A type of housing construction in which horizontally overlapping long, thin boards with one the lower side thicker than the top are used to cover outer walls, thus defying wind and rain. The boards are often in cedar, which ages to a silver grey, or in soft wood typically painted in off-white, grey, dark green or red traditionally depending on the local earth colours and whether woodland or sea side location.
It is typical of New England architecture but also Canada and other parts of the USA, also known as weather boarding in Europe and Australia. It is also common throughout Holland, the Nordic Countries, Australia and New Zealand–where it is sometimes called colonial style; it is otherwise found in many other places for seaside and holiday houses, beach huts, garden sheds and woodland lodges.
In boat building it is so-called ship-lap or clinker construction. Before pre-industrial saw mills, the logs were split by hand, producing boards of less even, more charming, character