How to Install Clapboard Siding
"Like many of you, I also grew up trying my hand at building things."
Like many of you, I also grew up trying my hand at building things. Unlike the young man in this feature article, my projects in those days were things like forts or small hydroplanes cobbled together and then dragged down the street with a rope tied to my bike. I cannot tell you how many times I left my dad's best handsaw lying out in the grass to rust. We still laugh about that. (OK, well, maybe he doesn't laugh.)
When I first glanced at this article on installing clapboard siding, my immediate impression was, "Oh, this will be fun to include." To be honest, I was thinking it'd be unique due to the age of Carter, Manny Silva's son. As I read through the content, however, I realized it is one of the most complete instructional pieces out there covering best practices for installing clapboard siding.
Carter sets the bar high right off the bat when he talks about integrating the house wrap with the flashing above the skirtboard. He properly shingles all the flashing components, tapes the top edge of the flashing, and then skip tapes the house wrap back down over the flashing. Then he places a proper spacer on top of the flashing, pulls out his tape measure, and creates a story pole.
If you aren't already impressed enough, consider what else Carter accomplishes in this project:
- Prefinishes the siding on all sides and stores it on his drying rack.
- Installs a rain screen.
- Pre-cuts, predrills and seals all raw ends before installation.
- Uses stainless steel nails.
- Flashes and caulks his butt joints.
- Sands and re-seals his butt joints for a perfect fit.
Needless to say, this is an awesome reminder of the steps that we should all be trying to incorporate into our siding jobs. Thank you, Carter and Corey!
We have many ongoing projects at our house. This past summer, my dad started installing clapboard on the back of the house, which led me to a new project: siding. My dad gave me the opportunity to install one of the sections. Following his steps, and being patient throughout the process, helped me accomplish great results. Here's how I did it. (Don't worry! I only used hand tools in this project!)
Read the full article on THISisCarpentry.
