Give your home warmth with wooden clapboards
Want to give your home the rustic charm of a wood cabin? Learn how to install wood siding for a beautiful exterior that is the envy of the neighborhood.
This is a great project to tackle if you have experience working from heights and using power tools. However, if you don’t have these advanced skills and experience, this DIY can be dangerous, leading to injuries and improper installation.
While giving your home a new facade is a major upgrade, this DIY isn’t right for everyone. Unless you have advanced carpentry skills and are comfortable and experienced working at height, hire a pro instead.
Taking on this project without the proper skills and background is dangerous and can lead to injuries and improper installation.
However, if you’re an advanced DIYer, you can learn how to install wood siding safely by following the guidelines below:
Wear leather or similar work gloves when handling raw wood to keep your hands safe from painful splinters.
Wear safety glasses when driving nails with a hammer or nail gun and while using power tools.
Never stand above the second from the top rung of an extension or step ladder.
Never bypass the safety tip on pneumatic tools.
Consider renting scaffolding for working above ground level.
Wear additional personal protection equipment (PPE) when appropriate, including hearing protection and dust masks or respirators.
Before learning how to install wood siding, you’ll want to complete the following tasks:
Perform estimating and purchase new siding before removing the old siding.
Cut bushes and tree branches away from the home to give yourself at least 1 foot of clearance to work.
Keep an eye on the weather for the next several days. Choose dry days for installation. Ensure you have tarps or other weather-resistant covers to protect exposed areas from rainfall if necessary.
If you’re repairing a spot of wood siding, estimating is simple by counting the pieces you need to remove. If you need help, contact a local siding repair pro for a quote.
However, estimating is more involved for larger jobs, such as installing siding on a new addition or a whole house.
Measure each rectangular wall by width and height to determine its square foot area.
Find the square footage of triangular areas by multiplying the width and height and dividing by two.
Add all of the square foot totals together.
Count all of the windows and exterior doors in your home.
Subtract 15 square feet for each window and 20 square feet for each door from your total square foot measurement.
Multiply that total by 15% for waste.
Order wood siding equaling the square foot amount, or divide the total by 100, round up, and order that many squares. One square equals 100 square feet.
Determine the amount of water-resistive barrier house wrap (WRB) you need by disregarding the window and door subtractions and purchasing enough to cover the overall square foot measurements.
Purchase trim lumber as needed for the style you choose and the number of doors and windows.
Divide the length-only measurements of all the walls by 16 inches to determine the amount of furring strip material you need. Add enough extra furring strips to circle each door, window, and other obstructions.
Now it’s time to learn how to install wood siding. When the siding load arrives at your home, keep it off the ground and away from moisture.
Prepare the siding by priming all sides if you’ll paint the house exterior later, or apply the first coat of stain and sealer if you’re going for a natural wood look.
Set up rented scaffolding or use ladders and an assistant to unroll the weather-resistant barrier (WRB) house wrap and secure it with capped staples with an appropriate staple tacker hammer.
Seal all edges of the WRB with sealing tape and ensure the wrap overlaps the foundation block by several inches. Overlap lower wrap sections by 6 inches with higher pieces of wrap and trim the excess around doors and windows.
Furring strips are an essential step to ensure a flat and smooth surface and provide air circulation behind the wood. At this stage, don’t forget to put on your personal protection equipment, like gloves and eye protection.
It’s recommended that you tack on 1-by-2 furring strips vertically every 16 inches over existing stud locations and around each window, door, and obstruction.
Tack them on with construction staples or use a small number of 2-1/2-inch nails to hold them in place until you install the siding boards. If you’re installing wood siding panels instead of lap wood siding, install the firring strips horizontally or diagonally every 16 inches and under the panel seams.
To keep unwanted rodents and small animals from residing behind your new siding, install additional furring strips or staple wire mesh between the bottoms of each vertical or diagonal furring strip.
Depending on the look you want, you can install the trim boards around windows and doors before or after you put up the siding pieces. The same is true of frieze boards just below the soffits and corner trim boards.
Install them first or as you work your way up the wall with siding if you’re going to butt the siding into the trim work. If you want the trim over the siding, wait until the siding is complete before putting on the trim pieces.
Now you’re ready to add your first pieces of siding. You’ll need your long bubble level, laser level, or chalk link handy.
Establish a level indicator line for the first row of siding or panels.
Ensure the first siding row overlaps the top of the foundation block by at least 1-1/2 to 2 inches and is 8 to 12 inches above the ground level.
Use a sliding miter or circular saw to cut each piece to fit. Allow a 5/16-inch gap between pieces and trim boards to allow for expansion—you’ll seal the gaps later.
Seal the ends with wood sealer or primer before placing them.
Secure each by sinking 2-1/2-inch siding nails flush with the siding surface approximately 1 inch below their tops with a hammer or pneumatic nail gun.
Install the following rows of wood siding working horizontally across each wall and secure them with nails by sinking them flush to the material surface about 1 inch above the bottom of lap siding or according to the manufacturer’s directions if different.
Overlap each row by the amount the product specifies. For panel siding, follow the manufacturer’s nailing instructions for your product and maintain expansion joints instead of overlapping the pieces.
To maintain your siding’s beauty and provide the longest possible lifespan, seal each expansion gap and joint with weatherproof, paintable exterior-grade caulk. If you’re going for a natural look with stain and sealer, use clear sealant caulk in the same way. Pay extra attention to areas near windows and doors.
When the wood siding installation is complete, trim any exposed WRB from around the bottom edge of the siding. Paint or stain and finish your new exterior to help make your wood siding last longer.
While anyone can learn how to install wood siding, it doesn’t mean you can do it safely or properly without the necessary skills and experience.
Handling the project yourself will save the cost of labor, but a whole house is a significant time commitment. This project can also be dangerous if you haven’t worked at heights or with power tools extensively in the past.
If you lack the knowledge, experience, or motivation, hire a local siding contractor to ensure a safe and long-lasting siding installation. The average cost of wood siding installation is $7,000 to $23,000.
Wood siding requires that air can circulate behind it and that water can drain away if necessary. Your home needs a water-restrictive barrier underneath furring strips to achieve the air and water gap.
Wood siding requires an air gap behind it to allow water to drain out, and for air circulation and venting to allow humid air to escape and keep the material from rotting due to moisture.
Overlapping wood siding, such as clapboard, must overlap lower courses by at least 1 inch. Determine your product's exact amount of overlap by consulting the manufacturer’s recommendations.
