Where To Start First Course Of Wood Siding

Carefully slide the notched piece of siding into place.

Where to start first course of wood siding.

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. Snap a level chalk line for the first starter strip at the base of the wall no less than 8 inches above ground level after determining the lowest corner of the house. Vinyl siding starter strips.

Lap siding also called horizontal siding or clapboard may be made of wood fiber cement plywood hardboard or similar materials. Attach the starter strip to the plywood but don t nail it so tightly that it will restrict the strip s movement. Nail the clapboard to the studs. This chalk line should be level and a consistent distance from the eaves or the top and bottom of the windows.

Install this transition strip along the top of the first course of siding then begin the second course in the same manner as the first. A transition strip or z strip is designed for this. Step 8 siding beside windows photo by david carmack. 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.

Join the clapboards with scarf joints as in step 3. 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.