whats your prefrence? I like weathered. but it would depend upon type of wood. lots of non painted or stained board & batten cypress houses in my area 100 years old. but cypress is getting rare, folks tear down for just salvaged lumber. my house was originally board & batten. battens removed in 70's & asbestos tiles installed. this house had 8,700 cfm of air infiltration when I first tested it with my blower door. numerous cases of caulk & years of diagnostic experience later, I'm to the point of needing to add fresh air intake to my whole house dehumidifier if I do more air sealing. my point is that if I were to do board & batten today.. it wold be with foam sheating under the board next to studs. board caulked together..battens caulked to board. air leakage is an expensive thing. cheap to address when putting together..pita to retrofit. the things you learn! hows it going Snidley? whats happning at your place these days? I'm hoping OP comes back with pics. there is a lot a competent carpenter can do on fixing up houses. with the right guidence this could be a success. have a good weekend everyone.

Aynb-- Exactly the same thing (major water damage to our kitchen) happened to me a year ago. I am so sorry you are having to deal with this. You are so lucky you found this site early in your process. I know your pain about living without a kitchen, but I just wanted to tell you that for us it was really, really worth dealing with the kitchen-in-the-garage situation so that we had enough time to make plans. Take some time to set up your temporary life with temporary kitchen (we used downstairs powder room for washing dishes, microwave meals, take out) so you can get your kitchen right! In the FAQ on this forum, there is a lot of really good advice about reconceiving your kitchen and planning well. The only things I regret about our remodel are things where I rushed or had decision fatigue from the fast pace of decisions. Good luck!

There is no product that will install over concrete foundation that will support siding. Normally there is sheathing (plywood or OSB) behind the siding, allowing a place to attach. You cant attach sheathing to the concrete without expecting mold and damage there. This is why you are having trouble getting quotes because you are expecting them to do a job that will fail. You should have them restucco it or you could look at putting faux stone panels (aka stone veneer) there. I guess if you can find a contractor that will do it, they could use pressure treated plywood rated for ground contact and do vinyl or hardie siding to the ground, but you risk termites and water damage as the treatment wears off, that is why I recommended the better options above.

Or perhaps I'm out of date and the latest version of IRC and IECC are finally taking hold, especially the part that requires blower door testing of all homes. IECC 2012 Table R402.4.1.1 requires: “A continuous air barrier shall be installed in the building envelope. Exterior thermal envelope contains a continuous air barrier. Breaks or joints in the air barrier shall be sealed. Air-permeable insulation shall not be used as a sealing material.” “The air barrier in any dropped ceiling/soffit shall be aligned with the insulation and any gaps in the air barrier sealed. Access openings, drop down stair or knee wall doors to unconditioned attic spaces shall be sealed.” “Corners and headers shall be insulated and the junction of the foundation and sill plate shall be sealed. The junction of the top plate and top of exterior walls shall be sealed. Exterior thermal envelope insulation for framed walls shall be installed in substantial contact and continuous alignment with the air barrier. Knee walls shall be sealed.” “The space between window/door jambs and framing and skylights and framing shall be sealed.” “Rim joists shall be insulated and include the air barrier.” “Insulation shall be installed to maintain permanent contact with underside of subfloor decking. The air barrier shall be installed at any exposed edge of insulation.” “Where provided in lieu of floor insulation, insulation shall be permanently attached to the crawlspace walls. Exposed earth in unvented crawl spaces shall be covered with a Class I vapor retarder with overlapping joints taped.” “Duct shafts, utility penetrations, and flue shafts opening to exterior or unconditioned space shall be sealed.” “Batts in narrow cavities shall be cut to fit, or narrow cavities shall be filled by insulation that on installation readily conforms to the available cavity space.” “Air sealing shall be provided between the garage and conditioned spaces.” “Recessed light fixtures installed in the building thermal envelope shall be air tight, IC rated, and sealed to the drywall.” “Batt insulation shall be cut neatly to fit around wiring and plumbing in exterior walls, or insulation that on installation readily conforms to available space shall extend behind piping and wiring.” “Exterior walls adjacent to showers and tubs shall be insulated and the air barrier installed separating them from the showers and tubs.” “The air barrier shall be installed behind electrical or communication boxes or air sealed boxes shall be installed.” “HVAC register boots that penetrate building thermal envelope shall be sealed to the subfloor or drywall.” “An air barrier shall be installed on fireplace walls. Fireplaces shall have gasketed doors.” However, one third of the US is under the 2009 version of IECC, which is much less stringent.