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. This gives you more of a ripping effect than a cutting one, so it doesn´t chip the siding nearly as bad. You can set your table up on the side of the saw to support the siding. Be sure to wear your safety glasses, and don´t ever try cutting anything else with this method.

Cutting with Snips

If you don´t have a radial arm saw, don´t worry. Cutting siding with a good pair of aviation snips is not very difficult. In fact, you´ll have to use them anyway for trimming and cutting difficult angles, so you might as well get used to it. Make sure you have a good framing square to mark your lines, small fluctuations your snips will make, won´t generally be seen because they´ll be hiden behind trim pieces.

Let´s start installing!

In the very next section, we´re going to discuss the different accessories and trim selections for siding. Then we´ll dig right in and start installing. Bare in mind though, you might want to install House Wrap first or Replacement Windows. If that is the case, check out those sections first, before the first piece of siding goes up. Otherwise, let´s look at putting up corner pieces!<