Installation of lap siding

In some custom installations, lap siding is carefully mitered at outside corners. This makes for a classic look but calls for very good carpentry skills and boards that are certain not to shrink. The method discussed here is an easier and more common one—installing corner trim first and then butting the siding to it. The walls should be stripped of all previous siding, and the surface should be fairly smooth and flat because lap siding will follow along any contours.

Staple a layer of house wrap to the sheathing, working from the bottom up, and overlapping joints by several inches so that any water that reaches it will shed down the wall.

Around windows and doors, install metal flashing before applying the trim to be sure water will not infiltrate. Some installers install vertical strips of roofing felt over the studs— these help you locate the studs, and they help seal the nail shanks to prevent moisture penetration. This can help ensure the starter strip stays level from one corner of the home to the other.

Next, measure and cut the corner base to the height of the wall. Be sure to include the full length — from the soffit down to the bottom of the starter strip. The corner base is a very important piece, because it acts as a cap for the siding that will be installed later. It creates a smooth and finished look to the log lap siding. Each panel is constructed with a bottom lock, top lock, and built-in nail strip. Unlike natural wooden log lap siding, steel siding panels are always uniform, meaning the pieces snap together with ease.

TruLog steel lap siding comes in foot lengths, and approximately 11 panels are needed to cover square feet of exterior walls. Remove the foam backer from each panel as you line it up.

Slide the bottom lock into the starter strip and apply gentle pressure upwards on the panel to lock it in place. Secure the panel to the wall on one end, and then carefully drop the foam backer into place on the other end. When taking planks from the pallet for installation, avoid repeating the texture pattern by working your way across the pallet instead of down. Two to four planks can be removed from a stack at one time.

Then, you should take material from adjacent stacks, again working across the pallet. Dark-colored joint flashings should be used on siding with dark finishes. The sheet should be removed immediately after each plank is installed. Not your zip code? Update it in the field below. Get Free Quotes Now. We will not contact you with anything else.

Our specialists are currently reviewing your case and will get back to you shortly. So what is lap siding and how does it compare to other types of siding?

As you might have guessed from the name, lap siding is a style where the boards or planks overlap vertically, which has a lot of advantages to it. Some of the popular types of lap siding include shiplap , channel lap, dutch lap and nickel gap, while clapboard or bevel are perhaps the most known and common ones.

There are clear distinctions between each of the different sides and the type of curb appeal that they correspondingly add to your home. The good thing about this type of siding is that it basically has no disadvantages. The only thing that could get you to choose a different style is if you have a strong preference for the visual appeal that they may have for some personal reason. Otherwise, lap is the way to go in most cases. You would be surprised to see how many websites online mistakenly represent one style as another saying that clapboard and dutch lap are the same.

Dutch lap is installed horizontally and unlike clapboard, the million process to create the boards is slightly more advanced, which also makes the material more expensive.

Underneath is a picture that clearly shows what dutch lap wood siding looks like. The clapboard on the other hand is formed simply by the fact that the panels overlap, but not due to the way they were milled. And the photo below is a one that shows the shadow of clapboard. The shadows are clearly different. It is clear that those panels were made so as to resemble wooden dutchlap and clapboard, although they connect in a different fashion than their wood counterparts. The panels are made to lock together, whereas the wooden materials will simply be resting against each other.

This is what it looks like as a consequence. The image below shows what it looks like when you join the different boards together too.