Techniques to Install Vinyl Siding
- 1). Prep the walls for vinyl installation. Find any loose boards on the wall and nail them down. Replace any rotten boards you come across. Inspect the walls to make sure that they are even. Nail furring strips down in the areas that are not even to create a continuous surface.
- 2). Inspect all windows and doorways. Remove any loose caulk and run a bead of fresh caulk around the window or door.
- 3). Remove any light fixtures, gutters, downspouts, and any other part of the house that protrudes out from the wall and is mounted to it.
- 4). Nail flashing to all the corners so that it extends 10 inches out on the wall from the fold or inner angle of the corner. Nail J-channels ½ inch down from the roof at the top of the wall. Overlap them if you use more than one piece to line the roof. Install the soffits by nailing them to the bottom edge of the end of the roof where the gutters go. Slide the facia into the channel of the soffit.
- 5). Install the corner post so that there is a 1/4-inch gap between the top of the post and the soffit. Drive a nail into the top of the upper slot of the corner posts, leaving a 1/32-inch space between each nail to allow for the vinyl to expand and contract during the day in the heat of the sun.
- 6). Measure the width of the starter strip. Subtract 1/4-inch from it. Transfer this measurement to the wall by measuring that distance up from the bottom and making a pencil mark. Set the starter strip so that the mark can be seen through its corner mounting hole. Drive a nail partway through to hold it in place, but not all the way.
- 7). Attach the hook of the chalk line to the mounting hole of the starter strip so that the chalk line comes out as you walk to the next corner. Pull the line taught. Use a level to ensure that the line is straight and snap the chalk line to mark the wall. Do this all the way around the exterior wall of the house to create a guideline for the starter strips.
- 8). Install the starter strips along the chalk line, centering the line in the mounting holes. Nail them at 10-inch intervals with their ends 1/4-inch apart. Drive the nail through the center mounting hole.
- 9). Install J-channel pieces around windows and doors. Cut the tab at the top of the J-channel with tin snips and bend it down. Notch each side J-channel at the top. Fold the bottom side piece's end in toward the bottom of the window so that it will fit over another J-channel. Cut the free flange of the side channels, and bend the tab down.
- 10
Begin installing the vinyl siding. Interlock the groove of the bottom of the panel into the top groove of the starter strip. Keep a 1/4-inch gap between siding, J-channels and corner posts. Drive a nail so that there is about 1/32-inch space between the nail head and the vinyl siding. Make sure the pieces can move freely side-to-side. Check their alignment at every fifth panel. Overlapping panels need to cover over another panel by about 1-inch.
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