How to Repair Wood Siding on a House
Do you have weathered, cracked or rotten wood siding on your house? Repairing or replacing damaged wood siding with new siding prevents further weather damage and reduces your future siding costs. Installing wood siding is a lot like putting together a large puzzle, but siding repair can be challenging since wood siding panels are overlap. You can get away with repairing small areas of damaged or rotted wood with an exterior-grade wood putty, but it's often better to completely replace the wood panels. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Nail puller
- Hammer
- Hacksaw blade
- Shims
- Pry bar
- Roofing nails
- Galvanized siding nails
- Caulk gun
- Caulk
- Work gloves
- Safety glasses
- Wood primer
- Paint
- Replacement siding panels
Instructions
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Carefully remove the nails in the wood panels near the damaged area (be careful not to damage other panels when you remove the nails). If the nails are not easily accessible or you are not comfortable removing the nails from the exterior siding (for fear of damaging other panels), slide a hacksaw blade underneath the wood siding and cut through the nails.
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2
Remove the siding by placing a chisel under the damaged wood panel and lifting it slightly, then use a pry bar to pull the panel toward you. Again, be very careful not to damage the surrounding wood panels or you'll increase your siding costs. If the damaged area is small, simply cut that part of the panel out.
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3
If the damaged siding is no longer intact, measure the empty area that needs replacement siding. Otherwise, you can use the damaged panels as a template to measure and cut the replacement wood siding.
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Replace the building paper underneath the damaged siding, and secure it in place with roofing nails. If there are only small holes or tears in the building paper, use roofing cement to seal it. This will help keep moisture out after you install new siding.
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Use the damaged wood siding to measure and cut the replacement piece. Before you cut, score the saw lines with a sharp knife.
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Hold the replacement wood siding panel in place on the house, and use galvanized siding nails (No. 6 or No. 8) to secure the top and bottom of the panel. Nail the wood siding into the studs whenever possible.
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After replacing the wood siding, use caulk to fill vertical seams and nail holes.
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8
Prime the replacement wood siding, and paint it with exterior paint made for wood house siding.
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Tips & Warnings
Replace any rusted nails.
To repair small rotten areas on wood siding, dig out the damaged and/or wet areas with a scraper, then apply exterior grade wood putty with a putty knife. Let the putty dry, then sand it flat. Finally, prime the panel and paint it with exterior paint.
Use scaffolding to help prevent falls.
References
- Photo Credit Polka Dot RF/Polka Dot/Getty Images
