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idiggplants
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# Posted: 17 Nov 2021 08:04pm
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I'm in the planning phase of my cabin build. I was set on T1-11 board and baton, but remembered that we have a severe porcupine problem at our property. im wondering if composite type sidings such as "LP smartside" will have the same issue? its a similar price point and looks like wood. but i dont want to put it up till im convinced it wont be porcupine candy.
id like to avoid hardiboard for a few reasons, expense being a large one. and id like to avoid vinyl as im not a fan of the look, but if smartside isnt an option, ill likely settle on vinyl, if i can find one that i dont hate.
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old243
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# Posted: 17 Nov 2021 08:41pm
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Probablu not what you want, but we used this method at our hunt camp. We purchased used barn roof steel. We covered the whole bottom . The sides were installed , horizontally , as the sheets were long. This has repelled them. Also the costs were quite inexpensive. You can use the existing nail holes to mount the sheets , or calk them up. We then painted the steel , whatever color you choose. Ours have been in service for about 20 years now , it could stand a coat of paint. old243
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idiggplants
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# Posted: 17 Nov 2021 09:01pm - Edited by: idiggplants
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Quoting: old243 Probablu not what you want, but we used this method at our hunt camp. We purchased used barn roof steel. We covered the whole bottom . The sides were installed , horizontally , as the sheets were long. This has repelled them. Also the costs were quite inexpensive. You can use the existing nail holes to mount the sheets , or calk them up. We then painted the steel , whatever color you choose. Ours have been in service for about 20 years now , it could stand a coat of paint. old243
yeah, ideally id like it to look a bit nicer than that. would really like a natural looking cabin. thanks for the response though.
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Steve_S
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# Posted: 17 Nov 2021 09:48pm
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A fellow up the road built his Cabin over the last 2 years and this summer he installed a medium grey mixed stone up about 3' and then real Board & Batten above that. It really looks good and I'm sure fairly critter safe.
The stone is more like a Field Stone which actually closely resembles what is here but I think its a commercially manufactured product. That stuff is costly so I dunno. There are stone work people around here so maybe he worked something out.
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idiggplants
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# Posted: 18 Nov 2021 09:38am
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Quoting: Steve_S It really looks good and I'm sure fairly critter safe.
ohh man, you'd be wayyy wrong there. the parts of our shed that the porkies love most is about 10' up off the ground under the eave. trust me... if they can climb it, they will.
we built a pavilion and used 3' disks on the poles just to keep porcupines from being able to climb the poles. similar to the cones that people put on bird feeder poles to keep squirrels off.
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Steve_S
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# Posted: 18 Nov 2021 11:07am
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We don't get porcupines up here but we get our share is critters who do same stuff... Then I fear anything short of being Smooth Metal so there is no grip for claws may be your only option.
I'm putting up a Bunky and due to it's location I am putting Brown Tin 3' high around the entire base, trimming it out with a Brown Tin Cap topped with White Cedar. The rest will match my other structures which is Live Edge Eastern White Cedar. It isn't expensive or difficult and I have seen a couple similarly done and I like the look of it as well. The other bonus of this, is any splash back from rain etc will land on the tin, which won't be affected by it.
Critter Sheilds as you described been used for a couple of Centuries, very common for Hay Riks and for old grain storage structures but they've got their limits.
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idiggplants
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# Posted: 18 Nov 2021 11:29am
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porcupines arent like other critters that chew to get in. they chew for a meal.
im less worried about what they can climb and what they can technically chew and eat, and more worried about what they will eat.
you can build hunting stands and blinds out of 2x4s rough cut, logs, etc... and they might randomly chew on it by chance... but put plywood or t1-11 up, alarm bells go off. its like they can smell the glue from miles away. they find it and they chew it till it is gone.
but then OSB under a home gets ignored. same with luan flooring. both also contain glue.
im afraid my question can only be answered by someone who has first hand dealings with porcupines and has happened to use similar materials, and has seen if they generally ignore the composites, or if its something they tend to love.
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NorthRick
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# Posted: 18 Nov 2021 06:48pm
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I believe LP Smartside is basically OSB with a wood grain look embedded on the one side during manufacture. Maybe they won't mess with it.
Can you buy some and make some "bait stations" at your cabin site first? If you haven't started the cabin yet, you got some time before you need siding.
Although Alaska has plenty of porcupines, for whatever reason, they haven't been an issue around our cabin.
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idiggplants
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# Posted: 18 Nov 2021 07:20pm
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its funny, we talked to our neighbors about it, they looked at us funny. but since we've talked to them, theyve noticed stuff around our property all chewed up, and just in the past couple years they mentioned that their wood shed got hit. it seems we just have a very dense, very spiteful population of them.
i emailed lp smartside and they literally had never heard of a porcupine issue with siding before. and of course followed it up with an assurance it would be ok. lol. gotta love a salesman.
what ive figured out over the course of the day, and im sure ill change my mind 10x before the end of the week... i could put the stuff up and it would give me a chance to get the building sided, get my windows in as i can afford them as opposed to buying them all off the bat, and then down the road cover it with vinyl siding should there be issues. its the same price as t1-11, and its not a ton more than osb, so i wouldnt be wasting a whole lot of money on using it.
it certainly wouldnt hurt to get a sheet of it and put it around the property. but sometimes it goes a couple years without damage and then suddenly they hit the place hard.
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