Covering Old Wood Siding

Window and door frames may need to be adjusted to match the new thickness of the wall.

Covering old wood siding.

The design is made up of wide boards being placed together and then a thin piece of wood the batten placed to cover up the gap where the two boards meet. If however you have metal or old vinyl siding that will need to be removed before new vinyl is installed. While whether to remove the existing wood siding is really a personal choice. Generally the best idea is to remove any existing siding from your exterior walls before installing the vinyl siding.

Yes you can put vinyl siding over existing wood siding assuming its condition is still good. Western red cedar and redwood woods known for being attractive and durable are considered the best choices. If it isn t there will be more steps that need to take place before it becomes possible and you might need the help of wood siding repair contractors to have the bad boards replaced which isn t always easy to do for the homeowner himself. Covering flat walls such as t 111 or stucco siding is usually a prime siding for re siding.

Also known as barn siding board and batten is an old classic when it comes to exteriors. Using existing siding for replacing siding the best place to start is to closely examine the existing siding to get a good understanding of what condition it is actually in. This is no uniform width to the boards. This goes for fiber cement hardwood and masonite siding.

While covering lap siding with vinyl is an option for some siding other varieties of lap siding can t be covered by vinyl. It would be wiser to remove the wood siding to make certain there is no damage. I ve seen house fires where the vinyl siding burned off only to reveal the superior asbestos shingles underneath which saved the house. So you can use your creativity.

According to the best practices manual from james hardie existing siding can be used as a substrate as long as it is in good condition meaning that it is not warped. If there isn t a moisture barrier beneath the old wood siding you ll want to install one over it before you add the new vinyl siding. If the job had been done right the house would have been a total loss. Wood siding comes in clapboard also known as lap or bevel siding as well as shakes and shingles.

Clapboard siding uses planks of wood installed horizontally with an upper piece that overlaps the lower piece. In addition any signs of insect infestation will remain an issue when covering the wood with vinyl so removing the wood siding is a better option. Vinyl siding must be installed against a flat surface. Any imperfections in the wall will almost always show up in the siding.