Where To Start First Course Of Wood Siding

Vinyl siding starter strips.

Where to start first course of wood siding.

Step 8 siding beside windows photo by david carmack. 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. Nail the clapboard to the studs.

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. Carefully slide the notched piece of siding into place. This is where the new siding will begin. 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.

This chalk line should be level and a consistent distance from the eaves or the top and bottom of the windows. Expert advice on how to install wood or fiber cement lap siding including how to prepare exterior walls and lay out siding for installation. 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. The most common approach here is to install sill trim at the soffits rip down the top course of siding and crimp the siding so the sill trim holds it in place.

It is installed at the top of the first course covering the top edge and giving a starting point for the next course. Lap siding also called horizontal siding or clapboard may be made of wood fiber cement plywood hardboard or similar materials.