Repairing Siding This Old House

We tear off the damaged hardboard and replace it with fiber cement 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. Pull siding away from house and cut through the bottom edge with aviation snips. 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. Forget the tape measure tom says.

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. Cut piece of faded siding from an inconspicuous spot to replace the damaged section. Power tools are out for this job. 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.

Here s how to use it. Tack a batten to the water table horizontally to guide the saw and ensure a straight 90 degree cut. Remove the wood then the nails. It ll better match the house than brand new siding.

The sheathing and framing sometimes need repairs too but that is less common. Set the blade at a 5 degree bevel and a 1 inch cutting depth. Snap out the old piece.