Replacing Cracked Siding

Consider replacing rotted areas with fiber cement siding.

Replacing cracked siding.

The best way to get a replacement piece is to take the broken piece to vinyl siding distributors in your area and find the closest match. Be sure to nail into the existing holes on the adjacent siding. Take the replacement board fit it in place image 2 and nail it in with a hammer using galvanized nails. Nail straight down on the replacement board in order to hit studs.

To repair vinyl siding fill in minor imperfections with caulk and then paint it to match the rest of the siding once it cures. Fill in the nail holes. When you replace these boards make sure you have good flashing along the joint. In this video this old house general contractor tom silva explains how to repair clapboards.

Pull loose nails from clapboard siding. Cut out the damaged piece of siding leaving a space 2 inches shorter than the replacement piece. Gap between siding and shingles. The downside of replacing older vinyl siding is that it can be hard to match the style and color and siding rarely has any identifying marks.

No matter how durable fiber cement siding is though cracks can still occur. Small cracks can be repaired with a special patching compound before they cause breaks saving you the work of removing and replacing a damaged panel. Tap flat bar under siding to loosen nails. This chapter shows how to repair most types of siding including stucco.

How to prevent serious siding damage if your siding is buckling splitting warping delaminating or coming loose in large areas or if you see mold or other signs of moisture inside the siding remove a section and take a look. Secure old siding by driving ring shank nails down at an angle through the old nail holes. Use the snips to cut away about two inches of the top nailing strip and the bottom j profile from both ends of the replacement piece. Fiber cement siding is low cost for its rated lifespan and is easy to maintain when compared with other siding choices.

Where siding meets a roof it will rot if the siding touches the shingles.