Vinyl Siding

Anyone put on their own vinyl siding? I want to put some on my garage and would like to know how to go about it. How do you start out? How do you trim around the window's ? Should you do the roof eve's first? Do you use vinyl for the eve's or metal?

Start with corner pieces. Then all the windows, obstructions and top you need j-channel. Then get yourself some starter strips. Work from bottom up. You will need some tools for angle cutting, rip saw(circular) to cut top pieces to fit and lengths, a siding punch for the top j-channel. Its easy after you do it once but I tell yeah angles kick my ass each time. Would be nice to have someone with yourself that has done this before or you could be spending a little more money than you hoped. Small tip don't put your nail on the edge of the slot on the siding or drive it in as far as you can, temp changes make things tend to move. Leave the nail about 1/16 to 1/8 inch out from being driven in. Wont hurt a thing if you lock all the pieces together right. A good level structure makes things nice if not get the ole chalk line and do some good measuring. That starter strip will bite you in the arse if not set square with structure.

Pretty much what Anthony says, I haven't done a whole lot but I like to trim everything out first taking my time. Most siding comes with some easy to follow instructions, square & level are always helpful if not level you can cheat the starter a bit & check often as you go. Don't make the pieces too tight & as he said don't drive the nails tight, remember that you hang siding that's why the holes are slotted. Ain't bad once you have done some, helping hand is always good & knowing which way the most weather comes from so you overlap the right direction.

Cut it with a fine tooth blade in your skill saw. Put the blade in backwards. Honest!

Another tip I failed to mention, once you go to nail a section on lift slightly so to ensure a good lock on the lower piece. Big thing is keep all sections from bottom to top pulled up slightly. you don't want a droopy run of longer section.

Thank's Everyone, Lots of good tip's. Keep em coming! I've noticed that alot of vinyl siding is faded ( color seems bad ) Should I buy the vinyl from a boxstore or go to a good place to buy it, I don't want the color to fade out later. Is there a certain brand name of siding to buy? Freddy, I've heard about turning the saw blade backward's, but I forgot all about that! Thanks for the reminder!!

Stick with alcoa. If the color fades they usually keep up on thier warantee. Did for a a coworker of mine. They let him keep the faded stuff and used that on an old pole barn after they replaced it on the house.

Do your soffits first, if they are not done. Then the corners, J-Channel around all the other openings, Starter piece at the bottom.

Nail every 12-16" but NOT too tight, just snug, so it can expand and contract with weather changes. Overlap about 2-3", but make sure the Overlap is away from you when looking at the siding, looks cleaner and you won't see the seams as much. so you may have to start from the opposite side to get it to look correct.

Most of the newer vinyls shouldn't fade too much, but make sure it's a brand name and a standard Size (Double 4, Double 5, beveled, etc...) and a standard color so if you have get replacements in the future, you can.

Yes, turn your circular saw (fine tooth blade) and put it on backwards, it cuts thru it pretty slick. I have also used a sharp pair of metal snips/cutters .

I am actually doing clabboard (Wood) siding on my garage to match my old house. Triming is a pain, but looks so good when done.! Good luck.

Some really good info/pics!!

http://justwoodandnails.com/exterior/installing-s ... -facia.htm

http://justwoodandnails.com/exterior/j-channel.htm

http://justwoodandnails.com/exterior/overlapping- ... siding.htm

double 4 . Now I cheated, used j-channel instead of corner pieces. Had some wide j channel and no corner stuff so I used what I had to save some money. Not building a piano just a nice coal bin.

Download this manual. Free instructions from the Vinyl Siding Institute

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The siding at the box stores tend to be thinner and more brittle. Go check out a couple local installs and you will become more comfortable. Harvey Building Products and ABC Building Products are the big guys up here, perhaps they are down there also.

Buy a plywood blade, install it backwards......and you might find a bending brake for the coil stock, so you can do the entire coverage. It is not as easy as you might think to make it look outstanding, and preparation is 95% of having a pro job look.

Alcoa/Mastic and Certainteed are our favorites, but others are OK. If you want to play with the Big Dawgs, they are the leaders. They stand behind what they sell.[attachment=0]IM000259.JPG[/attachment]

Uhh here's my 2 cents worth. This is left over siding from the addition next door. There was a box of aluminum j-channel left over too. Corners are the same color, came out darker in the pic. Windows are Anderson double hung I took off the street, took 'em apart and made 'em fixed.
Other window on the left is a leftover vinyl slider. I blew it with that, should have used Grace Vycor to line the opening. Got it all siliconed up on the outside now. Cost of materials: $0.

Other siding shown is asbestos....

The golden advice is don't nail the siding in too tight, all advice has included this. Put the nail in the middle of the slot. Vinyl expands a lot in the heat! Just make sure your pieces are positively locked in.

I have a customer that had a deck put on, the rubes put white vinyl lattice on the skirt, tight, with a finish nail gun. The lattice buckles badly in the heat.