Our lumberyard sells the Sierra Primed Shake Deep Groove in 20 board bundles at $168.30 per bundle, which breaks down to approx $8.40 per 8' board. We did price out the pre-finished in Maple too...$259.25 per bundle or approx $12.96 per board. Those prices are with a 15% discount that they very kindly offered since we're OBing. :o)

Ok...Prime just the side that will be visible. Also do the ends and any joints. You don't have to do the backside unless it's going outside. If you are planning on doing this pre-installation, only do the first coat of paint. Save the second for after install, that way you can cover up nail holes and make it look really nice. If it's going to be a day or two for install, clean out your paint tray. Wrap your brush in plastic wrap or a plastic bag. (Shopping sacks work well.) Do the same with your roller, handle and all. Then put both in a garbage bag and wrap it up tight. They'll stay wet and usable at least a week. You can also put them in the fridge, but I never have room, so I don't. The Bin dries super fast. (I really love that!) I would bet by the time you get done priming, you can turn around and start your first coat of paint! You can do it in the garage, just make sure it's at least 52 degrees F. Anything less than that compromises dry time and adhesion. You can do your first coat of paint in the garage too, as long as it's warm enough. You're very welcome. :)

Not a lot of progress in the last week, as I went out of town for a wedding. Mr. Weedy and his dad ended up cutting a couple days off their trip to get back to Iowa because grandma was fading fast. So no side trip to OK this time to meet the famous Jon Mon in person. :-( Anyway, we're back from wedding and funeral and have 3 days before we go east to help one sister put a bathroom in her basement and paint another one's house. So today I finished up the big flight of stairs. The decking is kind-of squeaky, presumably because all the expanding and contracting from the rain/sun. So Mr. Weedy tightened up all the screws that aren't yet plugged. I guess that's what using Liquid Nails under the decking helps prevent? I've done that on the stairs and they feel very solid, so I'm sold on that technique for the next deck, should there be one. Our goal is to finish the plugging tomorrow and the wood part of the railings on Saturday. There are two of us, so it should go faster than my solo act the past 3 weeks. The staining will hopefully follow soon after we get back from my sisters'.

I've been away from my computer for quite some time so don't know if there is anyone out there who wants to continue this discussion. My house is post and beam with stud walls constructed between the vertical beams. Then this is wrapped with rigid insulation and then firring strips placed on outside of this insulation and nailed to stud walls mentioned above. The strips are really 5/8 inch thick instead of 3/4 as previously stated. I took down a clapboard and drilled through the firring strip to determine how much space was between the strip and the stud wall and it is about 4 inches (the insulation is obviously quite thick). So even though the firring stip is securely nailed to the stud wall, I really only have 5/8 thickness to nail my clapboard to. The south and western exposure really take a beating from the sun and my square nails from Tremont nail company won't hold. They have the configuration of being narrow at the top, then wider in the middle and then narrow again. They are made specifically for siding but between the weather and nailing to 5/8 inch thickness just aren't holding, hence the consideration of using screws. Since two museums which maintain historical structures recommended screws I feel that this must be the way to go. So I'm still deciding if I prestain before installation of the clapboards how I will deal with these exposed screw holes.