Do-it-yourself Siding House Cladding: Instructions, Tips, Video

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 07:54

• Material advantages
• Calculation of the required amount of materials
• Self-cladding of a house with siding
• Required tool
• Preparation of the base and workplace
• Installation of the lathing (frame)
• Insulation bookmark
• Panel mounting
• Tips and tricks for work
• Conclusion

The most popular home decoration option in recent years has been siding. You can protect your home well with this material, and at the same time, installation takes quite a bit of time. At the same time, there are many variations of the material, and regardless of them, the installation is always the same. But in order to sheathe a house with siding on your own, you need to know all the nuances of working with this material.

Material advantages

To begin with, let's figure out what is so attractive about such a sheathing option. In fact, it has a lot of advantages, namely:

1. First of all, the cladding is unique. Its installation can be carried out on any base.
2. The structure itself is quite light, so no additional reinforcement of walls or foundations is required, which allows the cladding to be used even on old buildings.
3. The material is quite cheap, and therefore available to almost everyone.
4. It has a long operational period.
5. Easy to install, which allows you to perform all the work yourself, without using the services of specialists.
6. Easy to care for and use.
7. Allows you to give the old building a completely new look.

8. There are many types of materials, shapes and colors.

   

Of course, there are also some disadvantages, namely:

1. Not resistant to shock loads.
2. Fading over time.

Calculation of the required amount of materials

The calculation of materials is quite simple, in total, do-it-yourself siding outside the house involves the use of the following materials and auxiliary elements:

1. Outside corners, for decorative finishing of the building. According to the standard, the length of one such element is 3 meters. Therefore, for the calculation it is necessary to add the height of all corners and divide it by 3. With a house height of 3 meters (the standard height of one-story buildings), it is enough to count the number of corners.
2. Internal corners. They are used when finishing the cornice with siding, they are calculated in the same way as outside. If a cornice finish is not expected, then a finishing strip is used.
3. Starting bars. Calculated taking into account the perimeter of the house. Their total length should be equal to the perimeter minus the width of the doorway.
4. Door and window strips. The calculation is carried out along the perimeter of window and door structures.
5. Drain bars. Installed around the perimeter of the base.
6. Main panels. They are read according to the formula: from the sum of the areas of all walls we subtract the sum of the areas of window and door openings, the result is divided by the area of one panel.

7. It is also recommended to take a stock of panels at 10% of the total.

   

All fasteners usually come with siding, so their calculation is usually not needed. The only thing is the selection of screws or nails, depending on the type of fastening.

You can calculate them by adding up the length of all siding strips, and dividing it by 50 centimeters (standard step for attaching panels).

Self-cladding of a house with siding

Now it's time to move on directly to the exterior cladding of the house with siding. First, we will consider the stages of work and the necessary tool, after which we will proceed with step-by-step instructions.

All work is divided into four stages, namely:

1. Preparation of the base.
2. Installation of the frame.
3. Warming.
4. Siding installation.

Each of the stages is very important, and therefore it is necessary to consider everything in sufficient detail.

Required tool

Not much is needed directly to carry out the work. The necessary accessories include the following:

1. Electric jigsaw or grinder with a special circle (depending on the type of siding chosen).
2. Shears for metal, for profile cutting.
3. A screwdriver or drill with an appropriate bit.
4. A hammer.
5. Roulette, pencil and level.

6. Nails and screws.

   

At this point, the consideration of the tool has come to an end, and it is time to proceed directly to the work in stages.

Preparation of the base and workplace

First of all, it is necessary to prepare the base and the workplace itself. This requires:

1. Prepare the facade: remove unnecessary items from it. In particular, if there is a hinged finish, it should be dismantled. In addition, all parts of the wall that are damaged and may collapse should be reinforced.
2. In the case of a wooden house, completely eliminate and replace all rotten fragments.
3. Eliminate anything that is in contact with the wall and will interfere with your installation. These can be bushes, trees, downpipes, lantern mountings, etc.
4. Clear the area around the house, the minimum distance that is required for work is 1-2 meters, there should be no unnecessary items in such a radius from the house.

Installation of the lathing (frame)

The lathing is needed at all siding installation sites. Including around windows, around doors, at corners. And the first priority is to do it correctly.

Directly work on its preparation and installation is carried out as follows:

1. We install vertical racks. Used as a metal profile or wooden blocks with a cut of 30/40 or 50/50.
2. In the case of wooden elements, they must be treated with protective compounds.
3. Keep the distance between the boards about 40-60 cm. If there are strong winds in your area, then 20-30 cm.
4. An important factor is the beginning of the installation, which is done, starting with the corner posts, after which a thread is pulled between them, along which all the others are aligned.
5. Their fastening is carried out using special suspensions. Their selection depends on the distance that should be from the wall to the surface of the finish (which depends on the selected insulation).
6. The hangers themselves are fixed to the base using dowels, or self-tapping screws. In particular, self-tapping screws are used for wooden coatings, for the rest of the dowel.
7. You can also fix the racks directly to the wall, in the case of a flat wooden base.
8. Strengthen the boards vertically if you chose horizontal siding. And, accordingly, vice versa. Although vertically, siding panels are rarely installed.
9. Use shorts around the openings of doors and windows, perpendicular to the main grill.
10. For the corners, it is necessary to provide for the connection of the profiles so that an angle of 90 degrees is formed between them.

Thus, the crate of all the walls is carried out, after which you can proceed to the insulation.

Insulation bookmark

The next step is the arrangement of the insulation in the cells, between the racks. Depending on the region, different elements are used, with different thicknesses.

Different materials are used here, the most popular options are:

1. Mineral wool and its varieties.
2. Expanded polystyrene, polystyrene (used for siding from brick houses).

When self-finishing the house with siding, glass wool has gained the greatest popularity, since when laying the pitch between the posts, an average of 50 centimeters is provided, then mineral wool mats 50 cm wide can easily fit into these cells. It becomes very convenient that there is no need to trim the material.

Use mineral wool when insulating wooden houses. A huge plus is that the house breathes and does not condense.

Directly select the number of layers of insulation and its type depending on the weather conditions in your region.

Panel mounting

And now it's time to go directly to the do-it-yourself siding installation process.

1. It all starts with assembling the starting strip. Its fastening is carried out in a horizontal plane using self-tapping screws to the posts at the bottom of the wall.
2. Place it horizontally around the entire perimeter of the building. Further, all joints can be overlapped. This is where the H-profile comes in handy. And at the corners you need either an internal or ostentatious corner.
3. A feature of the siding finishing technology is that the cladding is carried out from the bottom up. Each of their panels has special grooves, with which they are fastened together.
4. In addition, the sides have a special cutout that is designed for secure grip and eliminating gaps.
5. After the auxiliary (starting) profiles, proceed with the installation of the main panels.
6. Insert the lower edges of the following panels into the starter strip lock, making sure that the panel is fully inserted into the lock. This will be evidenced by a characteristic click.

7. Nail the upper edges to the wall (crate) with wide-headed aluminum nails.

   

8. It is necessary to hammer in the nails strictly in the middle of the slots, in order to avoid interfering with the adhesion of the panels.
9. Distance between nails from 200 to 500 millimeters. Depending on the winds in your area.
10. Try to position the panels without tension. Since in the future, because of this, they may crack.

11. The cladding ends with the installation of finishing strips. Their installation is carried out in the same way as ordinary ones, the difference is that they do not have a lock at the top, therefore they are secured with special fasteners.

    

This completes the installation, but we recommend that you take note of a few tips.

Tips and tricks for work

In order to avoid mistakes, you should take into account some of the nuances of the work:

1. Do not drive in the nail all the way. Leave a few millimeters between the head of the nail and the panel. Siding under the influence of temperature expands and contracts, which, if tightly fastened, can lead to its destruction.
2. Fastening is not carried out from the front of the panel, since otherwise the panels will simply be blown away by the wind.
3. When you decide to make shutters, make holes in the panels 5 mm larger than the mounting bolts.
4. Siding provides for technical ventilation, so vapor barrier can be omitted.

Conclusion

Now you are familiar with the technology of house cladding with siding with your own hands, and you can apply it. The main thing is to follow all instructions when working. And if you are not confident in yourself, first practice on a small area, and then sheathe the house. In conclusion, we suggest watching a few videos on working with siding and its installation.