I have some siding that was installed new on a bedroom addition about 2.5 years ago (before I bought the house), and it matches the original part of the house. I just noticed one spot that is looking pretty bad / odd. I am not sure if this type of expansion is normal, or if there is an install or moisture issue. The siding was caulked and then painted.

Pretty paranoid about moisture, because we already had a water leak that caused us to rip out a lot of original flooring.

I would say either water has gotten behind there and warped the wood, or the contractor didn't leave a gap at the joints.

If it's moisture and it is just 1 or 2 pieces of siding, does that mean moisture is likely getting trapped there?

Drill investigate then
evacuate pests
improve drainage
or shorten length due to expansion

Obviously not back primed
nor a drainage channel house wrap behind
Avoid future biz w/these guys

Otherwise a very odd water line leak in wall - then nevermind

500,000ags said:

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If it's moisture and it is just 1 or 2 pieces of siding, does that mean moisture is likely getting trapped there?

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You mentioned the siding was caulked, so maybe water is trapped there.

What is behind the siding?

This new part of the house has a house wrap.

If there is no rain screen, water can get behind the siding and get trapped and mess up the siding.

People often pull off cladding from a house and see that their house wrap is brown from water.

Like I said earlier, it can also bulge out if they didn't leave the 1/8" gap at the butt joints.

Where are you located?

Bell County

I don't think caulk was a good idea. It's already impacting the paint across the entire house because the caulk is expanding as well.

Did they caulk horizontally between the siding?

I would agree that that's not a good idea.

Have you considered switching it out to a cementitious product? Wood just doesn't hold up for long.

I love the wood siding and want to keep. We are also underwater on this house, especially with the water leak I mentioned.

The seller/remodeler lives 5-6 blocks away and he's going to have his contractor come look at it next week. I'm hoping this issue is just the expansion joint.

There are several areas that look suspicious, and not localized. I would say you are seeing failure issues from improper installation vs water damage because it's not localized. I had the same siding on a period house and it was face nailed, may be worth looking up installation standards (it has many names but technically it's a #117 pattern).

Could you point me to another suspicious spot, so I know what I'm looking for?

500,000ags said:

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I love the wood siding and want to keep. We are also underwater on this house, especially with the water leak I mentioned.

The seller/remodeler lives 5-6 blocks away and he's going to have his contractor come look at it next week. I'm hoping this issue is just the expansion joint.

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I have to ask...do you really want that contractor to be the one to look at this?

Hope this doesn't come across as overly critical in my mark up, but the circled area is of most concern, and the other areas to me show signs of lifting. There should be nice crisp shadow lines and these areas don't. Could be anything and I'm only seeing a photo. One of the lower areas you should be able to reach, I would lightly pull and see how much give it has, it should be solid.

Honestly, it's a fair question, but I like to start with him since he knows exactly how the house was redone / addition built.

The two bottom spots you marked between the 2 windows, I just pushed on them and they had the slightest (super slight) bend. I tried pulling and got nothing.

I get your woes but no worries ....
I never leave the OP scratching their heads, even though I may not "translate" it all ... to all that may be follow the thread. Some OPs get a more full message or even better via email.

Short hand quips for forums
Long hand meeting of the minds for pay clients .... which takes most of my time off this forum

In this case, the others have given enough clues that OP can piece together some answers without further ado.

Let us know what the contractor says!

500,000ags said:

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The two bottom spots you marked between the 2 windows, I just pushed on them and they had the slightest (super slight) bend. I tried pulling and got nothing.

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Have him adjust that gable vent as well. Looks like a slat came out, so might be an easy spots for birds to get in and then you'll have another issue to work with.

I am not a siding guy, but I think these issues are probably an easy fix. As for shadow lines and having it look perfect, I wouldn't worry about that. You can't always do that. You are using milled perfectly true and squared materials and securing those to a structure that is not square, true, or plumb. When you do that, they always reveal the imperfections of a build. That's not a slam, that's just how houses are. I have been working in roofing and construction for a long time and I have yet to find a perfect house. Couple that with the fact that materials shrink and swell, and you will have some imperfections. Personally, I find it to be part of the charm. For my own home my roof line has dips and various things that are not perfect, but the wood and stone is hand hewn from imperfect men and then father time has done his thing for 100+ years. It's just a thing.

mrmill3218 said:

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Did they caulk horizontally between the siding?

I would agree that that's not a good idea.

Have you considered switching it out to a cementitious product? Wood just doesn't hold up for long.

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Cementous you will have gaps once it shrinks or breaks

Update: New contractor is scraping almost all caulk off. He said the siding was likely not "seasoned", and combined with the nails that were used, it was going to look pretty bad within a few years with more problem areas. So getting rid of caulk, putting two screws into every single piece of wood siding, and we are likely going to have to repaint. Probably just the top part and leave the trim white and the skirt gray - so two toned.