Do You Believe in Siding After a Build?

[third_hand]

Hi everyone! I've had a long quiet period on here, but I've been steadily working away and going to shows/shops (I was at Good Sam in San Jose and was fortunate to visit Dollhouses, Trains, and More in Novato, CA for their closing sale). I will, finally, post a batch of haul and progress photos in the first week of November, when I get settled back into my home in Eugene. I really am terrible with a camera and it bugs everyone I know! In the meantime, I have a question: 

Has anyone ever tried adding siding after their build's exterior was complete? Still being a novice, when I finished my first build (the Orchid; the interior is still a work-in-progress) I stepped back and thought 'I think I should have done siding.' Especially with the shingles on, the level of detail on the exterior just varies too much; it's been irritating me for a couple of months now. I'm a bit of a stickler it seems (though I didn't know it at the time)! My window/door casings, dormers, gingerbread, and my custom porch/railings are all already in place. I realize it may be very difficult, but the question is: is it even possible? If so, do you have any tips on how to do this?

Any and all possible mini wisdom is welcome!  

P.S. I have the opportunity to snag a very affordable Laurel kit secondhand so I'm trying to decide where I should just start the next building with siding and call it 'lesson learned' or go back and add to the Orchid (and stash the Laurel until after the New Year, space is a very important consideration here). P.S. P.S.: I'm not a Cher fan, but I took a page out of Elizabeth's book (Studio E miniatures) since I'm always charmed by her ability to make musical jokes in her posts/titles!

[Mid-life madness]

Thanks for implanting that song in my brain....I'll be singing it all day.

Can you pry the trims off of the outside using heat and a putty knife?  That is my suggestion to make it easier. 

You can always give it a try, and if it is too difficult stop. Are you using the Greenleaf individual planks or the clapboard siding sheets?

 

[KathieB]

My only suggestion would be to mark the walls with horizontal lines to guide placement to keep the strips even all the way around. Then cut one strip at a time to fit, butting it against the trims. I wouldn't take the trims off, as I probably wouldn't do a very good job of it and would end up with some bits of siding butting nicely and others going to long or too short. Either way, the look would not be good.

[havanaholly]

If it were me I would invest in some sheets of inexpensive posterboard and cut them into siding strips and begin laying them at the bottom edge, cutting to fit as I go.  Once the strips are firmly glued into place, primed and painted, who will know?

[MaryKate]

8 hours ago, Mid-life madness said:

Thanks for implanting that song in my brain....I'll be singing it all day.

Thank goodness I'm not the only one!

[third_hand]

22 hours ago, Mid-life madness said:

Thanks for implanting that song in my brain....I'll be singing it all day.

Can you pry the trims off of the outside using heat and a putty knife?  That is my suggestion to make it easier. 

You can always give it a try, and if it is too difficult stop. Are you using the Greenleaf individual planks or the clapboard siding sheets?

 

I had imagined used the clipboard siding sheets, but now that I think about it invidual planks (though more time consuming) will probably be easier yo work with in this case! I'm not entirely confident that I can safely pry my casings up though. With the strips it may be easier to work around them.

[third_hand]

21 hours ago, KathieB said:

My only suggestion would be to mark the walls with horizontal lines to guide placement to keep the strips even all the way around. Then cut one strip at a time to fit, butting it against the trims. I wouldn't take the trims off, as I probably wouldn't do a very good job of it and would end up with some bits of siding butting nicely and others going to long or too short. Either way, the look would not be good.

This sounds like a good idea, Kathie! I think I might take your advice. I found that guide lines were indispensable for shingles so it makes sense they would help here too!

[third_hand]

I like Holly's foam idea (you're so very thrifty!) but I'd like to at least give wood a try. Does anyone have a preferred kind/brand of siding planks to recommend?

Thanks for the advice everyone!

[havanaholly]

4 hours ago, third_hand said:

I like Holly's foam idea...

NOT foam core, posterboard in the $ stores is a lovely stiff card stock.  I truly love the Greenleaf siding strips, which I have also used for flooring and beadboard wall covering.

[LPCullen]

Yes, I have on several houses. I'm also the weirdo that wallpapers AFTER building the house...

[mariasminis]

On 11/1/2019, 9:29:32, LPCullen said:

Yes, I have on several houses. I'm also the weirdo that wallpapers AFTER building the house...

I've definitely sided once the house is built, but I've never had the courage to wallpaper after building. Kudos!

[LPCullen]

On ‎11‎/‎18‎/‎2019‎ ‎11‎:‎53‎:‎32‎, mariasminis said:

I've definitely sided once the house is built, but I've never had the courage to wallpaper after building. Kudos!

I never know what I want to do until the base structure is built, so...

[havanaholly]

I'm with Linda.  The house doesn't usually tell me how it wants to look until it's in dry fit.  Then the only time I paper before assembly is somewhere like a stairwell or other tight area I'll never fit my hands into once it's together with glue.

[KathieB]

1 hour ago, LPCullen said:

I never know what I want to do until the base structure is built, so...

Tell me about it.  Ms. Beacon Hill has told me she wants to have wooden siding painted in a half dozen colors -- six different times, not all at once. She has also demanded brick with stone quoins and,or stucco at various times, sometimes musing about board and batten beneath the bay windows. Currently it is holding out for a brownstone skin. If only she would make up her mind ... 

[Debsrand56]

16 hours ago, KathieB said:

Ms. Beacon Hill has told me she wants to have wooden siding painted in a half dozen colors -- six different times, not all at once.

I'm so glad you specified.  I had started envisioning this:  https://www.rocknrollbride.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/san-francisco-honeymoon-travel-guide19-576x768.jpg   

16 hours ago, KathieB said:

Currently it is holding out for a brownstone skin. If only she would make up her mind ...

A brownstone would be pretty. . . .

[KathieB]

32 minutes ago, Debsrand56 said:

I'm so glad you specified.  I had started envisioning this:  https://www.rocknrollbride.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/san-francisco-honeymoon-travel-guide19-576x768.jpg   

A brownstone would be pretty. . . .

I clicked on the link and got an Access Forbidden  response. It must be a really awful picture!  

[Debsrand56]

Oh, no!  Maybe if you try here:   https://www.rocknrollbride.com/2014/05/honeymoon-travel-guide-san-francisco/   You'll need to scroll down a bit, but you'll know it when you see it.  

[KathieB]

46 minutes ago, Debsrand56 said:

Oh, no!  Maybe if you try here:   https://www.rocknrollbride.com/2014/05/honeymoon-travel-guide-san-francisco/   You'll need to scroll down a bit, but you'll know it when you see it.  

That did the trick ... wowsers! I hope the inside isn't anything like the outside.

<Glad the computer is not in the same room as the Beacon Hill or who knows what she might get in her head!>

[LPCullen]

On ‎11‎/‎24‎/‎2019‎ ‎6‎:‎22‎:‎02‎, KathieB said:

Tell me about it.  Ms. Beacon Hill has told me she wants to have wooden siding painted in a half dozen colors -- six different times, not all at once. She has also demanded brick with stone quoins and,or stucco at various times, sometimes musing about board and batten beneath the bay windows. Currently it is holding out for a brownstone skin. If only she would make up her mind ... 

LOL! That's too funny! I understand though. I've gotten almost finished with a house only to have it tell me it wants something totally different...