greetings all,
here in sunny so. california we very rarely see alum siding, I need to r+r a section to upgrade a servive panel and am looking for ‘tricks’ so that I don’t have to remove the entire side of the house. there is also corner and window trims to deal with. any help is greaty appreciated.
thanks in advance
Orbs
Replies
no tips for you brother, sorry...however, I have done something similar and it was a pain in the rear....good luck
All I ever wanted in life was an unfair advantage...
I put up a bit of siding in my youth. I assume you take it apart in reverse order. The siding itself is the last to go up so your windows and corners shouldn't have to be disturbed. If you really need to take off the siding, start at the top and work down. It nails at the top and snaps into a groove on the piece below. If you took a pencil and marked each piece on the bottom edge you should be able to put it back where it came from.
Its a PITA, but you can remove Al. siding pretty much the same way as you do vinyl, using a zip tool. You usually end up bending the bottom lip of the Al., so when I re-install, I try to straighten the siding as best as possible, and also use a block of wood on the last piece to tap the bottom up to lock everything back together.
I used to be able to get Al. siding at my supplier. Last time I needed some, several years ago, all he had was white, but the profile was pretty close, so I used it, and painted it. But its almost impossible to find now.
Maybe you can just cut whatever opening you need for the panel, and fasten a piece of Azek or something there? Al. Js are still available, or vinyl ones can be used, too.
Have you checked in the attic, or garage? Sometimes leftover siding was squirreled away. That kind of thrift has saved me a number of times.
Good luck!
Also, check under any deck for siding that can be removed (and replaced with different) without creating an obvious mismatch.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
I had to pop some off the gable end at my house (an unobtainium color) and I was able to get it off the bottom lip with one of those flat burglar bars (wonder bar?) Get the top loose and pull it out enough to get the bar behind one end of the siding with the end curved out against the inside of the siding. Slide it to the bottom and bump the flat on top with your hand. Once one end breaks loose, work your way down the joint. I got several pieces off intact that way. It is handy to have a helper to catch it when it lets go. Once I got it back it looked fine.
Another tool to consider would be a "shingle thief".
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
Try to sell the homeowner on the vinyl siding job.
win,win for you