Professional Advice Needed

HandyHails

I have a customer who had someone come out to install vinyl siding on his home. its all brick on the first floor and vinyl on the second. On the gable side of his house, all the siding came loose and is flopping in the wind. its basically two triangles cut in half by the chimney.

I told him I would have to start at the roof and take it all down and reattach using more tension on the siding so it doesn't unsnap when the weather gets warm and windy. I understand why the gable is most likely to come undone especially on such a shallow pitch like his roof.

My question is if there is any tricks I could use beyond just tensioning the existing siding a bit to ensure that this does not happen again. Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,

Josh

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Josh

hhicontracting.com

strathd

Would like to see pics of how it was installed.

ScipioAfricanus

Ahh...I am no expert when it comes to vinyl siding but I don't think you want to put tension on the siding.

Am I wrong?

Andy.

naptown CR

What you proposed is the only thing I know of. If the roof is really shallow there may not be enough nailing strip in relation to the length of the siding piece and is allowing too much movement in the siding. If the original installer ran a J chanel at the top you may want to put a trim nail through the face and into something at the ends. THIS IS NOT A PROPER PROCEDURE I thought I would get that out there to extinguish the flaming that would be sure to come. however you may have no other choice. If you do this make sure the rest of the panel moves horizontally to prevent buckling.

HandyHails

That's sort of what I was thinking. The other was to take a few daps of silicon in the lip of the panel closest to the angle to keep it from unclipping.

ScipioAfricanus: I used to install vinyl siding yrs ago when I was a framer during any slow periods. I was taught to pull up SLIGHTLY on a piece of siding when installing and to nail in the center of the slots w/ the roofers loose enough to allow the piece to slide left to right. As long as you can slide it w/ minimal effort, it will move freely w/ changes in temperature.

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Josh

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HandyHails

Soooooooooooooo, I got a chance to get up there to rip down the siding to start over today. Almost all the nails I was able to pull w/ my fingers. Gable studs are 2' on center and sheathed w/ some lame fiber board that a hole got punched through when I laid my ladder on the wall. I've never seen anyone use this stuff for anything ever. Its looks like the same material used for cheap peg board, but without the holes. Also there was once a gable vent there that they just put house wrap over and let it go. Apparantly the wind is going through the gable vent on the opposing side and hitting against this and pushing it out. Only 1/4 of the nails are hitting any real wood.

I'm going up to the crawl space tomorrow to install more studs in between the studs that are there. Some new plywood and a gable vent and he will be good to go. 2 more gables sheeted w/ the same stuff on this house. I guess the homeowner needs to wait a while before he will be able to have me repair those though.

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Josh

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loneframer

When reinstalling the siding, run a 3" bead of silicone caulk between the weep holes in the interlock on the end of the angle cut. More than one dab between weepholes will possibly trap water so resist the urge. Once the caulk dries, it will be tough to unlock the coarse.

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loneframer

Sounds like the old Celotex I remember from when I was a kid working with my dad. Looked like wood fiber and asphalt pressed together.

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Home Work Pro

That is fibered insulated sheathing (celotex is a brand) used commonly in the 70's and early 80's.

I would look at the ventilation system that is in the attic before I just add a gable vent. The vent may have been covered to insure a soffit/ridge vent system would function properly.

Silicon in the lock will hold the end of a long cut but make sure the other end or the panel has enough room to expand and contract

Gable studs 2' oc should be enough as long as you nail into each stud and the panel isn't .038

Good luck

HandyHails

Thanks guys. I was planning on using silicon in the lock for sure. There is no ridge vent and there is a big hole in the gable the same size as the other gable vents on the home. The HO is paying for the extra studs and sheeting (T&M) and just stated that he never wants to have to deal w/ this problem again.

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Josh

hhicontracting.com