The wood is cypress and has been on the house for 28 years. It is in remarkably good shape. As I understand it, in the south where cypress is more available, homeowners often leave it alone to weather naturally. The north side of the house looks like new and the east only very moderately affected. The west side is the worst, followed by the south side. I still think the soft firring strips aren't holding the nail on the sides where the weather is the worst. So if screws aren't the answer, would some type of stainless or galvanized ring shank nail be the way to go? Then would I drive it in at a slight slant? I guess I would have to countersink and then caulk over the new nail--otherwise I have a mixture of a square head nail which is on the house now verses a round head nail. Tremont nail told me to go with a longer square nail but I think the head will be bigger but at this point, I guess I shouldn't care. However, square nails aren't working on the west or south side so why go bigger? My finances don't allow me to reside at this time.Anymore ideas?

I suggest you contact Certainteed by telephone - because you need a quick answer - and describe exactly what you are seeing and ask for their help. Ask them whether the builder's installation method meets their warranty standards. (If it is not according to CT specs, I can tell you that they are going to say "No" but you need for them to then talk to your builder and tell him that it does not meet their warranty standards. Once you've got Certainteed on your side, it'll be a lot easier to insist that your builder start over and reinstall the siding so that it DOES meet CT's warranty standards. I had a similar issue with my builder only it was over his use of Tyvek. His crew was not installing it correctly. Although I'm not a builder, I've looked at a lot of houses in the process of being built and the installation did not look right to me from the get-go. So, like you, I looked up the manufacturer's installation specifications. Made a copy and gave it to my builder along with a copy of Dupont's Tyvek warranty which very clearly stated that failure to install Tyvek according to installation specifications voided all warranties. Builder didn't even want to look at the documents, insisting that he was a professional and knew what he was doing. At that point I told my builder - either you read these documents right now, in my presence, or we cancel the contract immediately and you can sue me to try and get paid. Even after reading the installation specs, my builder STILL tried to tell me that his guys "have been doing it this way for years with no problems" and "there is more than one way to install Tyvek correctly" and "We're professionals and you're not, so you need to butt out let us do out jobs...." That's when I called Dupont for help and found out that they actually keep "Tyvek Installation Specialists" stationed all around the country for the specific purpose of dealing with situations like mine. The Tyvek specialist was at my house at 8AM the next morning and was shaking his head as he walked onto the property. First words out of his mouth were "THIS WILL NOT DO!" Needless to say, my builder found it a lot harder to try and argue with him than he did with me. LOL! And the Tyvek Specialist's trip did not cost me a penny. Dupont told me that the reason they have the Tyvek Installation Specialists is because so many builders misuse their product that it has been giving the product a bad name and costing Dupont $$$$ to defend lawsuits by homeowners where the product was not installed properly in the first place. Just because someone has been doing something in a certain way for years does NOT mean it is right. Most construction people learn their trades from other construction people. And unfortunately, the results of many bad building practices often do not become apparent until the people who did the hands-on work are long gone. Certainteed may not have siding-installation specialist available right in your area like Dupont does with Tyvek. But they probably do have someone on their staff who can look at photos you send them and tell you - and more importantly - your builder, whether his installation is up to snuff or not. I think Certainteed is a reputable company and, if so, while they may be able to disclaim the warranty due to your builder's bad practices - and probably will if it comes to that; they have to be aware that if you have a problem down the road with your siding, you will ultimately wind up bad-mouthing Certainteed as much or more than you will your builder. Heck, your builder l probably be out of business by then anyway! But, if Certainteed can help you get him to install the product right so that it does not fail, you'll be singing Certainteed's praises for years to come. Trust me, whenever anybody mentions a Dupont product anymore, I tell my Dupont Tyvek story. And given a choice between a Dupont product of any kind and a competitor's product, I now choose Dupont because I have reason to trust the company. Good luck.

Um, the BLO and turps mix is NOT the reason for the problem. It's a standard, recommended, pre-treatment for extremely old, resinous, (i.e old growth pine, fir or cedar), partly weather-exposed, wood. Besides, that's what's under the still-sticking BM primer and top coats on the other buildings. In my case it is the unsatisfactoriness of the SW paint. The BLO component of the pre-treatment step has recently come into question in some quarters as a possible substrate for subsequent mold issues. However, again, it's under the BM paint with no problems seen. Some people have recently chosen to use organic BLO (it's quite pricey and I don't see a difference in other tests) or use a concoction made partly with Penetrol as recommended by the Forest Service. Old wood -and mine is more than 160 years old - is a very different from modern materials and requires different prep steps. Perhaps the difference between my experience and that of Olhousegal's is that my project preceded the Duration formulation, and of course, I am in a much more severe climate where temps of -25F are routine. The OP and I live in the same region, which is why I piped up with my experience. My steps were the same as OHG's: I painstakingly went back to clean wood, too. That's part of the reason I was so disappointed with the results. L.

It's sure not an easy decision. I have a cottage, and some of our 35 year old untreated cedar shingle siding is damaged and needs repair because it was installed in areas in direct contact with the roof. Our contractor has suggested tearing the off the cedar and going with LPSmart siding, a composite, there is also Ecoshel, cedar shingle siding. I have researched at the Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau, who have been extremely helpful and what I have come up with is...there is no replacement for real wood. If I repair the cedar which has been on for 35 years, I should get another 15 years. If I put on the composite it's lengevity is questionable, as with any newer product. I do know the cedar I have, although in need of repair has been on for 35 years and still has some life in it. Some people think the cedar is just old and dirty looking, I love it