Where To Start First Course Of Wood Siding

Vinyl siding starter strips.

Where to start first course of wood siding.

Step 8 siding beside windows photo by david carmack. Nail the clapboard to the studs. 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.

Join the clapboards with scarf joints as in step 3. It is installed at the top of the first course covering the top edge and giving a starting point for the next course. Carefully slide the notched piece of siding into place. 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.

Attach the starter strip to the plywood but don t nail it so tightly that it will restrict the strip s movement. 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. 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.

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. This chalk line should be level and a consistent distance from the eaves or the top and bottom of the windows.