What Can You Do About Damaged Siding?

By Author: Walker Wild
Total Articles: 279
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Exterior siding materials are generally made to withstand an average amount of daily wear and tear and to repel most of the ravages of weather, but no siding material is completely impervious to these factors. Despite a commitment to a regular schedule of inspection and maintenance, damaged siding can occur at any time. In most cases, time is of the essence; the longer that damaged siding goes untreated, the more significant the damage can become.

Sometimes the damage to a home's exterior siding is small enough and simple enough to treat that you can repair the damage yourself. If the damaged siding is close enough to the ground that you won't need to procure scaffolding and if the damaged area is not extensive, then it might be feasible to attempt a do-it-yourself repair job. If you are unsure about your capabilities when it comes to repairing damaged siding, please contact a professional siding installer to assess the repairs that are needed.

To repair a portion of siding that has been damaged, you will need an extra piece of your home's existing siding. In the best case scenario, you stored some siding pieces ...
... that were left over from the initial siding installation. If you do not happen to have an extra piece of siding, you will need to contact the retailer or manufacturer from which you purchased your siding originally to see if you can order a new section of siding.

If your current siding that has been installed on your home for a significant amount of time, chances are good that its color has faded a bit. If the damaged siding that you plan to replace is in a prominent spot, using a brand new section of unfaded siding may be quite obvious. If this is your home's situation, you may want to remove a piece of your current siding from an area of your home's exterior that is less noticeable, and use the siding from this spot to repair your damaged siding. After this is accomplished, you can use your new section of siding to replace the older siding that you took from the less prominent spot.

Once you have the siding section that you will use to replace the damaged siding, you can carefully mark and then cut the damaged siding before placing the new section. Be sure that the replacement siding section overlaps the damaged area by at least an inch on all sides. After you nail the new piece of siding, you can use a siding zip tool to lock the siding into its holding bracket.

Siding Hub is an established source of siding information, comparison and advice. The site also offers a matching service letting homeowners receive and compare quotes from pre-screened siding contractors in their area. Visit http://www.sidinghub.com .