I’ve been following Matt Risinger’s blog for about a year, because he’s sharing great videos about high-performance homes in Austin, Texas.  Take this video about using old pine siding from a home built in 1935.  The siding is in a condition to be reclaimed because it’s had enough air to dry when wet over the years.  Now that it’s being re-used, Risinger shares the vented rainscreen he used to make sure the siding lasts another 80 years.

The home was first layered with DuPont DrainWrap, and then covered with a 1″ blanket of Dow Styrofoam extruded polystyrene.  Following that, Risinger put furring strips of polycarbonate plastic on studs to create about a 3/8″ air gap behind the siding.

At the end of the video, Risinger shares the final, painted wood siding, and it looks fantastic.  From what I can see, it looks like new wood and equally as neat as fiber-cement, which is commonly used today to achieve the same result.

[+] More building science videos from Matt Risinger.

Credits: Matt Risinger.Â