Wood siding to replace stucco?

[Glen]

My home currently has wood siding on the front with stucco covering the rest. I would like to replace some of the stucco on the back side of the house with more wood siding for aesthetic reasons. What is involved and what should I be concerned with?

Thanks!

 

[Remi]

You would have to remove the old stucco. And re paper the wall. With Tyvek or Tar paper (resin paper). If you have no experiance with papering a building I would suggest Tyvek and using tuck tape (red tape usualy used on poly seams) on the vertical seams. Have 8" overlap and positive lap everywhere. Than apply new siding. I would suggest Hardi plank siding. No expansion, shrinkage problems, allot less maintnance down the line.

 

[Glen]

Thank you! That helps a great deal.

Is there an advantage to tar paper over Tyvek? Is one more durable then the other? Or is it just ease of installation for Tyvek?

 

[Remi]

There is a debate over what is better.

Tar paper as a material is less expencive than tyvek. But is more labour intensive. As you have to double layer a building. Tar paper breathes better than Tyvek. So if you get a small leak anywhere the building will dry it's self out quicker.

Tyvek is quicker to install than tar paper. It's 1 layer and it comes in a min of 9' rolls. Tyvek is much more durable than tar paper, you can't rip it with your hands as you can with tar paper. And because it's more durable it stands up to wind better (in the time it's exposed to the elements) and you use allot less staples wich means less holes. We now use Tyvek exclusively on job sites.

On a sort of interesting side note. Tyvek is used for allot more than building paper. Fedex envelopes are made out of it so are some paint suits and many other things.

 

[Gregdoo]

This month's Fine Homebuilding magazine has an extensive piece on house wrap types and the pros and cons of each type.

 

[Glen]

This month's Fine Homebuilding magazine has an extensive piece on house wrap types and the pros and cons of each type.

Cool. Thanks.

 

[GLF]

watch out

You are in southern Calif. Watch out! Shear panels, hold downs, anchor bolts, permits but it can be done.

 

[Glen]

So, here's a stupid question...does the stucco have to be removed? Why can't the wood siding go over the existing stucco?

 

[Remi]

Siding is a system. It's not just the exterior finish material. If you install directly into the stucco you could becovering up a bad paper job behind the stucco that could couse you problems down the line. You also get into possible problems with different expansion rates, trapped moisture...

Removing stucco is a PITA, I know. But you have to think of the paper as the part that keeps your building dry and the siding as the part that protects the paper from the heavy weather.

One of the better ways of removing stucco is cutting it into chunks on the wall with a gas powered concrete saw and then using a wrecking bar or crowbar to remove the chunks.

 

[Glen]

Thanks. I don't have any moisture problems (that I know of) and I was just curious. I'm just weighing my options...

 

[Stuart in MN]

Also, if you put the siding over the top of the stucco, you'd end up with a wall that was too thick, making it difficult to flash around the doors and windows.