Sugarhouse interior

[SUGARSMITH]

Last weekend I finally tired of the winds blowing through the siding of my surarhouse walls. On the western facing wall I insulated it and then put up a plastic vapor barrier. I am so pleased with the difference I am planning on paneling the wall thais weekend with some planed pine boards.

What have other people used to seal the boards with. I would like to keep the light pine finish with no maintenence. Therefor I am thinking linseed oil. Poly flakes in time.

Any reccomendations ?

[mapleman3]

Just wondering, will rain be able to get in to the insulation? any place for Mice? I'd like to do the same sometime after I put a hood on to keep the temp up in the sugarhouse.

[sweetwoodmaple]

My 12 x 16 sugarhouse with a 3 x 10 evaporator keeps nice and toasty. 8O

Too much so, actually...

I do my canning in the house, so that helps too.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Might want to put the vapor barrier between the outside wall and the insulation vs putting the vapor barrier between inside wall and insulation.

[SUGARSMITH]

The exterior is rough cut vertical siding. Soon the be board and battens. As far as the mice go I dont consider it a problem, because being a building thats used a few months out of the year, I realize that they will find a home if they try hard enough. I will probably put some d-con in there this year however. It has a oak plank floor over gravel that needs updating as well, probably put down a cement floor eventually.

Its weird considering doing these changes. I built this sugarhouse with my father about 30 years ago and this past summer he passed away. Makes it real hard to make any changes or updates. I would like to live in the past out there. But the paneling would be a small change

[Al]

I used 8 inch wide rough cut pine boards in one room and 6 inch wide hemlock boards in another. Left them there natural color and it looks pretty good. Easy to handle and the price is right.
Take care

[MASSEY JACK]

I have some friends that coated their little horse barn with used motor oil. It looks like stain and seems to hold up O.K. They did not blend it well and some areas are darker than others. That could be avoided if you had a big batch and stirred it up well before use. It might even be a deterent to insects and such. Maybe some people would think it an inapropriate product for a sugarhouse? Linseed oil,stain,petroleum,.........just some info.

[ibby458]

The trouble with linseed oil is that it darkens almost to black over time. I think Tung oil would be a lot better if you want to keep it natural colored.

I'm hoping to get my sugarhouse built this year (and get the evaporator out of the tractor shed), and I'm going with some used aluminum roofing that I got for free, painted white. Dim surroundings make me sleepy, so I;m putting in lots of windows and fluoresent lights.

To control steam & condensation, instead of a steam stack or coupola, I'm putting in a huge squirrel cage blower. I'll have to let you know how it works out.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Hydraulic oil works good on outside.

[andrew martin]

I would take Brandon's advice on moving the vapor barrier plastic. As a remodeling contractor, I have seen this all too much. THe plastic does not allow your wall to breathe, and if you are boiling a lot, you will get condensation between the plastic and insulation, and eventually this will lead to mold growth. I would take the plastic out and just panel the inside like you mentioned. Vapor barriers should go on the outside of your exterior sheathing, upon which you place your exterior siding.

Andrew