the cast iron boxwood unit I got is one hot stove... can't hardly slow it down.
The gap at the bottom of the door is a little too wide from the fact, I plan on closing that gap down a little by welding a bead to add material & grind it back down smooth. for now I've been using a heavy piece of copper wire as a shim to close down that gap a litle so the fire doesn't just run away wild.
the stove likes some clearance, under side gets hotter than you would think. I think it's a real strong stove, I just think you' want to address the excessive draft issue to control the heat better & also you'd want to have some good fire board or similar product to line under & behind, some air gap stripping to hold your fireboard away from your flooring & walls would be good too.
As for the siding, we call it "T-111" type, grooved rough sawn plywood with a vert lap joint. I've seen it hold up very well in some cases with little or no care (depends on how nice you want it to keep looking)
Mine is 5/8" thick & we plan on coating it with a transparent oil stain in a "cedar color" just haven't gotten around to it yet.
The stuff I got for stain says it's good for 4 years but I expect to have to do it every 2 if not every year for the first 5 years or so to get it real good & sealed up.
well, maybe not every year for 5 years, I hope not anyways.
