Building Thin Line Eichler Siding
|
The bug- 40 year old siding that hasn't been taken care of and is either so rotted or weather-checked it can't be restored- time to replace it. One choice is to go buy the siding (check out EichlerSiding.Com ). Since I needed lots of sheets and i could build it for less than half the cost, i decided to do it myself. |
 |
 |
After trying a skil saw and guide bar, I decided to use my router instead and cut the grooves with a 1/8" bit w/1/16" exposed. My router jig- designed to run on a 3/4" bar. Corian was the logical material choice- had some on hand and it works well for this sort of application. Only wierd part was setting the groove spacing (there are 30 groves / 48" panel or 1.6" OC... ) |
| I made the jig wide enough so i only had to set the guide bar 3 times per sheet on 16" spacings. |  |
 |
Then it was a simple matter of finding a dry overhang to do it under in the winter- pretty easy since this was an eichler and there's always a spare atrium hanging around. |
|
The other challenge is the shiplapped edges. The original sheets were 48" wide with a 1/2" shiplap! If you just rout the edges, you have a finished face of 47-1/2" inches (which doesn't work well with 16" OC framing...the cumulative error eats you up) I achieved the effect by routing both edges then gluing a 7/8" wide spline to the underside (thereby maintaining the 48" finished face and the shiplap edge!) |
 |
 |
The finished product. In order to make it last, I prime all surfaces (front and back) with a good oil based primer before the finish coat. Then install and go on to the next bug ;-) |