Trim

The trim plan is simple. I will install a 3 inch board between the siding and the ends, filling in the gap that is present around the siding, followed by a 5 inch board that will overlap the siding a bit and hide any voids and irregular cuts that are present.

The original plan was to use PVC trim boards since they are plastic and will never rot. This plan quickly changed when I went shopping and found that PVC trim boards cost around $11 for the 3 inch piece and $16 for the 5 inch piece. This means that the trim boards are more expensive than the actual siding!

I continued looking around the store and found that wood trim is much more reasonable. The 3 inch boards only cost $7 and the 5 inch boards cost $8. Still pricey, but no where near the price point of plastic!

Wood trim will give us the look we desire at a fraction of the price! Should the wood trim rot out and need to be replaced, the work involved is not that dramatic and can easily be done in a few days. 

Keeping Organized, Better Butt Joints

As you side your tiny house, you will end up with a pile of off cuts. These scrap pieces can actually be reused later by butt joining them into the length required. The most important thing to do when butt joining siding is to use "primed edges". This means that the siding was cut at the factory and is perfectly straight and perpendicular to the board. A good edge will result is a tight gap between the planks and a better looking result when it is all finished. When the factory cuts them, they then paint the whole board in primer and the factory cut edge will have primer painted over it to identify it as such.

A cut edge will not have primer on it, as you cut it with a saw after the board was coated in primer. As hard as you might try, the edge will not be perfectly straight nor perpendicular to the board. Irregular edges will result in an open butt joint and an unsightly gap in the siding which will allow rain to ingress more easily.

This is where organization comes into play. Butt joints require you to have a primed edge on the left side of one plank and the right side of another plank. If you measure and cut your planks from the same side, you will end up with an irregular number of planks with primed edges on one side versus the other. In other words, if you always measure from the left, all your off cuts will have primed edges on the right. If all your boards are "right side" "primed edge", you won't be able to make a butt joint that looks good.

By keeping track of how many right or left side primed edge boards you have left over, you can balance the stack to ensure you are able to use up your leftover boards for butt joints on long spans.

I separated the boards based on their primed and cut sides. Primed edges towards the outside, and boards with both cut sides in the middle. These boards are only usable in small sections where no butt joints are needed. 

Ordering them from smallest to largest also helps make it easier to find the right piece when you are searching through your scraps.

I originally had a bunch of "right side" primed boards because I was measuring them all from the left. Seeing how I was disproportionately collecting right side primed boards, I began measuring from the right side to produce more "left side" primed boards. With the collection of both boards, I was able to use up my scrap pile with butt joints and reduce the number of boards I needed to purchase.

I used 42 boards to side the entire tiny house. I had 6 inches of display from each 8.25 inch board. The boards cost $8.45 per board, so the cost for siding was only  $371.49! Tiny houses are great for tiny budgets!

Finishing the Siding

With three of the four walls sided, it is time to wrap up this project and transform the tiny house from a pile of peeling tar paper into a pretty to look at tiny house from all sides.

Once again, the starter strips are placed at the bottom with gaps in between them to allow water to drain out, should any rain get between the siding and the tar paper.

With the starter strips screwed to the wall, the lower portion of the battens was removed to make room for the siding to go on. Long straight planks made planking the side very fast and easy. The boards were all cut to measure and then assembly proceeded. I was able to plank the side of the tiny house very quickly using the hooks and a cordless drill.

The siding went on quickly, and then I ran out! I had a little more to go and I would be finished. I calculated that I needed two more boards from Lowes to finish the job! 

With the two extra boards, I was able to finish the siding around the window! The siding between the large window and back of the trailer was able to be sided using offcuts that were laying around in the scrap pile.

Siding the Door Side

With the section below the window finished and the section between the door and the window set, the last bit to do is the little bit of siding that goes between the large window and the leeward side of the tiny house.

This is a big step in the tiny house construction as this side has so many small features to work around. Getting everything to line up took a lot of calculations and measurements, and the end result is a tiny house that looks uniform and orderly. The section below the large window will be covered by a window box so I didn't need to worry about putting siding on it. The window box will blend into the trim around the window and will hold small flowers or herbs.

All of these small strakes lined up and the end result is a uniform house with consistent siding.

Siding Around The Fenders

Construction of the tiny house is proceeding smoothly, everything is square and all the edges are straight. Then you come to the fenders, which have curves and rounded edges that do not readily accept the siding.

To make life easier, the perimeter of the siding will have a splash of trim. This trim allows me to put off the fine fitment of the finished product until later, and lets me work with much smaller pieces as I fit everything. Lets face it, fitting a small cover board to the fender is much easier than manhandling a 6 foot board!

The front of the fender on the door side of the tiny house needs a very small section of siding placed, but it took a lot of measuring to get it all lined up perfectly. The siding on both sides of the door will meet above the door and if there is any discrepancy between the heights of the siding, it will be notable above the door when they don't meet properly. Careful measurements using the trailer as a reference point made everything line up and look even.

It all starts by removing the lower section of the batten off to make room for the new siding. Then install the starter strip at the bottom. This strip simply gives the bottom plank the right amount of flare to allow water to drip off the lowest strake without pooling and rotting out the plywood sheathing.

Be sure that the bottom of the board doesn't contact the fender as this will cause the water to pool and rot will set in promptly. A slight gap allows water to drip and drain off while also allowing air to flow under it and dry the area out, further preventing mildew and mold growth.

With the first board in place, not contacting the fender and properly flared to promote dripping, the rest of the siding proceeds quickly. The second board simply goes right over the nail line of the first board and the siding installation proceeds quickly and effortlessly.

The second strake is the last strake that needs to be beveled around the fender. The three inch gap is maintained as it runs up the side of the fender, but from there on, the edges are once again square and work proceeds much quicker.

In no time, the rest of that section of wall will be sided and the tiny house will look much more like a house and much less like a Halloween decoration!