Vinyl siding for a shed roof?

[MillWeld]

I am thiking about building a shed open on 4 sides for drying lumber. I currently use vinyl siding glued together at the seams (w/ silicone rubber) to make panels which I overlap on the stacks and weight down with waste lumber. It allows air to circulate, is sufficiently self supporting, long lasting and has been very successful. So, I thought why not build an open shed, use some of my many pine boards to cover the rafters completely and instead of 5V galv, use vinyl siding. It would have a solid surface to be nailed/bonded to and seal the lapped panels with Si rubber. It would be cheap (5v galv would cost me $1000 +) but would it be crazy? If I do it, how should I orient the vinyl "boards", like siding is oriented or 90 deg from that?

 

[Utopia Texas]

Here in my part of Texas vinyl for roofing would probably warp, buckle and plain melt in the middle of the Summer.

 

[oosik]

OH - I read your post again - you are putting down a layer of pine boards first. Wellll - then I see no problem laying down the vinyl siding. Lay the vinyl like siding with whatever overlap is required. Should work just fine.

 

[Rustyiron]

You could "run" it in either direction, across the slope or up and down the slope. You just need to orient your laps (seams) so it sheds water if running with the slope. I don't really think you need the silicone either.

 

[breadtrk]

I did vinyl siding for a couple years, that stuff really moves allot between summer and winter. IMO putting it vertical vs horizontal would defeat its method of repelling water. Put it up like normal, It might be Ok at .... say a 12 pitch but anything less would ask for leaks.

No way would I try to use silicone to seal it, that stuff just moves too much.

 

[s219]

Yeah, as much as vinyl expands and contracts, you're kidding yourself to think caulking has any long term effect.

OP -- any reason you can't use asphalt shingles?

 

[breadtrk]

I would do roll roofing before siding.

 

[Bird]

I did vinyl siding for a couple years, that stuff really moves allot between summer and winter. IMO putting it vertical vs horizontal would defeat its method of repelling water. Put it up like normal, It might be Ok at .... say a 12 pitch but anything less would ask for leaks.

No way would I try to use silicone to seal it, that stuff just moves too much.

:laughing:Reminds me of people I've known who drove the nails firmly down when installing vinyl siding.

 

[MillWeld]

Thanks for the replies. Most think it is doable and that is encouraging. See what I have now. It's pretty crude but has held up well and is easier to remove than 5V galv to pick out lumber. Some of it has been in use over 8 years and the Si rubbered seams have allowed for expansion but, of course, these panels have not been nailed down. Any permanent shed I build won't have much slope - maybe 2 feet in a 12 foot run - not much, I know, but the current panels are almost flat and show no leaks. I'm inclined to run the seams parallel to the slope because I think that will shed water better - it's a smoother run and hopefully will carry off leaves with the water. There is shade so the summer heat (rarely over 100 deg) has not distorted what I now have.

 

[ace10]

Vinyl siding, when installed on a vertical wall may blow off in the strong winds. How can one possibly expect it to remain in place on a near horizontal surface?

Sounds like a not-so-great idea to me. But I live in an area that gets wind, heavy rains and heavy snow.

$0.02