Where To Start First Course Of Wood Siding

Vinyl siding starter strips.

Where to start first course of wood siding.

Join the clapboards with scarf joints as in step 3. Nail the clapboard to the studs. It is installed at the top of the first course covering the top edge and giving a starting point for the next course. Nail a piece of plywood about 3 5 inches 89 mm thick along the top of the chalk line this will hold out the bottom of the first row of siding.

This is where the new siding will begin. Expert advice on how to install wood or fiber cement lap siding including how to prepare exterior walls and lay out siding for installation. Attach the starter strip to the plywood but don t nail it so tightly that it will restrict the strip s movement. If more than one clapboard is needed to span a wall snap a chalk line between the marks on the corner boards on top of the course being overlapped.

Snap a level chalk line for the first starter strip at the base of the wall no less than 8 inches above ground level after determining the lowest corner of the house. A transition strip or z strip is designed for this. Lap siding also called horizontal siding or clapboard may be made of wood fiber cement plywood hardboard or similar materials. Install this transition strip along the top of the first course of siding then begin the second course in the same manner as the first.

This works fine most of the time but always add a few blobs of caulking inside the bottom lip of the top course for extra security. Step 8 siding beside windows photo by david carmack.