Vinyl Siding

Vinyl siding is a popular choice for homes today. It’s attractive, durable and long-lasting. A major reason to choose vinyl is that it never needs to be painted and can be cleaned with a brush or pressure washer.

We will guide you to the concepts needed to plan, install and repair vinyl siding with all of its various accessory parts, like corner posts and utility strips. For detailed information, refer to the installation manual.

STEP BY STEP to a wonderful Siding installations;

Prep and Planning for a Vinyl Siding Install

Siding a house is a big project that requires planning and preparation.
Find out how much help you will have and estimate your working speed. Consider the time the house will be without siding and how weather will affect your ability to work.
Go around the house and move anything that can be moved away from the work area.
Trim or tie back any trees or shrubs that will be in the way of working.
Decide if scaffolding or ladders will work best for your situation. Leveling feet can be added to ladders for uneven ground.
Determine the scope of the job. Will you be installing siding only or doing soffits and facia, too?
If there is siding already on the house, it may need to be removed first – or maybe just the trimwork. Anything that protrudes from the flat plane of the wall will be an issue. Permanent items like power meters will be surrounded with J-channel, like a window.
Any rotten or damaged wood needs to be replaced.
If the wall surface is uneven, furring strips and foamboard can be added to “plane out” for installation.
Vinyl siding isn’t completely weatherproof by itself. The building should be weather sealed and housewrap should be in place. Housewrap is required by code in many areas.
Mostvinyl siding parts will be in 10 to 12 foot lengths. Transportation and storage should be planned in advance. Parts should be stored flat, with support along the entire piece.
Hanging vinyl siding will be much easier if there are at least two people working.

How to Measure for Vinyl Siding

The first step is to measure the house and do a little bit of counting. You need to know the number of windows and doors, as well as the number of inside and outside corners.

Finding the square footage of the siding is fairly simple. Measure the length and height of each wall in feet. Round up to the nearest foot. Multiply those numbers to get the area of that wall in square feet. The formula is A=LxH.
Doors and windows aren’t subtracted from the walls. This extra material accounts for the normal overage percentage.
Gable ends and dormers, which are triangles, can be figured by measuring the width of the widest span and the height of the tallest span. Multiply these two numbers, then divide the answer by two. The formula is A=1/2 BxH.
Once each wall has been measured, add all the square foot numbers to find the total square footage of the vertical walls to be covered.
Measure the overhangs in the same manner as the walls to find how much soffit material will be needed.
Count each inside and outside corner.
Measure the perimeter of the house to find the amount of starter strip, which is a piece that the first row of siding on each wall hooks into.
J-channel will be needed for the entire roofline, including the angled portions of gables and dormers.
Every opening in the walls will be surrounded by J-channel. Things like windows, vents and power meters will be surrounded on all sides while doors will be surrounded on all sides except the bottom.+
A utility strip, also called an undersill strip, will be needed any time the nailing strip is removed. For example, when cutting to fit around a window, the nailing strip may not land in the right place, so it’s removed where the siding piece goes underneath. A utility strip is added to the cut section of the siding to make it the correct thickness to lock into the J-channel.
The same holds true for the top course of siding where it meets the roofline. This piece will usually need to be cut along the entire length in order to fit, so the entire perimeter of the roofline will need a utility strip in addition to the J-channel.

Installation Tips

Installation should begin at the back of the house and work towards the front.

The starter strip will be installed below the chalk line, so measure the starter strip to see how wide it is. Find the lowest point where siding will go. Measure up from this point by the width of the start strip. Partially drive a nail to make an anchor point for the chalk line. Go to the other end of the wall and use a level to find the place to hold the chalk line. Snap a line. Move on to the net wall and around the house, snapping level lines.
Overlaps should be made to face away from the street and entryway. The lines on the end of each piece are more visible, so this makes the house look better from the street.
Pieces that overlap should overlap by at least one inch.
Vinyl siding will expand and contract with temperature changes. When pieces butt against each other, like the end of a siding piece going into a J-channel, leave a 1/4 to 3/8-inch gap to allow for movement.
Nails should be driven in straight, taking care not to hit the siding with the hammer. Nails should be left slightly loose, with about 1/32-inch space. Nails should be driven through the center of a nailing slot. The slot can be widened with a slot punch tool.
The bottom lock of the next piece should click into the top lock of the previous piece. After they click together, don’t pull the siding so tight that it’s deformed. Allow the locks to hold it up while you make sure it isn’t bowed outward before nailing.
Make left and right templates in areas where a consistent angled cut will need to be repeated, like the gable end of a wall. Figure out the angles one time on a scrap piece, cut it, then use this as a template to mark the remaining angle pieces. A rafter square will help you find and mark the angle.

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