Repairing Siding This Old House

Use framing square and utility knife to cut through face of siding.

Repairing siding this old house.

So when a piece of vinyl breaks the key to making the repair is a zip tool a miniature curved pry bar with a metal hook at its tip to unlock the siding. Snap out the old piece. In most cases the original layer of building paper or housewrap at the bottom of the wall was enough to prevent water infiltration and damage beneath the siding. The sheathing and framing sometimes need repairs too but that is less common.

Forget the tape measure tom says. It ll better match the house than brand new siding. Here s how to use it. Instead you can size the replacement using the old clapboard as a template a simple technique that virtually guarantees a tight fit on the first try.

Set the blade at a 5 degree bevel and a 1 inch cutting depth. Siding repair is best done with hand tools with one exception. Unlike wood clapboards vinyl siding is so thin and flexible that each piece has to lock onto the ones above and below to keep a house weatherproof. Tack a batten to the water table horizontally to guide the saw and ensure a straight 90 degree cut.

Prep the old siding to get rid of most of the rot and allow you to remove the 2x8 make a horizontal cut through the siding 1 inches above the 2x8 s top edge. Remove the wood then the nails. We tear off the damaged hardboard and replace it with fiber cement siding.