Repairing Old Wood Siding

You can use a tape measure to mark the reveal of each piece of replacement siding or make a spacer gauge from two blocks of wood screwed together.

Repairing old wood siding.

Though wood siding is very strong a sufficient physical impact can split and crack it. Repairing wood siding is integral to owning a home with wood siding. When hardboard siding is installed and maintained correctly it can hold up for 30 or 40 years. That s because the end seams on wood lap siding are staggered across the wall and have to be made at wall stud locations.

Forget the tape measure tom says. 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. If you have woodworking skills you can tackle small repairs by duplicating the way the siding is. Score the calk on the edges as the ends split easily.

Besides prying out the rotten wood you may need to cut adjacent boards back a stud or two in either direction. Siding repair is best done with hand tools with one exception. Overlap the boards so each row of new siding has the same reveal as the old siding. Remove the old siding.

We used cedar siding to replace the rotted clapboards. To install the replacement siding start at the bottom and work your way up. Carefully use a pry bar to remove the siding. The most important step of any wood siding repair is the final process of weatherproofing the repair area with paint or another type of sealant and caulk.

Painting and repairing old wood siding step by step. Power tools are out for this job. Here are the step by step procedures as discussed in our painting and stripping old wood siding overview page. Many people delay getting new wood siding when one or two boards are rotted out because it can be hard to match new materials to the wood species and the same look of the existing siding.

Remove the wood then the nails. First to help avoid any future insect damage back prime the cedar with oil based primer image 1. Water splashes up from the ground frequently soaking the vulnerable bottom edges. However by waiting to replace the one or two rotten boards this problem can lead to more significant damage in time.

In most cases it s necessary to remove more than just the damaged wood to make the repair less obvious. Wood siding comes in many forms including several types of boards shingles and sheets. How to repair wood siding.