Hiding the Siding

As mentioned in an earlier post, the Smiley house has two room additions, each of which ended up with exposed siding from the original house exterior.  In order to eliminate the look of an afterthought addition, we had to cover the siding with a wall panel that could then be finished to match the rest of the walls in each room. 

In both cases, the walls in question were also partition walls with doorways further complicating the installation of a faux wall or way to cover the lap siding.  We decided that the simplest method would be to glue in thin sheets of basswood around the door frames. 

The first step was to create a "template" from paper.  By cutting strips of paper and taping them together on each wall, we had a removable pattern that we could use to mark and cut the wood we would use to cover the siding.  Since each sheet of the basswood we used is 4" wide, we laid the pattern lengthwise across the wood and traced the more complicated portion (area surrounding the top of the door frame). 

We then cut the section from the wood and fit it in place on the wall.  With a little trimming and sanding (to account for slight imperfections and hard to reach spots), we got a perfect fit.  Since the lower portions of the walls were basically rectangular shapes, we just measured the width on each side of the door, compared it to our pattern, then cut and trimmed each piece of wood for a perfect fit.  In the end it took 6 pieces of wood horizontally installed on the first floor (kitchen) to cover the siding. 

Using a generous amount of silicone based glue and clamps, we installed the covering.  We checked back periodically to make certain that the wood was not curling or pulling away from the wall.  It is particularly important since we used a soft wood like basswood.  We discovered when doing a similar installation that a glue with a higher concentration of moisture tended to cause more curling (and warping) of the cover-up material. 

Once the glue was set and dried (about 24 hours), we sanded the joints to create a smooth seam where each piece abutted one another.  We then added a light layer of wood glue along each seam.  Finally, a coat of primer topped off the installation. 

The walls are now ready for trim paint, wiring, and wallpaper.