Hi - i am currently repainting the exterior of my house- it has vertical weatherboards and i am unsure about how much to seal between them. There are no eaves so the boards are very exposed and i have already found some rotten spots. I am worried that if i do seal them then the water may get in elsewhere and not be able to dry out.

hi and welcome to the forum! Apologies for not having replied sooner - the new system is a bit hard for me to get my brain around........ could you post a pic or two of the boards in question? It sounds like the boards may have been left unpainted for a while, but it is hard to tell. happy to have a go at sharing some ideas though

have fun

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Steve
Kilmore (Melbourne-ish)
Australia

....catchy phrase here

hi there Steve sorry i havent been on this site for ages - i didnt get any response for so long i made the decision to go ahead - 60+ tubes of polyurethane external filler later and house is all painted! it is supposed to stretch up to 50% and 6 mths later no cracks.
it may not have been the right thing to do but it sure looks better. now i have to get started on the inside.
will send you before and after if you are still interested.

you should post some pics here, be interesting to see

Hi Womble
Sorry to reply so late but here are those pics. I now live in Armidale having sold the Grafton house. I regret doing all that work and leaving straight away and will now do up future properties for myself to enjoy (if only for a while).
cheers Shell

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Gee time goes slowly in your neck of the woods !

They look like lining board profile to me .... no wonder they were rotten in parts.... not really any way to stop water getting in.

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Steve
Kilmore (Melbourne-ish)
Australia

....catchy phrase here

Hi Seriph1
I'm don't think they were lining board - they were very thick - about an inch and very hard - beautiful wood. the reason i think they were rotten in parts is because they weren't sealed properly on the ends - being vertical i think past painters have just forgotten to paint underneath.
I believe they are waterproof now but only time will tell. A friend of mine bought the place so i'm sure he'll let me know if there's a problem.
cheers
shell

hi again - I didn't mean they were lining boards .... lining boards would deteriorate immediately! They look like V-Joint tongue ad groove lining board profile though.

I reckon you're right on the money if the bottoms have rotted out .... wicking through remaining unpainted is certainly an issue.

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Steve
Kilmore (Melbourne-ish)
Australia

....catchy phrase here

hi Steve
i'm sorry but I'm actually a painter not a woodworker so v-joint and wicking lost me. but i think you're in agreement with me )
you only have to look at the treehouse i made for my daughter to know that i am not a woodworker. in the event of any neighbours child being hurt i would definitely be sued for negligence and possibly illlegal use of pallets.
cheers
shell