Ask around for someone who is replacing their siding or a contractor who sides houses.  You could use the siding they took off the house. It should be free since the contractor won't have to find a place to dump it. You could probably paint if you didn't like the color.

Originally posted by belle Ask around for someone who is replacing their siding or a contractor who sides houses.  You could use the siding they took off the house. It should be free since the contractor won't have to find a place to dump it. You could probably paint if you didn't like the color.

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Still a cost, but maybe a little less, (and depending on how much wall you have to do, stacked luan scraps (or other thinner woods you may have laying about in your scrap heap.. Or.. again for a little money, but still cheaper than siding with trim, thin foam board cut in strips to size and then layered...

We also used the overlapping cardboard approach and it looked great.  Very simple and CHEAP!

Howdy.
For "Picnic" I recruited the father of an actor who enjoys using a table saw. He spent one Saturday afternoon ripping a dozen sheets of paneling into 8" wide strips for me. No cost...this was old 1/4" lauan scenery, used masonite flooring, and the back side of household wood-grain paneling. Then I put spacers under each strip to make them slant like real clapboard walls, and shot it all together quickly with a pneumatic staple gun. After painting, weathering, and some "tree" gobos, the result was convincing.   

The roofing tiles were quick to make using discarded carpet that I cut up and spattered black. The real windows and doors were scavenged from junk that neighbors put out at the curb, (...never too proud to dumpster-drive for our craft!)

For "Fiddler" I made houses out of old shipping pallets for a dirty, rustic look. And for "Narnia" we carved stone walls out of cheap sheets of foam insulation from Home Depot. And for a few children's theatre productions I've used cardboard. But no matter how well we paint it...it always looks like cardboard to me. (Of course with cardboard, as with lauan, you have to back-paint everything to help make it a little more flame retardant).

In the discussions above, friends mentioned using cast-off lumber from old houses. This is expedient, yes, but please beware of lead paint. Wear a mask and vacuum often when cutting authentic lumber. We give enough to theatre without giving some of our precious brain cells...

Good luck with it! -Dana