Siding St. Clair is the outer covering of a house meant to shed water
and protect from the effects of weather.
Siding St. Clair may be formed of horizontal boards, vertical boards,
shingles, or sheet materials. In all four cases, avoiding wind and rain
infiltration through the joints is a major challenge, met by overlapping, by
covering or sealing the joint, or by creating an interlocking joint such as a
tongue-and-groove or rabbet. Since building materials expand and contract with
changing temperature and humidity, it is not practical to make rigid joints
between the siding elements.
Siding St. Clair may be made of wood, metal, plastic, or
composite materials. It may be attached directly to the building structure
(studs in the case of wood construction), or to an intermediate layer of
horizontal planks called sheathing.
