This siding project in Manchester turned out to be bigger than anyone thought when we started out. It involved removing what looked like a few water damaged wood clapboards, trimming out the new construction window that was installed previously, and wrapping everything to make it nice and water tight. However, there was significant termite damage to the side of the house, and not only siding planks but whole new sections of sheathing needed to be replaced. Also included was the replacement of the entire corner post from top to bottom thanks to wood peckers, it was pretty well eaten!

In this section you can see the how the project moved through the different stages of construction. With each major phase or ” STEP” I like to include a gallery, as well as some description of the processes and challenges in that particular part of project.

The first step to the this project was to begin removal of the rotted wood planks, also called clapboards. These were a typical 6 in x 11/16ths in with a bevel down to approximately an 1/8th of an inch. Cedar and pre-primed were the best available, and are generally easy to work with. NOTE: This particular siding project was started by another contractor, who had installed the window and removed the siding earlier in the season. So… as I began to remove the planks in a staggered pattern so I could weave in the new planks I discovered what you see in the pictures above. There, underneath the planks, eating them from the backside and burrowing into the sheathing actually, was a swarm of termites or carpenter ants! So as I keep looking for good sound wood planks to start my installation adjacent to, I ended up taking down most of the first floor courses of siding on that side of the house!!

What happens in a situation like this you maybe asking yourself? Good question, in this case I went immediately to the home owner, who was on site at the time. I stopped all work and showed them the extent of the damage. Then, before proceeding with anything further I gave them an estimate of the cost of house repairs. They agreed to the amount, which was nearly double what the original price was, due to the extent of the damage and the increase in the area of siding that ultimately needed to be replaced. This is a classic example of “unforeseen conditions”, and why we as home improvement professionals have included these, and other similar terms and language in our contracts, so that we can spell out how to handle these situations in every case.  Our process is always the same, stop all work, evaluate the additional costs and scope of work, then present the additional costs to the client for approval. It’s that simple, every time.

Now that all the damage had been discovered, and the additional home remodeling costs had been agreed upon, it was time to get back to work! First step was to replace sections of the house sheathing, or the plywood that goes up against the framing of the house and becomes the last barrier for anything trying to get into the finished heated space of your home. Matching the same thickness of the plywood and getting your cuts nice and square, located right along the middle of wall stud will ensure a flat and true wall.

With the wall closed up, and the corner trim removed, it was time to get the house wrap on the side wall, with rubber flashing tape applied to the exposed sheathing at the corner and around the window flange. This creates a moisture and vapor barrier, and is the primary protection from the elements and pests.

Once the window trim was wrapped with flashing tape, and the trim was painted, it was time to install the trim around the window. After the window trim, which gets caulked to the house and to the window flange, the corner trim gets installed. Similar waterproofing installation requires the trim get caulked to the house, and to the trim or siding on either side of the piece.

Lastly, after our trim pieces are installed its time to start laying our siding planks, building our way up the wall from the bottom. Much like a roofing nailing pattern, wood siding planks, clapboards, get nailed at the top, where the bevel edge is the thinnest. Then, they get nailed at the bottom, but the bottom is overlapping the previous planks nails at the top, so you only get one nail pop per plank.

To finish the installation, the final plank has be installed underneath the existing plank so that it will shed water properly. In order to get this last plank under the existing one still nailed to the house you will need to pry it loose just enough to get a grinding wheel in under the plank and cut off the nail between the plank and the house. This allows you to pus the nail into the house, pull the head and the plank out enough to slip in the last new plank, and also this trick allows you to get your house wrap up underneath the house wrap from above.