Damaged siding can adversely impact the beauty of your home and can begin to cause problems if water enters your home through the damaged siding. Fortunately, regardless of your experience level, there are many simple steps that you can use to repair damaged siding to your home. Does this Spark an idea?
Prepare
Any do-it-yourself job can become much more difficult and problematic if preparations are not made before you begin. You must first survey the area and make appropriate measurements. Examine the current siding and overestimate the size of your replacement boards and the number of nails you will need for the job. It is better to have too many supplies than not enough so that you are not running back and forth to the hardware store. Typically, the tools you will need include a hammer, measuring tape, utility knife, galvanized nails and your replacement siding board. Each of these tools can be purchased from a home improvement store, including the replacement siding board. If the board needs to be resized at any point, you may require the use of a saw.
Remove Damaged Siding
Remove existing siding. Typically, there are nails in the corner cap of the siding. Remove these nails first. This will enable you to take a utility knife and score down the damaged lap siding to prepare for your replacement board. Do your best to remove the nails on the lap board and use the claw end of the hammer to split the board in half. Finally, remove the nails from the adjoining board and your damaged siding should easily pull out. If the siding doesn't remove easily, you may need to use the claw of the hammer again to pry the damaged area away from the home.
Apply Replacement Board
During your preparation, you should have measured the size of the damaged area so that your replacement board can properly be applied. Measure once more to ensure the sizing is correct now that the damaged area has been removed. Use your saw to cut the appropriate size replacement board, unless it has been pre-cut at the hardware store. Finally, take the replacement board and fit it into the area you just created by removing the damaged board. Fit is securely in place and nail it down with your hammer and the galvanized nails. You will want to make sure you nail into the holes that already exist on the house adjacent to your board. You can fill in the nail holes as necessary and apply the siding to the replacement board.
Tags: replacement board, your replacement, damaged area, your home, board your, claw hammer
