Need advice in renovating Western RC house

Hello all

I am new to the site and look forward to learning a lot from you experts in wood work.:D

Now I have recently purchased a house on a couple of acres and it is built of Western Red Cedar (WRC) and stone. I want to extend one side of the house in the near future and would like to know the best way to remove the WRC cladding without destroying it as I want to use it again. Also I would like to know if there are any sites which would provide instruction on how to build an external wall of WRC with the internal wall also of WRC. I guess I am asking how nail the vertical boards on to the frame once I find out the method of building such a frame.

It is a lot for my first thread I know but I guess I need to start somewhere. :o Oh yes; would anyone know a place in Adelaide that I can purchase more WRC cladding boards and what would such boards cost.

Cheers and thanks

Donno

hi and welcome to the forum! You will find a LOT of great advice and help here ..... and perhaps the odd smart A@#$e :D:D:D:D

Could you post a couple of pics of the wall in question? Reason I ask is that you allude to vertical boards and I am wondering what profile they are - this will help in determining removal method (though Cedar is notoriously brittle and soft). Can't help with where to get Cedar siding in Adelaide sorry, but surely someone will know on the forum - perhaps ask in one of the timber sections as well.

have fun and good luck!

Hi Steve

thankyou for the welcome and many thanks for replying to my message. I will get some photographs and post them as soon as possible. I know what you mean when you said WRC was soft and brittle. I only hope I can remove some of the siding boards in one piece as I would imagine it is pretty expensive to replace. I am going to need some new boards anyway but if can keep the costs down it also keeps the boss happy :o as she is not really sure she did the right thing agreeing to buy the place.

Cheers

Jim (Donno)

just thinking about it, it may make most sense to find the nails and drive them through to release the boards - at least until you can get behind them to prise them off.

Still keen to see any pics!

have fun

:D:D

I finally have got around to taking photos of the house and boards to show what I mean. Sorry about taking so long but I have been really busy and needed some advice about loading software etc on my computer. So here goes.

I want to remove the WRC cladding and windows but don't want to destroy as I want to re-use it to re-clad after I have extended room out some.

Now all I have to do is work out how to attach the photos.

Hey I did it - I surprised myself :p

hi again! Can't see any nail heads sticking through so am wondering if it is secret nailed. As the material is brittle and soft as hell, it is imperative to take great care as it scratches and marks very easily. Please let us know if you can see the nail heads anywhere. Thinking about it, these may be fairly easy to get off once you sacrifice one board to see what's what. The nails 'may' even pull through the boards...... which would be brilliant. It will depend on what type of nials they are, but bullet heads maybe.

Hi serph1

thanks for your interest and reply Steve. No I can't see any nails and I think you are right about the boards being soft and brittle. I am a little hesitant about removing any boards at this stage as I am in the planning phase still. I would expect to see bullet head nails in the boards but I think they have been nailed in such a way to hide them - perhaps in the groove as I think they have been fixed tongue in goove??. I guess I need to know also, given the boards are brittle etc., can they be re-attached once I build the new frame and if necessary can they be cut to a different size without destroying them. I have not priced any new boards yet but I would expect them to be pretty expensive, hence my caution in removing and re-attaching the original boards.

Thanks

Donno

hi again mate - all things are possible, but not all are practical. You will probably be able to buy a similar board somewhere though I can't quite make out the profile. When you get closer to having some plans drawn up, you will be able to calculate whether you'll have enough boards to do what you want..... but if all else fails, you will still be able to get a great result, even from a different material. provided the design is done right. I imagine that if you can't see the nails at all, then they are either tucked into the corners at the joins or actually fitted under each subsequent board.....bit hard to explain but I think you get my meaning. Once off they can be cut without any hassle - being so very soft, they cut easily.

have fun!

then this will tell you how to proceed further.Of course it would be best to have alook at any plans on its construction when made if poss. Looks like the nails are hidden in each overlapping plank, much like t&g floorboards I'd say.
Its a very soft wood so careful and you may be able to prise off, and the nails will pull through the back of each plank, this way you don't bruise and dent the outside face of the boards. needless to say but I will say it anyway, proceed with caution and you'll probably be able to reuse a fair bit of them again.