Re-Siding A Camp Over Continuous Exterior Insulation

Dark stained board siding that had given everything it had — chalked, split at the edges, and losing its seal around the windows. The bones of the building were sound, which is exactly when a re-side is worth doing properly rather than patching another season out of it.

Old siding came off down to sheathing and damaged spots were patched. With the walls open, the windows were replaced and their openings reframed — the right moment to do it, since the wrap and flashing can then be detailed around new openings instead of worked around old ones. Then Tyvek HomeWrap went on as the air and moisture barrier. Getting the wrap right — lapped in the correct order, sealed around openings — is what keeps wind-driven rain out of a wall for the next thirty years.

This is the step most re-siding quotes leave out. A full layer of R5 rigid foam over the entire exterior, seams taped, breaking the thermal bridge at every stud. Insulation between studs still loses heat through the framing itself; a continuous layer outside the sheathing does not. The wall performs better in January and the siding has a flat, consistent plane to land on.

Black vertical board-and-batten steel panels installed over the foam, with base flashing, corner details and window trim worked out as the panels went up rather than patched in afterward. Vertical siding is less forgiving than horizontal — every panel has to be plumb or the whole wall reads crooked.

Clean black vertical siding, crisp white window trim, and flashing detailed at the foundation. The same building, with a warmer wall assembly behind an exterior that now looks intentional instead of tired.