Steps
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How to Hang Clapboard Siding
2
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Weatherproof the walls
Step Two
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How to Hang Clapboard Siding
Weatherproof the walls
Slip 12-inch-wide splines of felt behind the corner boards and the side casings next to doors and windows. If there is no housewrap or trim on the house.
Locate studs by tapping across the wall with a hammer.
Snap vertical chalk lines at each stud location, typically every 16 or 24 inches.
Bend flashing over the water table so it extends 1 inch up the wall. Secure the top edge of the flashing at the studs with 4d nails. Overlap the ends of the flashing 3 inches, and seal joints with a paintable synthetic-rubber sealant.
Staple 12-inch builder's felt above the water table so it covers the flashing.
Staple two 2-inch-wide strips over each stud line. This creates a breathing space and provides an escape route for condensation.
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Hang the starter course
Step Three
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How to Hang Clapboard Siding
Hang the starter course
Using a table saw, rip 1 1/2 inches off the top of a clapboard for a starter strip. Prop its thickest edge 1/8 inch above the water table; secure it to every other stud with one 7d nail.
Line up the lower edge or butt edge of the first full-width clapboard so that it covers the starter strip and lies a hair above the water table. This is the starter course.
Apply sealant along the corner boards. Bed clapboard ends into it, leaving 1/16 inch space along the corner board.
An inch above the siding's butt edge, drive in one 7d nail into each stud.
If clapboard isn't long enough to span a wall, splice two together with a 45-degree scarf joint. Apply sealant to the ends, fit them together, and drive one nail through the overlapping board ½ inch to the side of the joint.
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Hang following courses
Step Six
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How to Hang Clapboard Siding
Hang following courses
Apply a thick bead of sealant along the vertical juncture where the wall meets the corner board.
Push the ends of the second course into the sealant. Align the butt edge with the story-pole marks on the corner boards.
Nail the clapboard to the studs as in Step 3.
Follow the chalk line to align the butts. Stagger the joints as you work up the wall.
With a utility knife, notch the top of the board to fit beneath the window. (Save the scrap for Step 9.)
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Fit siding around windows
Step Seven
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How to Hang Clapboard Siding
Fit siding around windows
After notching the siding to fit around the bottom of the window, apply sealant under and around the windowsill.
Carefully slide the notched piece of siding into place.
Nail the clapboard to the studs.
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.
Join the clapboards with scarf joints as in Step 3.
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8
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Siding beside windows
Step Eight
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How to Hang Clapboard Siding
Siding beside windows
Hold the swing stick near the window casing.
Align one mark with the top of the head casing. Swing the stick's bottom to one side.
When a mark on the lower part of the stick lines up with the butt edge of the last installed clapboard, transfer the marks on the stick to the wall.
Transfer the marks on the wall to the story pole as in Step 4. Then transfer those marks to the side casing and nearest corner board. Repeat the swing-stick/story-pole process on the opposite corner board, then continue hanging siding.
Stick an 8-inch-wide piece of waterproofing membrane above the head casing. Extend it 2 inches past the casing on each side of the window.
Bend a 3-inch-wide piece of flashing over the membrane and the window casing so it overhangs by ¼ inch.
Fasten the flashing's top edge with 4d nails.
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