough dry grades described here are dried to exterior moisture - 12%

• Sheeting is an economy low grade of 1" boards with excessive defects which won't allow it in any of our regular grades but is still useful in some applications.
• #3 rough dry has some small knot holes, wane, limited checking, stain, limited crook and warp
• #2 & Better rough dry is your typical "knotty pine" grade and has almost unlimited knots and other limited defects usually on the back.
• Select is very limited in knots up to completely clear. This is not commonly a stock item for us. 

 

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NOTES on exterior siding:

• The ideal moisture content for exterior wood products is 12% since it will dry down to 8 to 10 percent in the summer and come up to 16 percent in the winter.
   
• All exterior wood siding should be sealed on the back before installation to protect it from moisture which inevitably gets behind the siding.
   
• The only real disadvantage to real wood siding is that it requires periodical maintenance.
   
• There are a lot of ideas on the best way to install exterior siding and not all of them have the permanent effect you want. If you are uncertain about installation, ask us for some helpful tips.

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