Here's a b&b home I built last year. After the first siding crew spent two weeks mucking around, I let them go. The second sub stripped it and did it right. Properly applying wood siding is a lot harder than it looks. I wouldn't be surprised if a contractor who couldn't do something so basic as line up the panels also made a lot of other errors. Caulking is not acceptable. Wood board and batten over stone and brick,

tomnewengland: I am afraid I may have completely misled you with my previous post. Not so long ago the basic concept for dealing with crawl space insulation was to seal and insulate the area above the space and provide lots of ventilation below. Thus my post of a way to do that as a retrofit. I find, however, that the latest recommendations are to treat the entire crawl space as a part of the living area. This would mean sealing and insulating the walls enclosing the crawl space, no ventilation, etc. There are any number of online resources detailing how to do this. This will be much more difficult to do as a retrofit of an existing structure, for sure. There's also the possibility that 5 years from now recommendations will shift back to the original ways of dealing with crawl spaces. I'm also not sure that the current recommendations would apply to a space where there is, if I understand correctly, only 1 foot of clearance between the bottom of the floor joists and the ground. All in all, i think you would be well served by having an estimate or two done by professional insulation companies or a good general contractor. Even with taking on the project yourself, you'd have some better guidance than mine in how to go about it.

That is a problem all of us experience. We know what we mean, but often leave out seemingly small details we do not realize are important. In this case, the missing info was so important, leaving it out means all the info given is not applicable. Using the new info, it is up to the insurance company and the policy as far as replacement. If the policy states replace in kind(using what was damaged) and that material is acceptable under local codes, then replacement of the original type material should be done. That means the boards will be replaced as originally installed, regardless of butt spacing or T&G type. However, if there is no specific wording, repairs are generally done according to local building codes, with the actual selection of materials done by cost. Another difference is material thickness. As a rule, solid wood boards were 3/4" thick. Plywood is not an actual 3/4"(or 1/2", 5/8", etc.) thick. And OSB can be thinner or thicker than the nominal thickness. That means mixing types of materials is not a good practice. Testing has proven, using dimensional(solid) wood boards installed on the oblique to the support framing for roof sheathing or subfloor construction is the most stable and strongest material commonly used. The down side is that method is also the most expensive and labor intensive (meaning more expensive) method. Plywood was less expensive to buy and install. And OSB was cheaper than plywood. Then there are climate conditions. As reported in the link provided by worthy, OSB is subject to edge swelling, which can only get worse with age and exposure to moisture. There are water proof versions of OSB, they are about half to 2/3 heavier than conventional types and MUCH more expensive. To the point is is not worth using, since other less expensive materials are available. I've seen tests where the waterproof variety sat under water for 6 months and was completely undamaged. It was, sadly, too heavy and expensive to use as subfloor material and would be way too heavy for roof sheathing. Plywood can delaminate and solid wood swell when exposed to moisture. Once that moisture is gone, both types can return to near original dimensions and strength. Even delaminated plywood can have near new strength. All the types of sheathing will be eventually weakened by continual exposure to water/moisture. That is why techniques to prevent moisture/water intrusion are as important as the type of material chosen.

More than 20 years ago A.Paul Fisette, director of the Building Materials and Wood Technology program at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst said " OSB is usually bonded with phenol formaldehyde in conformance with the ANSI A208 standard (1-1989, Grade 2-M-W). This resin reacts to become insoluble, resulting in negligible or no offgassing. The miniscule amounts of formaldehyde will dissipate in time." * Today, more than half of OSB is made with MDI (Methylenediphenyl diisocyanate) binders, not formaldehyde. Unless you're working with uncured products, "indications are that once MDI is cured, the emissions from the product are insignificant and not comparable to the hazards of formaldehyde binder emissions," according to the Global Health and Safety Initiatives, a group of 14 major US hospitals and health care providers. **