Sidings are the first thing that a person sees when he takes a look at your house. Hence it’s doubly important to use a good siding for your house. The protection provided by sidings keep your home safe and the exteriors free from any damage.
Probably the oldest type of siding used is the T-111 siding, whose use was prevalent in the houses of seventies and eighties. It is made from wood and other material by compressing them and producing a kind of siding which is different from wood but has the qualities to protect buildings against adverse weather conditions and provide resistance. It does not have the look of wood, rather has a grainy look. But it is good for those who like to add an earthly touch to their homes and aluminum or vinyl sidings do not really fit in the picture here. T-111 is understandably lighter and hence easier to install. It comes untreated, therefore you have veritable playground to experiment and choose the best possible color and design for the siding of your house.
The T-111 siding comes in two varieties- plywood and OSB (oriented stand board). The plywood variety may cost a bit more to your pocket but is superior product to OSB providing greater durability and also more options of finishing. Another point for plywood over OSB is that plywood can be stained according to your choice, whereas OSB needs to be primed or painted.
But with these advantages come the disadvantages which interestingly arise from all the positive aspects of T-111. Since it is engineered wood, it does not possess the durability or strength of wood and in extreme conditions, does not prove very useful. Rather, it can cause problems as it is prone to damage by water and this damage tends to travel to all parts. Therefore, all of the siding would have to be changed and not just the portion with the damage or rot. It comes untreated, hence the only protection on it is the coating of painting or staining provided by you before installing it.
To ensure that the T-111 siding installed by you has a long life and serves properly, regular care is required. Periodic costing with painting or staining, proper sealing against adverse weather conditions, and checking of the installations. Also, from time to time, check for damages that might have been caused due to high moisture content. Regular checking would ensure that if the damage has not spread too far, then only the rotted portions need to be changed and not the whole siding.
T-111 siding may have lost their popularity over he years to newer and advanced materials, but they can still be utilized for barns and sheds as these areas do not require very sophisticated sidings. the choice to paint or stain the sidings according to your choice and the wood like look still score some brownie points for T-111 sidings.
