My garage wall is rotting apart and needs replaced. I have beginner carpentry and woodworking skills and I'd like to learn how to do this myself. Before I can get started though, I need to figure out what the previous owner used to rebuild the other garage wall so the new wall will match. If anyone can help me identify the interior and exterior wall materials so that I know what to buy that would be amazing. For some context on the exterior, it feels like wood and appears to be factory painted. See pictures:

 

The siding is usually called Dutch lap / German lap / cove siding. The bottom edge is usually like ship lap, a half lapped rabbit joint.

What you are seeing on the inside could be the back side of that siding... (but only if the outside exposure is the same as the inside exposure. ) Dutch lap is usually about 5" exposure and 5.5 full.

However, it's more likely that it could be the back side of your sheathing. If it is 1x4, that called beaded 1x4, and it usually is tongue and groove. It is 3.5" wide from tongue to groove, with each bead being about 1 5/8" on center.

Old model T garages were often built that way.

 

Thanks for the link. That definitely looks like what I have on the inside. I also thought at first that there was no interior, that I was just seeing the back of the siding (is that okay to do on a garage?). Then I found this online and it looks exactly like what I have on the outside: Drop Siding – Pattern #105 | Heart Pine Floors | Southern Pine (southernwoodspecialties.com) but does the other side of that siding have the same appearance as the picture I posted? It doesn't look that way to me but what do I know. Obviously very little. Why is this siding so hard to find? None of the local big box stores show it online.

Isn't sheathing just something like plywood used as a base to fasten the siding?

I'll have to go measure the interior tomorrow.

 

I call it tongue and groove siding.

 

Thanks for your comment. Any ideas about the inside wall?

 

Your first picture appears to show the back side of the exterior siding. There is no "inside" wall covering.

 

https://www.menards.com/main/buildin...5592117&ipos=7

 

Okay, I just took another look at the wall and it is most definitely the other side of the Dutch lap siding. Now the challenge is to find it locally. I don't know why but I can't find it at Lowe's, Home Depot, or Menards. Maybe I'll check at a lumberyard.

 

If you wouldn't mind, could you hold a tape measure vertically inside and out and snap another photo? I'm not convinced it's the back of the siding, but I'm not there to measure.

 

We used to have several sawmills in my town. A lot of what I see around my town is now not standard for elsewhere but is still relatively common here. The boards look similar to your photos but were made in different sizes. I assume because each mill had different machinery.

Now, years later the original size and profile siding is no longer available. They are close to what's available from national distributors but not exactly the same. Some have robbed good siding from other parts of the building to repair wall section that show the most and at the corners switch to a modern, slightly different siding or change material altogether like vinyl siding. Solid wood siding is rather expensive so I've seen a lot of garages and outbuildings where the old, rotten wood siding was left in place and covered with vinyl. Or, they will strip a wall. Sheath it in OSB and then install vinyl. Another option would be to switch to a modern, cement based siding like Hardie. It might be a cost effective alternative if you need to re-do entire sides of the building.

Some of what I've seen is that new wood siding doesn't hold up as well as old. In some cases 10 year old siding is rotting out before the 50+ year old siding next to it. I assume old growth wood vs new, fast growing, farm raised trees. So, if you install new wood I would consider take the time to at least prime all sides, including the cut ends before installing.

Nobody ever says recreating old construction methods and materials was cheap and easy. I see it done a lot on This Old House but in poor rural areas like mine repairs are often made in a more modern and less expensive way, even if it doesn't look as good.

 

It's a pretty common 'old style' siding. The big box stores don't sell it, but I was able to recently get some from a local lumberyard who has a much larger selection.

A local lumberyard should be able to order it without a problem if they don't have it in stock. It's not that uncommon (at least around here).