Old wash house

notenoughtime · #1 09/02/07, 01:04 PM

I have an old wash house that I would like to turn into a outdoor kitchen. Now I have a ? about the siding. Is there something that I can put on to seal it --it is old and weathered so some hairline cracks. Does anyone know of a product that would work --I need to make it waterproof before insulating it. Thanks

brewswain · #2 09/02/07, 01:09 PM

spray foam the inside of the outer wall then put the interior wall back in

Spinner · #3 09/02/07, 01:31 PM

Spray foam does not waterproof. I was advised to do that so tried it and had leaks all over the place.

What kind of siding is on it? If it's wood, you might try using a wood putty to fill in the cracks. Then use a waterproofer like they use to seal decks.

donsgal · #4 09/02/07, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notenoughtime

I have an old wash house that I would like to turn into a outdoor kitchen. Now I have a ? about the siding. Is there something that I can put on to seal it --it is old and weathered so some hairline cracks. Does anyone know of a product that would work --I need to make it waterproof before insulating it. Thanks

You dont' say what the siding is. But if it is like an insulbrick asphalt shingle type thing, you might try an asphalt emulsion or sealer. That should certainly do the trick. Another possiblity would be the waterproof sealer that you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot that you can use to waterproof the inside of basements, which is pretty much the same thing.

donsgal

notenoughtime · #5 09/02/07, 02:47 PM

It is wood siding and it is not insulated at this time so the siding is exposed on the inside. I was wondering if some type of tar like the use on roofs and paint that on to coat it?????? I have no knowledge about this at all so I don't know if wood has to "breath" sounds dumb but just don't know. When I start something new I want to do it right.

Liese · #6 09/02/07, 04:05 PM

You might want to do to this forum and poke around for info http://forum.doityourself.com/index.php ; many of the moderators are skilled trades people.

RosewoodfarmVA · #7 09/02/07, 05:00 PM

With wood siding caulk all cracks and joints with a paintable caulk (it says "paintable" on the tube) then paint with a latex or oil based paint to completely seal the surface.

Around here most outbuildings are unpainted/uncaulked and are that way on purpose. Once you paint a structure you must repaint it regularly because once the paint starts cracking water will penetrate into the wood and paint will actually hold moisture IN, causing the wood to rot quickly. Unpainted wood dries out fast after a rain and so does not rot. We have several outbuildings here on this farm that date from the 1780s and have never been painted. Much of the siding is original (beaded siding and rose and T head hand forged nails), while the lower 4 or 5 feet have been replaced over the years due to the splashing of water from the roof runoff.

Also, I'm assuming that your siding is horizontal lapped siding, not vertical standing siding (board and batten). With vertical boards you have to get small strips, like 1x2s and nail them over the spaces inbetween boards. This way it covers the cracks. With horizontal siding each board overlaps the lower one, so any cracks will just be in the grain of the wood and due to old boards. In this case I would say use a clear caulk and in my opinion do not paint the wood, as this will cause future maintenance needs plus in my opinion shorten the lifespan of the siding. IMPORTANT... if there are any places where water runs off onto the wood, make sure that it is diverted either with a gutter or appropriate roof overhang. The small amount of blowing rain hitting the siding will not be enough to rot the wood as long as it can "breathe" and dry out again fairly quickly.

That's my two cents from a man who has been restoring old buildings all his life!

notenoughtime · #8 09/02/07, 09:57 PM

Wow, now that makes sense. We have an old chicken shed and a grainery both have not been painted and are in good shape except the roof are shake shingles and are shot. The wash house has already been painted before but the siding is not lap siding it is butted up against each other and is horizontel. This is an old farmstead early 1900's that is what makes it so wonderful all the history behind it.

tamsam · #9 09/03/07, 12:58 AM

Having an old log home built in 1930 we have had great sucess sealing cracks and waterproofing with the elastistic roof coating that cool seal makes. The only thing is it only comes in white. It also makes a great paint for plywood that is outside. This is the coating that is used on rvs. Good luck with your building. Sam Ps you can also paint over this coating

RosewoodfarmVA · #10 09/03/07, 08:04 AM

I would have to disagree (not disagreeably!) with those who have said that kool-seal or other brands of roof sealer is good. Those materials were made for use on metal surfaces, and while they do a good job of preserving an old metal roof, they should not be used on wood. The reason I say this is because they are an asphalt/aluminum based material. The problem is that on a wood surface eventually the coating will develop minor cracks and holes. Because it is not latex or oil paint, the paint film will not peel off after water entry behind it. So what happens is that water will continue to seep in through the minor (invisible) cracks and the wood will rot because it cannot dry out. The coating still looks good, so you dont notice any problems until it is completely rotted out.

As to the wash house, it seems that your boards are horizontal but just resting on one another, not overlapping. This is also common on old buildings but is not good practice because the top edge of each board becomes a ledge for water to collect and rot to develop. Around here when siding is done that way it is almost always oak boards, because oak is much more rot resistant. Having said that if you are wanting to seal the structure, I would recommend removing the boards and reapplying them, overlapping each board about 1 inch over the lower one. This gives you normal siding. Of course you will need a few new boards to finish the top. That is the only way I would make the building airtight. Caulking horizontal seams is not that good of an idea because of wood movement/swelling as the temp and humidity changes. The caulking won't stay sealed long before it begins to come loose from the boards.

Having said that we have several buildings here on our farm that were built about 1930's with oak boards horizontally applied with no lapping, and they are in good shape, but if they had been done with pine they would be rotted by now I'm sure, because of the tops of the boards being a perfect place for water to collect and soak into the wood.

One other thought....If you have the money another way to close in the building would be to put roofing tin vertically on the walls. We have done this many times on haysheds and it keeps out the water quite nicely, and it would be more airtight than wood siding. WE usually use old tin that we salvage off buildings people give us to tear down, and after nailing or screwing the tin vertically to the sides, we paint with kool-seal roof paint. It comes in White, Silver, and Black, though you may have to do some looking to find it. We usually use the silver for roofs to reflect sun heat and use the black for the tin walls.