siding

As you get close to the top, you'll start feeling better about your decision to side your house! You'll find though that once you are no longer using two pieces per course, things get a little more difficult. Now you have to cut both ends of the same piece and have to worry not only about the angle, but the length as well. Hopefully, by now you have got a feel for the needed angle and have a good template. Have your helper hold your tape measure up inside the J channel (not on the outside) and measure to the same location on your end.

Installing Vinyl on the Next Level

If you're house has a hip roof, consider yourself blessed. For the rest of us, dealing with a gable end doesn't have to be that difficult.
Turn your J upside down and run it up the gable where the wall meets the overhang. The toughest part will be cutting this angle on each piece.

With vinyl siding be sure to continue on the same plane (wall) and go up as high as you can reach. Once you have that area done, you'll move on to the next, which is most often around the corner. Just keep doing things the same way. Pay attention to how things lap and where seams will fall. The only new thing for you to watch for is how the corners match up.

Which Corner is First?
Find the lowest corner and start there

Earlier, in our Basic Steps article, we discussed how to locate the lowest corner of the house. This is where you´ll want to start and where you´ll install your first corner piece.

Cutting to fit

Since this is a Home Improvement site, I am handling all the instructions here from that aspect, assuming your home is already built. Things are done a little differently for new construction.

Making the job safe and easy

The Basic Steps section outlines some tools that are a must for installing siding. There are a couple of other things I would suggest that would make your job a little easier.

Support for quick cuts

Vinyl is a good bit flexible, so a long thin table is very handy. If you happen to already have a radial arm saw, you can outfit it for siding by putting a special vinyl siding cutting blade on it. You can also use an old trick, just put a regular plywood blade on the saw, mounted backwards.

Add some Insulation to the walls of your House, from the Outside

One of the big selling factors for new siding is the fact that you now have the opportunity to add some insulation to the walls of your house, from the outside. A lot of older homes out here in the Mid-West were built without a lick of insulation. These homes are expensive to heat in the winter, and expensive to cool in the summer. You can save yourself a bunch of money the first year if you install ample insulation before you start siding.

How to Figure Siding Materials for your House

OK, so you have your siding picked out, maybe even the color. Or perhaps you have a couple of selections and want to compare costs. First, you´ll need to figure up how much siding you´ll need for your house. Siding is typically sold by the square. 100 square feet is 1 square. It can also be sold by the board, or by the lineal foot.

How many square your house is

To figure how many square your house is, you need to break each surface down to either a rectangle or a triangle.

You're going to continue course after course in the same fashion until you reach an opening, either a window or a door. Most of the time, the bottom of a window will not fall perfectly at the top of a course of siding. This means you'll have to notch some of the siding out. To do that, have your helper hold the other end up and hold your end so that it is at the correct height. Then you have to mark the piece where it should be once inserted into the J channel.

When installing your vinyl siding, there are a few things for you to consider. First, if possible, try to use one piece to cover the area. This is important between corners and openings, between openings and other openings, or even between inside and outside corners. The rule of thumb is, if you can make the span with one piece, do it. Of course you might have to cheat a little if you are running low on siding, but you get a much better look if you don't have a lot of seams.

Second, stagger the seams you do have to have.

Don´t forget that one of the benefits of siding your house is that you can fix things that might not have been done right the first time, or are worn out. This would include flashing windows. The entire process of properly flashing windows is covered in our Windows Section, but I do want to mention it here. Flashing your windows prevents wind and water from getting in.