when doing vinyl siding in a house, could install over existent wood singles?

Answer 1

it all depends on the shape of your wood shingles. if they are cupped or warped, the bad ones can be cut out first. if large sections are bad, the wall will need to be built back up to the level of the existing siding before siding. a good siding contractor will know how to install the trim details so they lay flat on the house, so check out your contractors work on other jobs before you decide on them. the biggest knock on not removing the shakes will be that the siding and j channels will stand proud of the existing trim details on the house. when interviewing contractors, talk over how he will deal with the details of your house, too. depending on it's age, you can gain insulating value on the exterior of your house. on my own home, 1930's era bungalow with old wiring in the walls, i am removing the existing siding to facilitate more insulation, but i will still have to build out all of the trim details to accomplish this. the reality of your question comes down to how much you can afford to spend, that will determine the way that it is done. i find many people don't want to pay for what they can't see, but there are multiple ways to accomplish a finished look, too. just as there are many levels of quality of siding, so there are many levels of insulation backer board. as far as the siding goes, buy the thickest that you can afford and it will lay flatter on your job. vinyl siding is manufactured in thicknesses from .040- .050", and while the thickness of a garbage bag might not seem like much, over time it can make a difference. the cheapest builders panels are in the .040-.044 range, and i won't sell less than .044". besides being harder to work with for me, the savings to the customer is only a couple of hundred dollars on an average size home. i have sold .044" siding for a few three family houses that i have done, for cost reasons, and in hind sight decided that the jobs would have been easier had i not. i hope this answers your question, good luck.

Answer 2

What Robert said is true. But installing vinyl over beveled siding is commonly done. Dow and Owens Corning make a 1/4" thick fan fold insulation that can be placed over the existing siding. The insulation would be nailed to the house at the peaks of the beveled siding with a 1 1/4" galvanized roofing nail. then the vinyl would be applied over the top of the insulation. Nail the vinyl siding to the house using a 2" galvanized roofing nail. Do not sink the nail to the point in crushes the insulation and make the insulation form to the beveled siding below. Vinyl should never be nailed tight to the surface below anyways, it need to be a little loose so that in can expand and contract with temperature change. If it is nailed to tight hot weather will make it ripple from expansion and cold might cause it to break at the nailing fin.

Answer 3

Buy fan-fold, a 1/4 inch thick styrofoam insulating board as suggested earlier. I've installed miles of this vinyl siding crap--and it is crap--but always over fan-fold. Put it on under everything plastic and you can also use it to shim out the deeper areas and you can leave it off at the high spots.

Better is to scrap off the old paint and prime and paint what you already have. Vinyl leaves with a cheap looking house that'll have to be redone in a few years anyway. Ugh!

Answer 4

Going over existing wood siding or stucco is possible, although, it's sometimes necessary to install vertical furring strips first.

If you tear off the old siding and apply new siding directly over the wall sheathing, you can improve an existing home's insulation and weatherization before you re-side. Fiberglass, cellulose, or foam insulation can be blown or injected into the wall cavities. House wrap or sheets of foam insulation can be applied over the sheathing.

Answer 5

I don't know the answer to that, but would like to make a comment. I like the fact that I will never have to paint my house again & it looks really nice. I had vinyl siding put on my house but it has since ruined all x-mas's since. I love to put up alot of lights on my house but have not found a way to do that without ruining the siding. I'm limited to putting lights on the roof only.

Answer 6

Owens Corning Fanfold

Answer 7

I wouldn't suggest it .It will come out all wavy and look like hell. The J-channel will be crooked also. You could make shims but it would be easier to tear off the shingles. If you tear off the old shingles then you can put house wrap over the wood and increase the insulating factor a little. If you layer up materials on the shingles all of the trim will be to shallow. When the J-channel sticks out farther than the trim that really looks like heck.

Answer 8

It may be possible if you put a flat layer over the shingles. Something like the "fan fold insulating board" or thin flat plywood. You really need a flat surface so you siding does't come out with ripples, which look bad. Layering up flat surface can work well if you can work out the problem of flushing up around windows and doors.

Answer 9

I'll go with Robert on this one. Tear it off and insulate and put it up. Sounds good.

Answer 10

I too would say ROBERT has the better solution. Only once in my career have I seen someone get siding... having left old "clapboard" in place, and years later had to replace everything because the clapboard was degenerating.

Certainly there are appropriate NEW backer materials, and you should look into vapor barriers as well as checking the status of whatever insulation is behind your current structure, if you go that deep.

Steven Wolf