Help! This goes from bad to worse!!!! Warpe Weatherboards.

**ian** · 22nd September 2006, 09:27 PM

Originally Posted by Cobber

This weekend I will try to fix them and see how I go.

The specifivation says to cladd with "pre-primed weatherboards". They wrote down on a variation they would give me a weekend to paint them (itsbeen 3 weeks and not all have gone up yet).

Ian how can I tell that these weatherboards are pre-primed? I assumed they were...they have a thin white coating on them.

Cobber,
Bitingmitge posted the following:

Priming - For all cladding where a painted finish is required, boards should be primed all round with a solvent (oil) based primer plus one coat of undercoat, colour matched to the final finishing coat.
This will ensure that lines will not be apparent due to any shrinkage or movement that may occur later. Knots may be sealed with a 2 pack polyurethane or other sealer recommended by the paint manufacturer.

From here it doesn't look as though the boards have been primed, the coating is too thin. I'm not sure what is meant by "pre-primed", as I haven't heard the term before, but if it means "a thin white coating" as per your post then the boards have been pre-primed and are thus to spec. If you can, visit Bunnies or another timber supplier and look for examples of unprimed, pre-primed, and primed boards so you have a better idea of what was supplied.

When you applied the paint, did you use a primer followed by an undercoat or did you apply two top coats?
If the later this may be a bigger issue in the long term than the cupping and warping is today. I suggest you seek advice from the paint manufacturer.

You also post that "not all have gone up yet" which implies that most of the boards are useable and have been incorporated into the work.
How many boards need to be replaced?
If it's not many, my advice is to aim for a deal where the builder wears the cost of the lost productivity because the boards are harder to handle and take longer to fix than they should and you wear the cost of any replacement boards.

As I read the information provided, your contract is written on the basis that you will do the painting, the boards supplied were to spec (i.e. pre-primed), you unstacked them, painted them, restacked them and the boards warped. I'm reading all this as project risks for which you elected to be responsible.

Even if the boards are not to specification, you have used them (painted them) and therefore knowingly accepted for incorporation what was supplied. You can't return them for resale, so it's no longer the supplier's problem. (Sorry)

As I said in my earlier post, the contractors I deal with would view this as legitimate grounds to claim a major variation because of the extra work involved so if it went to arbritation, you're unlikely to get much joy.

ian

please forgive me for not being particularly sympathetic but if you try taking this to the lawyers you're likely to get badly burnt and I'd not like to see that.

**ernknot** · 23rd September 2006, 03:11 AM

Look, I feel sorry for the guys who get caught out, but why in the hell don't they consult the forum before they leap????? Here, there is so much knowledge and experience to be shared. Why be the Lone Ranger??

**pawnhead** · 23rd September 2006, 12:26 PM

Originally Posted by ernknot

Look, I feel sorry for the guys who get caught out, but why in the hell don't they consult the forum before they leap????? Here, there is so much knowledge and experience to be shared. Why be the Lone Ranger??

That's easy to say in hindsight. A lot of people would see painting as something that's easy to do, and a way of saving some money. Of course he should have painted the boards all round, and perhaps the builder should have informed him of this although he's not obliged to.
It seems that it's the owners responsibility here, and I'd try the wetting and stacking suggestions in this thread. If you get them straight, then paint the back, but be aware that they could still shrink a bit even after they're painted and installed. It's important when they are nailed on that the nails only go through the top board and not through the top of the board underneath. If they do then the boards could split. Make sure that the builder installs them correctly.

**Cobber** · 23rd September 2006, 11:10 PM

Today I have tried the wetting and stacking method suggested. I wetted them with a light spray with a water bottle on the unpainted side and then stacked them in bundles secured tighly by strapping. I then stacked them on top of each other and have put a few heavy concrete pavers on the pile to give it some weight.

I dont think I will paint the other side as I will not get time. Do i really need to? Once they are up will it matter? I have read some debate on this in the past.

cheers

Cobber

**Cobber** · 23rd September 2006, 11:27 PM

Sigidi, I have all the boards atcked but they will be in the sun as I have nowhere else to put them. I covered them with a tarp (3/4 of it() to try and keep them out if the sun and rain.

I think I will need to check them next week to make sure no mould has gone on them.

It was mentioned that they could shrink when up...isnt that a risk for all weatherboards?

Cobber

**bitingmidge** · 24th September 2006, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by Cobber

It was mentioned that they could shrink when up...isnt that a risk for all weatherboards?

Yes, and that's the reason you prepaint the exterior surface as well!

Just a reminder if you don't know, make sure that each board is fixed with just one nail.

The nail is positioned in the "fat end"(bottom) just above the "skinny end"(top) of the previous board. That way each board clamps the preceding board and allows it to shrink and move as it will.

If the fixing has a nail top and bottom, as the boards shrink the nails hold he top and bottom in position, and a big crack develops in the middle! :eek: :eek:

My first expensive mistake as a humpy builder, was expecting that my carpenters knew that! I managed to salvage about 1/3 of the cladding on the house, I've paid off the extra costs, but the memory of arriving there to be greeted by by "unamused" customer is still not pleasant after 30+ years!

Cheers,

P

**Sigidi** · 24th September 2006, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by Cobber

Sigidi, I have all the boards atcked but they will be in the sun as I have nowhere else to put them. I covered them with a tarp (3/4 of it() to try and keep them out if the sun and rain.

I think I will need to check them next week to make sure no mould has gone on them.

It was mentioned that they could shrink when up...isnt that a risk for all weatherboards?

Cobber

Cool, the reason behind the tarping, is to minimise air flow in the early stages - most often the initial drying of timber is too fast and it tears itself apart creating spilts,checks etc. THe idea is to minimise this early loss.

Fingers crossed for you, keep us updated

**Cobber** · 24th September 2006, 08:56 PM

The wind blew some of the tarp off which had a some bricks on it as well so part of the boards got wet last night and this morning! The elements are against me as well but I wont give up without a fight!

**Cobber** · 1st November 2006, 11:03 AM

Update on weatherboards,

Looks like the process of giving them a light spray stacking them correctly and applying heavy weight to the stack did the trick. All the weatherboards are up and there is hardly an wastage!

I left them in the stack for probably 5 weeks as the builders slowed down a bit after the fram was up.

Thanks to everyone who offered their advice on this one....and let this be a warning to others about pre-painting weatherboards!

Regards

Cobber

**aljenit** · 1st November 2006, 11:23 AM

Glad to hear all went well for you.The lessons/advice are what this forum is all about.

**Sigidi** · 1st November 2006, 02:11 PM

great to hear Cobber, good onya

**Chris Parks** · 1st November 2006, 03:45 PM

I hope they were painted both sides before they went on.

**totoblue** · 2nd November 2006, 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

Just a reminder if you don't know, make sure that each board is fixed with just one nail.

The nail is positioned in the "fat end"(bottom) just above the "skinny end"(top) of the previous board. That way each board clamps the preceding board and allows it to shrink and move as it will.

If the fixing has a nail top and bottom, as the boards shrink the nails hold he top and bottom in position, and a big crack develops in the middle! :eek: :eek:

Amen to that. I have a 50 year old weatherboard house (shiplapped actually) and I have just replaced quite a few boards. The 3 causes of faults were: 1. splits due to multiple nails (sometimes there were half a dozen nails at ends of boards), 2. board not painted before painting so the overlapped part at the top of the board wasn't protected and rotted, and 3) miscellaneous water leaks (e.g. due to mitred external corners which I replaced with stop beads).

Oh yes 4. I left it too long to repaint.

I found some good info on the web about where to nail and how big nails to use. Unfortunately the links I saved don't seem to be valid anymore so readers will have to google.

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