How to Repair Wood Shingle Siding
Wood shingle siding, over time, can crack and split allowing water to seep down underneath to the structural wall. This can cause damage, such as rotting or mildew, and should be taken care of as soon as possible. When the shingles wear out and are past their usefulness, you will need to replace entire walls of siding. This is possible to do on your own, but will require some time. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- 1 x 2 board (length varies on height of wall)
- Pitch fork or crowbar (to remove old shingles)
- Pencil
- Construction rosin paper
- Hammer
- 4-penny galvanized nails
- Block plane
- Stainless steel ring shank nails
Instructions
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1
Lay a 1 x 2 inch strip of wood up against the house. It needs to be as long as the house siding is tall. Use a pencil to mark on the board the location of the shingles. This will guide you in hanging the shingles later.
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2
Remove the old shingles with a crowbar, pitch fork or other tool that you can get up under the boards. Wedge the tool under and lift up to pop the wood off.
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3
Pull off the paper backing that is under the shingles. This is between the wall and the shingles so that when the wood of the wall and the wood of the shingles expand and contract, they won't stick to each other.
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4
Attach new paper to the wall. Use a rosin construction paper and tack it in place with 4-penny galvanized nails.
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Place the wood with the marking on it back up against the house. Have someone, or find some way to, hold it in place.
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Locate the bottom mark, which should be where the bottom of the lowest shingle was.
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Place a new shingle up against the mark so that the bottom of the shingle is even with the mark. Use 4-penny galvanized nails to nail the shingle to the wall. Nail near the top of the shingle, so that the shingle above it will cover the nails. Make sure nails are at least 3/4 inch in from the edge of the shingle. When replacing shingles that involve a corner, place the shingle over the edge of the corner to attach it, and then shave the end off with a block plane so that it is flush with the corner. This way when you stack the next layer on top of it, the second row won't align with the first, creating a staggered effect.
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Nail additional shingles on the same row, and at the same level, allowing an 1/8 of an inch between them.
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Hold the marking board up again to find where the bottom of the second row is located. Attach the shingles in the same way. Continue this until you reach the top of the house.
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Tips & Warnings
Alternate which side of the corner shingles lines up with the wall. This will keep you from having a straight seam down the corner.
Once the shingle siding is completely installed, nail stainless steel ring shank nails at the bottoms of the shingles to keep them from curving up when they dry out.
References
- Photo Credit Arthur Tilley/Creatas/Getty Images
