Where To Start First Course Of Wood Siding

Step 8 siding beside windows photo by david carmack.

Where to start first course of wood siding.

Lap siding also called horizontal siding or clapboard may be made of wood fiber cement plywood hardboard or similar materials. Nail the clapboard to the studs. Join the clapboards with scarf joints as in step 3. It is installed at the top of the first course covering the top edge and giving a starting point for the next course.

Carefully slide the notched piece of siding into place. This works fine most of the time but always add a few blobs of caulking inside the bottom lip of the top course for extra security. Vinyl siding starter strips. If more than one clapboard is needed to span a wall snap a chalk line between the marks on the corner boards on top of the course being overlapped.

Expert advice on how to install wood or fiber cement lap siding including how to prepare exterior walls and lay out siding for installation. Nail a piece of plywood about 3 5 inches 89 mm thick along the top of the chalk line this will hold out the bottom of the first row of siding. Attach the starter strip to the plywood but don t nail it so tightly that it will restrict the strip s movement. This is where the new siding will begin.

A transition strip or z strip is designed for this. This chalk line should be level and a consistent distance from the eaves or the top and bottom of the windows.