Repairing Old Wood Siding

Expert advice on how to repair and replace wood siding including how to fix holes repairing warped wood and replacing wood siding shingles and boards.

Repairing old wood siding.

Remove the old siding. If you have woodworking skills you can tackle small repairs by duplicating the way the siding is. Though wood siding is very strong a sufficient physical impact can split and crack it. Instead you can size the replacement using the old clapboard as a template a simple technique that virtually guarantees a tight fit on the first try.

Siding repair is best done with hand tools with one exception. Besides prying out the rotten wood you may need to cut adjacent boards back a stud or two in either direction. How to repair wood siding. Power tools are out for this job.

However by waiting to replace the one or two rotten boards this problem can lead to more significant damage in time. Wood siding comes in many forms including several types of boards shingles and sheets. Remove the wood then the nails. You can use a tape measure to mark the reveal of each piece of replacement siding or make a spacer gauge from two blocks of wood screwed together.

Here are the step by step procedures as discussed in our painting and stripping old wood siding overview page. In most cases it s necessary to remove more than just the damaged wood to make the repair less obvious. Carefully use a pry bar to remove the siding. When hardboard siding is installed and maintained correctly it can hold up for 30 or 40 years.

Water splashes up from the ground frequently soaking the vulnerable bottom edges. First to help avoid any future insect damage back prime the cedar with oil based primer image 1. Many people delay getting new wood siding when one or two boards are rotted out because it can be hard to match new materials to the wood species and the same look of the existing siding. The most important step of any wood siding repair is the final process of weatherproofing the repair area with paint or another type of sealant and caulk.

That s because the end seams on wood lap siding are staggered across the wall and have to be made at wall stud locations. To install the replacement siding start at the bottom and work your way up. Before the siding can go up 1x4 starter strips of treated lumber should be nailed to the sill where the lower most course of siding will go up image 2. Overlap the boards so each row of new siding has the same reveal as the old siding.

Repairing wood siding is integral to owning a home with wood siding. But without proper attention isolated areas can begin rotting in only a few years especially near the foundation. Score the calk on the edges as the ends split easily.