Installing Vinyl Siding

Reduce Exterior Home Maintenance and Upkeep by Simply Installing Vinyl Siding

By Mark J. Donovan




 Installing vinyl siding can dramatically improve the exterior appearance of your home. It also means no more scraping and painting of wood house siding. With vinyl house siding installation maintenance is minimal. A good cleaning once a year is typically all that is required with vinyl siding. Vinyl siding is also fairly inexpensive to install compared to any other type of house siding.

When it comes to installing vinyl siding, most homeowners choose to have a professional install it.

However, with a few basic tools and sufficient time, along with carefully following the installation directions, the moderately skilled do it yourself homeowner can install vinyl siding on their own home. In the process, they can save themselves thousands of dollars in labor costs.

In regards to the tools that are required for installing vinyl siding, you’ll need a hammer, chalk line, circular saw, tin snips, level, square, pencils, tape measure, and an assortment of screwdrivers.

In regards to materials required for installing vinyl siding you’ll first need to install a sheathing over the exterior wall studs to create a smooth and flat surface for fastening the new vinyl siding. Alternatively to sheathing, when fastening siding over an already sided home, you may be able to use a contoured foam underlay over the existing house siding. To ensure you’re using the right type of sheathing for fastening the vinyl siding to your home check with your local building inspector first.

After attaching the sheathing to the home, next comes a weather resistant barrier. Vinyl siding should always be attached to the home over a weather resistant barrier.

  Patching Wood Siding Ebook

The weather resistant barrier should be attached over the sheathing in a continuous and shingle installation like manner to ensure water cannot penetrate behind the barrier. Standard house wraps or a felt roofing material can typically be used, however follow the vinyl siding manufacturer’s recommendations.

Flashing should next be installed around all doors, windows, corners, and other openings. The flashing is usually an integrated member of the weather resistant barrier, and should be applied to the inside and outside corners.

It should also be attached to the intersection of walls and roof lines. Again, follow the vinyl siding manufacturer’s installation recommendations for properly installing the right flashing material.

Now begins the real work of installing the vinyl siding. Start by installing a starter strip along the base of an exterior wall. It should be fastened directly to the wall sheathing. It is used to fasten the first course of vinyl siding to the house. It is critical that this starter strip be level. Use a level and chalk line to ensure that this is indeed the case. Always use corrosion resistant nails when fastening the vinyl siding to the home.

 Installing vinyl house siding.

Now begin cutting and installing lengths of vinyl siding to the home as required. Again, it is important to read the specific vinyl siding installation instructions from the manufacturer to ensure you install it correctly. Use your skill saw and tin snips to cut and trim the vinyl siding pieces accordingly.

When installing the vinyl siding to the home make sure to leave about a dime width’s gap between the head of the nail and the vinyl siding nailing tab. This will allow the vinyl siding to move freely due to normal expansion and contraction. Every 4 to 6 courses of vinyl siding, check to make sure that the courses are still level. You may want to run multiple parallel chalk lines up the length of the wall of the home for continuous reference points. Continue installing the vinyl siding in this process along all sides of the home.

It may take you several days to complete the process of installing the vinyl siding, however the cost savings and the personal satisfaction are well worth the time and effort.

Again, if you have questions during the installation process, read the vinyl siding installation instructions again and/or call the manufacturer directly.

Patching Wood Siding Ebook – If you require detailed instructions and pictures for patching wood siding see HomeAdditionPlus.com’s Patching Wood Siding Ebook. This Ebook provides very detailed instructions, along with pictures for each key step in the process of patching wood siding.

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