Water Damaged Siding

We tear off the damaged hardboard and replace it with fiber cement siding.

Water damaged siding.

How to paint over water damaged wood. When clapboards or shakes are rotten or broken your home s siding can no longer do the job it s meant to do. In most cases the original layer of building paper or housewrap at the bottom of the wall was enough to prevent water infiltration and damage beneath the siding. After you have located the sheet of plywood siding that is water damaged you ll need to remove it.

Use your damaged section of siding as a template for marking the dimensions on the new siding board. Water can also seep in behind faux stone and other external walls around your home. Exterior paint sheds water until there are cracks peeling paint or gaps between the siding and windows doors letting rain get behind the surface of the siding. Normal damage that occurs to your home s siding like fading from sun exposure or dirt and grime is your responsibility and won t be covered for the replacement cost.

The repair is simple if you follow the details in the illustration above. The sheathing and framing sometimes need repairs too but that is less common. Under the siding 2 16 common locations for water leaks in siding are at the corners of the house anywhere two siding panels meet and around the windows where the siding abuts the trim. To remove a damaged clapboard drive wedges t pull it away from the house and pry out the nails.

Cut the new section of siding to size on the electric miter saw. It s the water that penetrates that causes problems because it likely won t get enough air circulation to remove the moisture and wood that has more than 20 moisture will rot. Then cut out the damaged section with a backsaw. Exposed wood soaks up water raising.

The wood grain pattern on the fiber cement siding is often a perfect match with existing hardboard although it s not as good a match with real rough sawn wood. Damaged siding lets air water dirt and insects through to the inside. Here the biggest danger is water seeping in behind your siding and causing permanent damage to more vulnerable materials. Matching siding coverage is meant to help you if your original siding that s damaged is discontinued.

Exterior wood elements become vulnerable to water damage as soon as the paint or other protective finish starts to fail. Nail the replacement siding board in place slide the replacement siding board upward underneath its top neighbor. In most cases the original layer of building paper or housewrap at the bottom of the wall was enough to prevent water infiltration and damage beneath the siding.