Using 2x boards for sheathing exterior walls

Traditional houses used diagonal hardwood boards for sheathing walls, from my understanding it used to be 1x boards. I too want to sheath a small cabin in the same pattern - however it appears 1x boards at (HD / Lowes) are whitewood (soft) and are appearance boards. 2x boards such as 2 x 8 are actually cheaper then 1x boards and plywood.

The wall studs will be 2 x 6 which I believe should be strong enough to hold the extra weight of 2 x 8 sheathing. Having 2 x 8 walls would also be 3x as thick as a typical plywood wall, be more rot/mold resistance, stronger, permeable/breathable, sound absorption, etc.

Any unforseen issues you may see if I sheathed a cabin with 2 x 8's? Could have an issue with the boards being warped. These also wont be T&G. One option I could do is staple strips of wool between the boards when nailing them to the wall. Thoughts?


EDIT: fudged the math. 2 x 8 boards are about 22% more expensive then 23/32 plywood.

Well, you already are aware of a couple of things, the weight - for the structure, for you handling it, for you or whoever to haul it to the site; bulk - more trips? especially if you are hauling yourself in a pickup; the joints - board sheathing wasn't necessarily T&G, and even that isn't going to be good at "air sealing".
You're gonna need longer nails. Save on wood, spend on nails? Drive thirty 8d nails, or drive just a dozen 16d nails... your arm will be sore a lot faster while covering the same area.

Look for a local lumberyard or sawmill, instead of the home improvement big-box-stores. You might find rough sawn boards that are less expensive by far. At a sawmill, you could get a deal on some boards with flaws you can cut around, or random lengths (not just 8, 10, 12, 16 feet), since you'll have plenty of places to use different lengths (unlike wall studs or paneling, all one height for example).

I can't see doing 2x material unless it was free, and even then I would favor a double layer of pallet deck wood over the 2x.
If you are using 2x, you could use a table saw, circular saw or router to create shiplap, which is similar to tounge and groove, but easier to cut yourself.
That, plus gluing the joints could help with air sealing.
Air sealing could also be accomplished with a house wrap.


The 1x 8 x12 carsiding at menards is 2.08 a square foot and seems fit to serve.