Help! This goes from bad to worse!!!! Warpe Weatherboards.

[Cobber]

My builder told me I can paint my weatherboards before they put them up. On the variation notes signed by the builder and myself it says "Keep Clients informed on painting situation for weatherboards and windows...give whole weekend to paint."

The weatherboards were dropped off and I started painting the weekend b4 last with the builders approval....finished them last weekend...2 coats of dulux weathershield on one side. The short story is I got a call today saying the weatherboards have been warped/cupped. It was 30 deg in Melb yesterday and it then changed later to cold and rainy and I think this caused the warping.

The builder says it was caused through painting one side of them only and because they were taken out of their stack and not stacked properly.
What would have caused the weatherboards to warp? The weather?

Who is at fault here...they told me i can paint them? I assume this hasnt happened to them before otherwise they wouldnt have allowed me to paint them.

Would they have warped anyway considering the strange weather ?

I have attached a couple of photos showing the extent of the warping.

Are thes boards pre-primed...they are white and I assume they are???? If they arent then they should be at fault or the fault should be shared???

thanks

Cobber

[ozwinner]

When the boards are nailed on, they are painted on one side only.
I dont get why its such a big issue, they will nail on ok surely. :confused:

Al

[Cobber]

Some of them are warped worse than that though. Wont they split on the ends and look awful?

[woodsprite]

Gee there's a lot to be said for fibro! Seems to me that if the painting was finished last weekend then 2 days is plenty of time for the boards to dry properly. I assume you stacked them again after painting? Most likely the sudden changes in air humidity and temperature have caused the cupping, whcih would be exagerrated if they weren't stacked after painting.

My old dad reckoned that weather boards should be sprayed with water on the back as they are put up, especially if they had a a bit of cupping - might be worth a try. However I reckon there is a good chance they may split when they go up if they are all as cupped as the pic - if not now, then in a few months. Try wetting them as they go up.

I had about 30 6 metre lengths of 4 x 2 treated pine to paint before they were used on our new verandah. Builder said to take them out of the pack one by one, and stack them again as soon as they were dry, to avoid warping. I did this - they were quite dry to start off with, not still wet/green. I missed half a dozen and painted them the next day but didn;t stack them - they bent and twisted - builder not happy. If it can happen with 4 x 2 it can happen with thinner weatherboards I guess.

Hope you can sort it all out - you have had one hell of a time with the b..... weatherboards!
Jeff

[Cobber]

Who is responsible here though? Just my luck for this to happen!!!!!!!!

They were the ones who suggested to paint them. Im not sure if this sort of thing has happened to them before otherwise they wouldnt have suggested it.

I stacked the weatherboards but not as good as how they came of course whne they were packaged up.

[Groggy]

When the boards are nailed on, they are painted on one side only.
I dont get why its such a big issue, they will nail on ok surely. :confused:

Al

I agree with Al, they should be ok, after the moisture evens out the stress problem should go away. It is only at the moment the warp exists because one side of the board is wetter than the other.

[Cobber]

Groggy - so do you think they cupped because i only painted one side? The trouble is they will crack when nailed in wont they? If they dont I should still get them to put them up?

If I take them out of the stack and air them out will the cupping go away do you think?

cheers

Cobber

[Groggy]

From what I've read you painted one side twice, sealing it. You then had some heat and the non painted side dried out (shrinking it) so the cup would be on the inside face.

If I take them out of the stack and air them out will the cupping go away do you think? I don't know, it depends on the weather, humidity, wind etc. It may be worth giving them a very light and even mist with water then stack them properly and cover them so the moisture has a chance to balance out. I am guessing a bit here, hopefully someone with some real experience in the area can help out.

It certainly is not uncommon for people to paint just one side. The builder probably should have checked that you were going to paint both sides if the timber was unseasoned. Attributing blame here is difficult, I think it would be unfair to lay all blame on the builder.

[bitingmidge]

Cobber, the next bit may not necessarily be for you as it appears your boards were pre-primed, but I'm posting it for anyone who thinks it's ok to paint one side of weatherboards only.

When all else fails, read the instructions: Hyne Timbers Data Sheet

Treatment Before Fixing
Clear or Exterior Pigmented Stain Finishes:
Priming - Where untreated sapwood is present, cladding is to be
given one coat all round of a water repellent preservative.
First Coat of Stain - For all cladding where a pigmented stain finish
is required, the first coat of stain is to be applied before fixing.
NOTE:
(i) Solvent (oil) based stains are recommended
(ii) The stain manufacturer’s advice should be sought prior to applying the stain.
(iii) A period of two weeks between the application of the water repellent
preservative and the stain may be required.
Paint Finishes:
Priming - For all cladding where a painted finish is required, boards
should be primed all round with a solvent (oil) based primer plus
one coat of undercoat, colour matched to the final finishing coat.
This will ensure that lines will not be apparent due to any shrinkage
or movement that may occur later. Knots may be sealed with a 2
pack polyurethane or other sealer recommended by the paint
manufacturer..

In the good old days when no-one knew how to do anything right, weatherboards were treated the same on the back face as the surface. See the term "all round". If you are going to stain them, use a clear preservative on the backs, if you are going to paint, use a fair dinkum primer, and prime all the joints too.

If you don't keep the moisture more or less equal on each side during the life of the board, you are asking for more movement.

Yes there are plenty of people who only paint one side, and yes there are plenty of people who drink and drive and don't have an accident either!

Now back to Cobber:

IF the boards have been pre primed,(although they look a bit as though they've been coated with a bit of brush-cleaning turps) the above doesn't apply, and certainly painting them in itself should not have caused the issue. You should have stacked them back under cover in a "stickered" heap, and that would have helped, so you may have contributed to the problem. If you left them spread all over the yard for a few days, you probably caused it!:eek:

I suspect you need your builder to help you out here, and get the supplier involved. I think it's a bit rich to blame the builder for not instructing you to do a job properly when presumably you told him you were going to do it.

Builder's have enough responsibility without having to supervise their ccustomers as well!

Warping is caused by drying out. Have the suppliers primed unseasoned timber here? Is the primer permiable, and your top coat not? Was your paint system compatible? Did you get any directions from the supplier? Too many questions to ask to give a sensible answer I'm afraid.

I'd love to hear how it works out though!

Cheers,

P

[Cobber]

P,

Looking at the photo does it look like it has been primed? It is a white colour...not terribly thick coating. I thought most primed boards were pink?

You are correct..I would have thought that for pre-primed boards this wouldnt happen. Or could it?

I stacked them up again above the ground. Not as good as they were stacked when they arrive but I fail to see how this could be the cause.

cheers

Cobber

[Cobber]

Whats brush cleaning turps?

[bitingmidge]

Whats brush cleaning turps?

What turps is after you've cleaned your brushes in it!

The primer looks more like a preservative than a primer, (as far as one can tell), I really think you need to get some instructions from the supplier.

If what you've done is in accordance with their recommendations, you have a blue on your hands. IF it's not, then prime the backs of the boards pronto, fix them with the cupped side down, and see how you go!

cheers, and good luck,

P

[Cobber]

Thanks P,

i realised what you mean by turps as soon as i pressed send doh!

the builder sourced the boards and in the specification its says pre-primed weatherboards!

If it has a preservative over it (whatever that is) then thats something different.

So i should give the over side a coat of paint on the weekend and then stack them again.

[maglite]

when we did our reno, the builder used green jarrah weatherboards, mainly cos thats all we could get.
He suggested that i spend the weekend painting both sides and edges with a pink oil based primer, not just the face that would be on show......he also recanted a couple of horror stories about the problems that you are experiencing.
After seeing you probs i am bl##dy glad i did as he said as our place hasnt had bugger all shrinkage and i did all that in a WA summer,average 36c over the weekend and laid them on the ground.

Cheers
Steve

[coastie]

From advice given by nephew (who works for Hyne) problem is the lengths of timber are strapped when they go in the seasoner,as soon as they come out and straps are undone usually when sold, sproing,they go everywhere,dont know what answer is ,could be correct stacking,any further ideas??