What you need for siding. Do-it-yourself siding on a wooden house: recommendations for finishing. Cladding a house with siding - video

Cladding the facade of a house is one of the main components not only of external attractiveness, but also of reliable protection of external walls from the adverse effects of natural factors: rain, snow, sunlight. In addition to its protective functions, the cladding of the house creates good thermal insulation of the room.

Today, on the construction market you can find many options for facade cladding. One of the popular types of finishing is siding. Finishing the facade with siding with your own hands does not require special training, skills or abilities. A responsible approach, the correct choice of material, strict adherence to installation technology, as a result of which high-quality finishing of the facade will be ensured.

Types of siding panels

Before you start covering the facade of the house, you need to familiarize yourself with the types of siding panels and study the characteristics of the material from which they are made.

Steel

Steel siding is used for cladding industrial buildings and warehouses.

Advantages:

• large selection of colors and shades;
• resistance to deformation;
• durability;
• not flammable

Flaws:

• periodically requires coating with an anti-corrosion compound;
• dents remain from mechanical damage;
• a large mass increases the load on the foundation of the building, which must be taken into account when building a house;
• high price.

Aluminum siding is used for cladding industrial and residential buildings.

Advantages:

• light, strong and durable material;
• does not fade in the sun;
• huge selection of colors;
• acceptable price.

Flaws:

• is subject to corrosion;
• deformations from strong mechanical impact are possible.

Wooden siding is mainly used for interior cladding of residential and office premises.

Advantages:

• aesthetic appearance;
• retains heat well.

Flaws:

• fragility;
• high price;
• requires constant impregnation with special compounds to increase service life.

Cement

Cement siding is the latest technology for covering the facade of a building. Cellulose fibers are added to ordinary cement, thus creating a cladding that resembles expensive types of wood. Special pressing technology allows you to produce this type of siding with any pattern. Used for cladding industrial facilities. For residential premises it is used in rare cases.

Advantages:

• huge selection of colors;
• not flammable;
• durable and strong.

Flaws:

• heavy weight, which will create extra load on the foundation;
• complexity of material processing;
• façade cladding will require not only special training, but also the use of respiratory protection equipment (respirators);
• high price.

Vinyl siding is one of the most commonly used types of finishing. The material looks impressive and expensive, as it imitates many textures: expensive types of wood, stone, marble. You can also choose different colors and create an original pattern or picture.

Advantages:

• simplicity and ease of installation;
• reasonable cost;
• reliability, durability (more than 20 years);
• lightness of the material;
• a huge selection of textures and colors;
• any type of surface can be sheathed;
• possibility of replacing several panels;
• can be treated with various cleaning mixtures.

Flaws:

• Vinyl panels do not withstand strong impacts and may crack.

Covering the facade with vinyl siding is the best solution for finishing the facade of a house. It is advisable that a specialized team deal with the façade cladding. Poorly laid panels will allow air, moisture and insects to pass through to the wall of the house, and this can cause damage to it. It is possible to sheathe the facade with your own hands; for this you need to prepare tools and materials that will help in the work, and also read the instructions.

Tools and materials

Required tool:

• measuring instruments (ruler, square, tape measure);
• hammer;
• rope;
• screwdriver;
• ladder;
• electric saw for cutting panels.

Material:

• outer and inner corner;
• window trim;
• H and J-profiles;
• starter and drain strip;
• soffits.

Stages of facade finishing

Before covering the facade with siding, you must strictly follow the installation technology, which consists of several stages.

Calculations

• area of ​​the walls of the house (cottage);
• wall dimensions;
• sizes and number of window openings;
• type of roof of a country house.

Having all the data for the calculation, you can independently calculate the required number of panels for cladding using the following algorithm: subtract the area of ​​doors and windows from the area of ​​all walls of the house, and divide the resulting number by the area of ​​one siding panel. Multiply the resulting result by 1.10. Thus, the area of ​​the panels is calculated with a 10% margin.

Preparation

Prepare the surface of the walls. Clean them of dirt, remove unnecessary objects (pipes, trim, window sills, etc.). Blow out the cracks with polyurethane foam or seal with cement mortar. If the surface is wooden, then treat it with a special mixture (antiseptic).

Lathing

If the house is new, then lathing is not required. Provided that the house is old, it is necessary to prepare the sheathing for attaching the panels. Wood or metal is used for sheathing. Wooden sheathing is cheaper than metal sheathing. But metal sheathing is more reliable and durable. For wooden sheathing, slats that are pre-treated with an antiseptic are suitable. Iron lathing is made from galvanized profile.

Insulation and waterproofing

The next step is insulation and waterproofing. Polystyrene foam can be used as insulation. For waterproofing - a membrane. The first layer is insulation, the second is the membrane, and then a new sheathing is made.

Installation

1. The siding is attached with a gap of 6–8 mm between the end of the panels and the corners. It is also necessary to maintain a gap of about 2 mm between the panels and the sheathing to prevent deformation of the siding.
2. Before attaching the new panel, it is connected to the panel attached to the sheathing. The outer corner should be used to cover the joints of the panels.
3. Secure window trims and J-profiles, including in doorways. The corners of the profiles should be overlapped.
4. Install the H-profile in a vertical position, leaving a gap of 3–5 mm at the top and bottom.
5. Attach the finishing strip under the roof of the building.
6. The first row of siding is attached to the starting strip, and reinforced with a self-tapping screw at the top and in the middle at a distance of 35–45 cm. Installation of the next rows occurs in the same way.

The technological process of installing siding is not particularly difficult, so you can do it yourself.

Video

Detailed description of siding installation stages:

Scheme

Correct installation diagrams:

When building a house from ordinary brick, timber, cellular concrete or erecting a frame building, the walls need finishing, which will not only give the building a presentable appearance, but also protect it from negative atmospheric influences. Among the abundance of modern finishing materials, siding is in greatest demand. It is valued for its practicality, durability, large selection of colors and textures; in addition, siding is done so simply and quickly that you can do it yourself. In our article we will tell you in detail how to install vinyl siding yourself. To make it easier for you to understand how siding is installed, video instructions are presented at the end of the article.

About the material

Most often, vinyl or metal siding is used to cover the walls of a residential building. It is almost impossible to distinguish these products from the photo. Vinyl sheathing is made of polymer material, and the base of the metal panels is galvanized steel sheet with a protective coating, primer and polymer decorative layer.

Sheathing a house with siding is beneficial for several reasons:

• This is a fairly strong and durable product that retains its characteristics throughout its entire service life.
• For many developers, the most important advantage is the affordable price.
• The product gives the house a beautiful and well-groomed look.
• There is a large selection of colors, textures and shapes of this material on sale (for logs, block houses, shiplap), so you can easily choose a product to your taste that matches the overall style and color of the house.
• The product does not deteriorate due to sudden temperature changes (provided that it is installed correctly).
• The material is completely non-flammable.
• The panels reliably protect the walls of the house from dampness and moisture. A finished house will not be damaged by mold and mildew.
• The surface of walls covered with siding can be washed with a stream of water from a hose, which ensures easy maintenance of the finish.
• Installing siding with your own hands is quick and easy, proof of this is the video instructions at the end of the article.
• Using this material you can decorate the facade of even a log building.
• The finish will serve you for several decades without changing its appearance.

Rules for using the material

Before covering your house with siding with your own hands, you should familiarize yourself with the rules for installing this material in order to avoid frequent mistakes:

1. To ensure that the walls always look beautiful, the panels cannot be fastened too rigidly, since vinyl products are subject to temperature deformation. Changes in the linear dimensions of the material can reach 1%. To ensure expansion and contraction of the product, all holes for fasteners on the panel have an elongated shape. In this case, the fasteners can only be screwed into the center of the oblong hole and in no case through the body of the panel. The fastener is installed so that there is a gap of 1 mm between its head and the product. As a result, even after temperature fluctuations, the surface of the walls of a tiled house will be smooth and beautiful.
2. When installing siding with your own hands, you should leave a gap of 8-10 mm between the ends of the panels and the inner walls of the guides and connecting profiles. Thanks to this, the siding facing the house will not deform and bend when heated and crack when cooled.

Important: if installation is carried out in hot weather, this gap can be slightly reduced. When storing material in the sun, it should be covered from sunlight.

1. You can clad a house with this finishing material in any season, but it is better not to do this if the ambient temperature is below -10°C. The thing is that the vinyl product becomes very fragile, so it can easily crack during installation or cutting. To protect against this, cutting is best done using a grinder.

Additional items

Siding, the installation of which is very simple, cannot be installed without the use of special additional elements. It’s easy to calculate the amount of siding itself and auxiliary elements yourself if you know the area of ​​the walls of the house, the number of doors and windows, the height of the corners, the dimensions of all walls, and the type of roof. If desired, the calculation can be performed by the seller in the store.

Do-it-yourself siding on a house is done using the following auxiliary additional elements:

• The external corner element helps not only to beautifully design the corners of the house, but also to fix the panels in it, as in a guide profile. The height of this corner product is 3 m.
• If the shape of the house is complex and it has internal corners, then you will need internal corner elements. In addition to the corners, these parts can be used at the junction of the wall and the eaves overhang, if the eaves lining is also made of siding.
• The finishing strip is attached at the top and completes the wall cladding.
• To finish the eaves overhang you will need soffits and wind boards.
• A starting strip is installed at the bottom of the façade before installing the panels.
• J-profile (end) is needed for walls with height differences, on multi-level roofs, around windows and doors.
• To know how to sheathe a building with siding around windows and doors, you should purchase a special window trim and flashings.
• Depending on the width of the base, a regular drain or a special drain strip can be used above it.
• To cover the walls of a house with a width of more than 3.66 m, you will need to install two panels along the length of the facade. To join the ends of these panels, you will need a connecting profile.

Also, do-it-yourself siding installation is done using galvanized self-tapping screws no less than 3.5 cm long. The head of the fasteners must be rubberized, so that after a few years rusty streaks will not appear on the surface of the panels. To calculate the total number of fasteners, you need to multiply the square footage of the wall by two.

Preparatory stage

Before installing siding, the walls of the house must be properly prepared. Preparatory activities may vary depending on the material from which the house is made:

1. You need to remove debris and dust from the walls of any house, and remove all protruding elements.
2. The surface of a wooden building must be treated with protective compounds (fire retardants and antiseptics). This way you will protect the walls from rot, burning and damage by microorganisms.
3. In the walls of any building, using mortar or foam, you need to seal all the cracks, holes and cracks.
4. The walls of structures made of cellular concrete (foam concrete and gas blocks) need to be treated with deep penetration protective compounds.
5. Before covering a log structure, it must be inspected for mold and rot. All damaged wall elements must be replaced, and the cracks must be carefully caulked.

Installation of sheathing and insulation of the house

Before you cover the house with siding yourself, you need to fix the sheathing on it, onto which the panels will be attached. For these purposes you can use:

• special metal profile for siding installation;
• wooden slats;
• galvanized profiles for gypsum boards.

Attention: the panels cannot be installed directly on the wall, since there must be a ventilation gap behind the casing to protect the walls from condensation accumulation.

When installing the sheathing, adhere to the following recommendations:

1. The wooden frame is made from slats with a moisture content of no more than 15%. All wooden frame elements are treated with an antiseptic and dried. It is better to take slats with a cross section of 4x6 cm.
2. It is better to install a frame made of galvanized profiles on a concrete or brick house.
3. Since insulation will be placed between the sheathing guides, the frame is mounted on special brackets that will allow you to achieve the required distance from the walls according to the thickness of the insulating material.
4. The optimal installation step for the sheathing guides is 50-60 cm and is determined by the width of the insulation boards.
5. Sheathing slats must be attached around door and window openings, at the bottom and top of walls, and at the corners of the house.

Regardless of whether you use insulation, the walls of a wooden house must be protected with a vapor barrier membrane. It is attached either directly to the walls under the frame, or on top of the insulating material to the sheathing slats. Before installing siding when insulating a brick, concrete or wooden house, a vapor barrier must be used.

Thermal insulation material is placed in the gap between the sheathing slats and attached to the house using disc dowels. Next, the walls are covered with a vapor barrier, and 4 cm thick slats are again placed on top of it to obtain the necessary ventilation gap between the finishing layer and the vapor barrier film.

Installing Items

DIY siding installation - instructions for dummies:

1. Work begins with the installation of a low tide on the basement part of the building. It is attached to the horizontal lath of the sheathing.
2. Next, a starting profile is installed immediately above the ebb along the perimeter of the entire house. It is leveled and fixed with self-tapping screws to the sheathing.
3. Now you can begin installing the corner elements. To do this, they are first attached to the upper hole, and after fastening they are screwed into the central part of the oblong cutouts on the element. Moreover, the lower edge of the corner profile should be 0.5 cm below the starting bar.
4. End strips are installed around doors and windows. And the openings in the wall themselves are decorated with corner elements, the edges of which are cut at 45 degrees.
5. If the walls of the house are very long, then the installation location of the joining profile should be thought out in advance. In this case, the profile itself is leveled in a strictly vertical position and fastened so that its ends do not reach the cornice and base by 0.6 cm.
6. A finishing strip or internal corner is installed on the wall under the roof overhang.
7. After this, we begin installing the siding from the bottom up. The first element is hooked onto the starting strip and fastened with self-tapping screws to the sheathing. The installation step of the fasteners depends on the location of the sheathing slats.
8. The installation of all subsequent elements is carried out similarly. They cling to the previous panel and are attached to the frame.

DIY siding installation - video:

Siding is one of the most inexpensive and practical materials for finishing the facade of a house. Installation of such cladding is quite simple; even a novice builder can master the installation. The material is strong and durable and is not afraid of rain, frost, wind and sun. It will protect the walls of the house from mechanical damage and prevent their premature destruction.

Another argument in favor of the material under consideration is the designer’s freedom of imagination. Wall cladding can be made in a variety of colors and textures. There are a huge number of options, some of them are designed to imitate natural stone, brick, and wood of various species.

Types of siding for cladding

Siding is a special cladding panel. Exterior cladding products are usually lamella-shaped, but larger varieties are sometimes found. These elements are produced in the form of fairly large panels.

The siding itself can be made from different materials:

1. Plastic. Made from vinyl or acrylic polymer. Finishing the facade with this type of material is the most affordable option. The material does not rot and is resistant to moisture. In this case, the plastic does not crack and does not support combustion. The disadvantages of this type of siding include low impact strength.
   

   

2. Metal. Panels made of galvanized iron or aluminum are absolutely fireproof. They are also characterized by high strength. But there are several disadvantages that can cause inconvenience during installation and operation. These disadvantages include increased weight and instability of steel to corrosion. To prevent damage, it is better to choose aluminum models, but their price will be significantly higher.

   
   

3. Tree. The material is called “planken” and is highly expensive. Wood is capricious and requires special attention and care during operation. But the advantages of such cladding of houses include an attractive appearance, good thermal insulation and sound insulation properties.

   
   

4. Fiber cement. A relatively new species that is only gaining popularity. The material belongs to the group of non-flammable materials and is not susceptible to mold and mildew. Other positive characteristics include moisture resistance, strength and durability. Special fastenings are provided for installation.

Decorating the exterior of a house with siding is not difficult, but painstaking. Considering the cost of services of professional workers, it will be much easier to do this work yourself. To do this, you just need to study the technology and carefully review the recommendations of the manufacturer of a particular finishing material.

Material calculation and preparation

The technology for finishing a house with siding is almost the same for all types. To cladding a house, you will need to prepare some tools for the job:

• a universal hacksaw with small teeth;
• scissors for cutting metal;
• screwdriver;
• pliers;
• hammer;
• construction plumb line;
• roulette;
• pencil.

Complete list of required tools

It's easier to do the job with two people. They start with calculating the material. This is necessary in order to immediately purchase the required quantity and avoid additional transport and time costs during the work process.

The amount of material can be calculated approximately. To do this, calculate the area of ​​the external walls, plinth and cornices. To calculate the required number of panels, the result must be divided by the area of ​​one element. In order to think over the location of the joints and more accurately calculate the quantity, it is worth making a sketch of the external walls of the building. It is recommended to add 5-10% to the amount of siding received for trimming and various unforeseen expenses.

Calculation of surface area for cladding

Wall finishing begins with surface preparation. It includes the following steps:

• cleaning from dirt and dust;
• removal of plants, dried lime;
• removal of worn-out plaster and other finishing materials;
• dismantling drainpipes, window sills, various decorative elements that may interfere with the work process.

Frame installation

If the house is built of brick or lightweight concrete, it is recommended to use light metal profile sheathing. For a timber or frame building, it is wise to choose a timber frame.

The wooden sheathing is made from slats measuring 50x50 mm. They can be attached to the wall with nails or self-tapping screws. When installing wall siding, the sheathing is placed vertically. When finishing the base, both vertical and horizontal frames can be used.

The frame slats are installed in increments of 30-40 cm, as well as around the openings. There should not be any slats at the very bottom

First of all, the corner elements of the frame are installed. Their evenness is checked using a building level. To secure the frame posts, you should use nails with an anti-corrosion coating (zinc, aluminum). The distance between the frame slats depends on the type of siding. For metal panels it will be 40 cm, and for vinyl panels - 30 cm. But this information should be clarified with the manufacturer.

Are you planning to insulate your facade?

In order for the house to maintain its ability to breathe, it is recommended to choose mineral wool. This is especially true for wooden buildings. The thickness of the heat insulator is selected depending on the climatic region.

Insulating a house with mineral wool implies the presence of a ventilation layer between the wool and the siding. If the height of the sheathing is not enough to provide a gap of 1-3 cm, then a counter-lattice is provided.

Installation of insulation with a counter-lattice to create a ventilation gap

A hydro-windproof film is attached on top of the insulation using a construction stapler. Wall cladding will breathe well if you use modern vapor diffusion windproof membranes. You should be careful with insulation, since the wrong choice of materials at this stage can lead to problems with room temperature and ventilation.

How to work with siding

Finishing begins with the installation of the starting profile. It is attached to the sheathing using galvanized nails or self-tapping screws. The second step will be the installation of corner elements and a connecting profile (if necessary). Door and window openings must be edged with a special j-profile.

Installation of starting and corner profiles

Installation of the first siding panel is carried out on the starting strip. It snaps into place and is secured with self-tapping screws (or nails). The assembly of the cladding begins from the bottom up. The panels are secured to each other using a tongue-and-groove system.

Attention! When installing plastic, wood or fiber cement panels, rigid fixation is not allowed. Once installed correctly, the element can be moved to the sides. Rigid fixation is used only when installing metal siding.

Installation of ordinary, connecting and end elements

When working with plastic, a gap of a couple of millimeters should be left between the trim and the head of the nail or screw. Tight fastening can damage the material when humidity and temperature change (plastic expands).

Finishing the facade with siding is quite simple. Plastic elements have special elongated holes for fastening. Nails or screws are placed in the middle.

To finish finishing the house with siding, you need to install a finishing strip at the top of the wall. The last panel is inserted into this bar from below and snaps into place.

To finalize the finishing, it is necessary to install all facade elements (eaves, window sills, pipes, etc.) in their place.

A house finished with siding is reliably protected from any weather conditions!

Wood is a wonderful building material proven over thousands of years. But at the same time, we have to admit that, in comparison with other building materials, wood is characterized by the least resistance to the negative influences of the external environment, which adversely affects not only its appearance, but also its working qualities. In this regard, it is highly desirable to provide effective protection for wooden enclosing structures, and for this purpose today siding is most often used. Next we will talk about how to choose it and how to properly cover the walls of a wooden house with your own hands.

Before you start finishing

When planning to decorate a wooden house with siding, you should take into account some features of such buildings:

1. If a house is built from logs or solid timber that have not been processed in drying chambers, it will shrink over a long period of time. This means that the geometry of the structure will change in some way. To the naked eye, the shrinkage will be invisible, but if the finishing is fixed to the walls, it will probably be deformed and in some places may even collapse. Shrinkage is also taken into account when constructing the roof: the rafters are not fixed rigidly, but according to a sliding pattern.
2. Depending on the design, wooden walls can have a vapor permeability from 0.06 (across the fibers) to 0.32 mg/m*h*Pa (along the fibers). Siding, be it vinyl or metal, has zero vapor permeability. If we screw the facing panels close to the wall, then the steam that has penetrated into it from the inside, having no outlet, will turn into condensation on the outer surface (under the siding).

Moisture is dangerous for any building material, as it increases the thermal conductivity of the structure and, when freezing, creates gradually increasing cracks in it. And in the case of wood, it also leads to rotting.

Therefore, it is very important to ensure effective steam removal: the siding is mounted so that there is a ventilated gap (builders say ventilated) between it and the wooden wall.

There is no need to install a ventilated gap only if the inside of the wall is covered with a vapor barrier film or trimmed with some absolutely vapor-proof material, for example, covered with vinyl wallpaper. But this solution has a drawback: to remove excess humidity, it is necessary to increase the ventilation performance, which leads to an increase in heat loss and, accordingly, heating costs.

Houses made of laminated veneer lumber, as well as those built using frame technology, are not characterized by shrinkage: all wooden elements from which they are built are thoroughly dried before starting construction work.

Material selection

Siding today comes in three varieties:

• fiber cement (another name is fiber cement);
• metal;
• polyvinyl chloride (for short called vinyl or simply plastic).

Vinyl siding is the most popular - it accounts for 70% of all sales.

This is explained by a number of advantages of this material:

1. Low cost.
2. Light weight, due to which there is no need to strengthen load-bearing structures and foundations, and delivery and installation are extremely simplified.
3. The widest selection of colors and textures. PVC plastic, like any other, can easily be given any shape, which manufacturers successfully use: siding is produced that imitates wood, brickwork, straw and other materials.
4. Resistant to all weather conditions.
5. Sufficient mechanical strength.

When choosing vinyl siding, consider the following:

1. The cheapest panels are those that imitate wood. They are also the most popular - they account for approximately 80% of consumer demand. Siding with a more complex texture may cost more.
2. You shouldn’t buy cheap siding from a little-known manufacturer out of a desire to save money. Some buyers think that there is not much difference, they say, siding is just a piece of plastic. In fact, a lot depends on adherence to technology: low-quality siding does not burn evenly, but in spots. In addition, the material itself is less resistant to ultraviolet radiation, which causes the destruction of polymers.

Siding in pastel colors is considered the most preferable. Compared to brightly colored panels, it has the following advantages:

• fades less quickly and less noticeably in the sun;
• less susceptible to thermal expansion;
• has a lower cost.

Among the manufacturers of vinyl plastic, the Russian companies Alta-Profile, Docke, FineBer, Grand Line, Northside, Belarusian Atlantic, U-Plast, Vox, Polish Royal, Canadian Vytec, Mitten and American Elixir have proven themselves well. Variform.

Equipment

Here are the parts included in the cladding kit:

1. Narrow long panels are the main element from which the cladding is assembled.
2. The corner is external, usually 3 m long.
3. The corner is internal, has the same length.
4. The starting plank, into the protrusion of which the lowest cladding panel is placed. Installed above the plinth and above window/door openings. Typically 3.8 m long.
5. J-section plank. This part covers the ends of the panels if the cladding is open. For example, if the siding is not installed along the entire perimeter, or there is an extension adjacent to the house, which it was decided to leave unfinished. In addition, the J-plank is used as a frame for gable trim, and if desired, it can also be used as a finishing strip.
6. Planks with T-shaped and H-shaped sections. They are used to design joints between siding panels - mainly when extending them along the length. The length of one part is 3 m.
7. Near-window slats. They are used in cases where windows and doors are recessed into the wall. Length - 3 m.
8. Platbands. They are used for finishing openings, the filling of which - a window or a door - is located in the plane of the outer surface of the wall.
9. Window tides. Before purchasing, you should make sure that you have not already installed them: these parts are usually supplied complete with metal-plastic windows.
10. Drain plate. An additional accessory designed for installation above a window.
11. Wind board.

In addition to the above, you will need soffits - perforated panels that line the space under the eaves of the roof. Thanks to perforation, ventilation of the ventilated gap under the roof is ensured.

Calculation of the number of siding elements

It is better to purchase siding for finishing a wooden house at one time. If you subsequently have to buy additional parts, they may not match the color of the main set, since two batches of even the same color usually have slightly different shades. And the additional time and money spent on delivering the missing elements is unlikely to please the homeowner. Based on this, it is very important to calculate with sufficient accuracy the required number of all parts before purchasing.

Number of panels

Determined by the formula: N = (Sst - Sok - Sdv + Sfr)/Spanels,

Sst - wall area;

Sok - total area of ​​window openings;

Sdv - total area of ​​external doorways;

Sfr - the total area of ​​all gables;

Spanels - useful (!) area of ​​one siding panel.

If the panels in a row are connected end-to-end, then the usable area should be taken equal to the actual one. This value is indicated on the packaging and in most cases is 0.85 m 2. If the panels are supposed to be installed with an overlap, then when calculating Spanel, you need to subtract the overlap from the actual area.

Number of external and internal corners

1. Economy option: sum up the lengths of all external corners of the building and divide them by 3 m (the length of one corner). But with this approach, the framing of all corners, except the first, will be made from several fragments of corners (at least two), unless their lengths are exactly 3 m. The joints between the fragments, even with the most careful installation, will be noticeable, as a result of which the cladding will greatly lose its aesthetic merits. If the user wants to get a flawless finish, he should not skimp and purchase one whole corner for each corner.
2. As a compromise option, you can purchase whole parts for the corners on the street side, and those located on the yard side or hidden, for example, by green spaces, can be laid out from several pieces left after trimming.

Total length of starting bars

Calculated using the following formula: Lst = P + Wok,

P - perimeter of the building;

Wok - the total width of all window openings.

Example: to cladding a house that is a rectangle in plan with dimensions of 10x6 m and has 8 window openings 1 m wide, the starting strip will be needed:

Lst = 10 + 6 + 10 + 6 + 8x1 = 40 m.

The number of parts can be easily determined by dividing 40 m by their standard length of 3.8 m. For the house in our example, you will need to purchase 11 starting strips.

Calculation of the needs of other elements

The number of other elements is calculated as follows:

1. The number of J-planks, if any, is used, is determined by dividing the total length of all ends, except those converging at the corners, by the length of one part 3.8 m.
2. Planks with T-shaped and H-shaped sections are counted individually on the cladding diagram, which must first be drawn.
3. Near-window strips are calculated individually in such a way that they, like the corners, are used only in one piece. The same applies to platbands.
4. When calculating soffits, their area is determined in m2: the total length of all parts is multiplied by the width, determined by the design features of the cornice.

The length of the wind board is taken equal to the total length of the gable slopes.

Experienced craftsmen add 7-10% of the margin for scraps to the calculated volumes. It is better for a novice installer to add 15%.

Advice. Instead of manual calculations, you can use special online calculators located on the websites of some siding manufacturers and suppliers. It is enough to enter into the program several sizes that interest it, and it will instantly display the exact number of panels and additional elements.

Preparatory work

Before directly installing the cladding, you must perform the following steps:

1. The main material of the walls is freed from the old cladding, as well as from the dust and dirt present on it.
2. Rotten or moldy areas are cut off and sanded down to “healthy” wood. The inspection should be carried out with the utmost attention: even a small colony of microorganisms hidden under the siding will have time to cause considerable damage to building structures before being discovered.
3. Next, the walls must be thoroughly lubricated with antiseptic impregnation.
4. After the impregnation has dried, the walls are covered with a waterproofing, vapor-permeable membrane. Be careful: this film must be installed on the correct side. At this stage, it will be enough to grab it lightly, for example, with a construction stapler. In the future, the membrane will be more firmly fixed by the frame.

Note! The plaster, if it is in good condition, does not need to be knocked down. During the installation of the siding frame, it may fall off in places, but this does not threaten any special building structures.

Frame installation

First of all, you need to decide on the frame material. Wood is cheaper and easier to work with, but two circumstances must be taken into account:

1. The maximum permissible humidity for timber is 20%, and it must be dried in the open air. Finding such material is not so easy, since, as a rule, freshly sawn wood with a moisture content of over 50% goes on sale. A frame made from it will undergo the shrinkage already mentioned here, that is, it will dry out and become deformed.
2. Even after treatment with the most effective antiseptic impregnation, the wooden frame will not be durable, since it does not have waterproofing protection.

Slats in a wooden frame have to be installed quite often - every 30 cm.

A more practical material is galvanized steel. Profiles made from it are not afraid of humidity, will not change their shape under any circumstances and can be installed in increments of 40 cm.

The frame elements are installed perpendicular to the siding panels. That is, if the cladding will be mounted horizontally (the most common option), then the slats or frame profiles should be screwed vertically to the walls. The construction of the frame begins with the installation of elements at the corners of the building, then the profiles framing the window and door openings are screwed in. After this, you can install intermediate elements.

When the profiles are positioned vertically, their installation is controlled using a plumb line, and when the profiles are positioned horizontally, using a building level.

Do-it-yourself siding on a wooden house: step-by-step instructions

A feature of PVC plastic is its relatively high coefficient of thermal expansion. Therefore, vinyl siding must be installed in such a way that it remains able to change in size with changes in temperature. The master must adhere to the following rules:

1. Leave a gap of 1–1.5 mm between the surface of the plastic and the head of the nail or screw. The fastening element should be located in the very center of the oval fastening hole.
2. Expansion joints should be left between adjacent siding elements.

The size of the guaranteed gap depends on the ambient temperature during installation:

• at a minimum temperature (for most brands of siding it is -5 degrees, for some - up to -20 degrees C), parts must be installed with a gap of 9–10 mm;
• when installing in warm weather, the seam width is 6 mm;
• in hot conditions, the gap should be reduced to 3–4 mm.

If the siding parts are tightly clamped or installed close to each other and to other elements of the building, the cladding will warp when it warms up.

Step-by-step instructions for installing siding

Step 1: installation begins by securing the starting strip. When installed horizontally, it is placed along the bottom, controlling the position with a building level (if there is no reference point such as a plinth).

Step 2: Install the first panel. With one edge it is inserted under the protrusion of the starting bar, and with the other it is screwed or nailed to the frame. In this case, there should be no stress or tension in the panel.

Advice. Siding can also be attached to a wooden frame with nails, but it is better for a novice craftsman to use self-tapping screws - driving a nail with a hammer can very easily damage the plastic panel.

Self-tapping screws should be galvanized, 25–30 mm long, equipped with a press washer. Their approximate quantity is 20 pieces. per 1 m 2 of cladding. As already mentioned, the screws should not be tightened all the way, so that the plastic part has some freedom of movement.

Step 3: continuing the installation of the first row, screw the second panel. It can connect to the first in two ways:

1. Overlapping. In this case, both edges of the panels (they are called lock and nail) are trimmed so that the overlap is 25 mm.
2. Butt joint with temperature gap. In this case, the ends of the panels at the junction are closed with a T- or H-shaped profile. Do not forget that this profile should also be able to expand freely: a gap of 3 mm is left between its upper end and the cornice (or soffit), and 6 mm between the lower end and the plinth, porch or similar restriction. In this case, the lower end of this part should be 6 mm below the lowest edge of the starting bar.

Note! If the house was recently built and has an extension, it is necessary to take into account the different amount of shrinkage of the foundations of both structures. Based on this, their cladding should be done separately, even if the wall of the extension continues the wall of the house. In this case, the panels at the border between buildings must be joined using an H-shaped profile.

Step 3: start laying the 2nd row. Having placed the panel with the locking edge down, it needs to be interlocked with the panel of the previous row; in this case, the nail edge is screwed to the frame. The subsequent rows are laid in the same way.

Step 4: having reached the window openings, the panels that will be located under them are cut by an amount equal to the width of the opening plus one expansion joint on each side. Next, it is necessary to create hooks on these panels (cut out and extruded with a special punch), with the help of which they will engage with the platbands or near-window strips.

The panel located above the opening is also trimmed and equipped with hooks, through which it will “grab” the upper frame of the window. You can screw the starting bar over the opening - then there will be no need for hooks.

Step 5: Having laid the penultimate row, we screw the top edging - finishing strip, J-profile or inner corner - close to the cornice or soffit. Next, you need to estimate how much to trim the width of the panels of the last row: to do this, measure at several points the distance between the lock of the penultimate row and the recess in the final part, subtracting the temperature gap of 1–3 mm from this value. In accordance with the obtained size, it is necessary to narrow the panels of the last row, cutting them from the upper (nail) edge. For fastening to the finishing strip or a part installed instead of it, hooks pressed outwards are made in the upper part of the panels. Their pitch is 20 cm. The upper edge of the panel with hooks is inserted into the finishing strip, and the lower edge into the lock of the row below. The panel is then pushed upward so that the lock at the bottom and the hooks at the top are latched simultaneously.

Step 6: move on to facing the gables. To do this, the ends of the panels must be cut at an angle equal to the angle of inclination of the slope. The easiest way to do this is to use a pre-made template.

Before starting work along the overhangs, it is necessary to secure J-profiles, under which the ends of the panels will be hidden. Further actions are carried out in the same way as when facing walls. The panels must be positioned in such a way that there is a gap of 6 mm between them and the J-profiles.

Step 7: All that remains is to fix the soffits that line the under-eaves space. This is done like this:

1. We draw a line on the wall, which is a projection of the lower edge of the cornice.
2. Along this line we screw a receiving profile for the soffit to the wall and another one along the edge of the cornice.
3. We measure the distance between the inner walls of the profiles and subtract 6 mm from the resulting figure.
4. We cut the soffit in accordance with the calculated value and install it between the profiles.

Vertical installation of siding is carried out in a similar way, only the frame profiles are screwed horizontally, and the starting strip is laid vertically so that its position coincides with the central axis of the wall.

Installation of siding with insulation

If the walls of the house do not consist of insulated sandwich panels (frame technology), but of solid logs or timber, they should be insulated. The heat insulator is selected taking into account the vapor permeability of the wall:

• if the inside is covered with a vapor barrier or trimmed with a vapor-proof material (vinyl wallpaper or polymer plaster), you can use polystyrene foam;
• if nothing prevents the penetration of steam into the wall from the inside, insulation should be done with basalt wool. The vapor permeability of foam is 0.05 mg/m*h*Pa, so if it is installed on top of a wall that allows steam to pass through well, moisture will form on its outer surface.

Basalt wool is produced in the form of flexible mats (this design is also called rolled) and rigid slabs.

The mats are glued to the wall, then covered with a vapor-permeable waterproofing film and finally fixed with frame profiles.

Plates - both basalt and foam - are mounted slightly differently:

1. A wooden frame is fixed to the wall, the bars of which are placed parallel to the siding panels. That is, if horizontal installation of the cladding is assumed, then the wooden frame for the insulation should be installed horizontally. The pitch between the bars should be equal to the width of the heat insulation slabs, and the height of the bars should be equal to the thickness of these slabs.
2. Thermal insulation slabs are laid between the frame elements. For convenience, they can be secured with glue.
3. The insulation is covered on top with a waterproofing film, which is sewn to the frame using a construction stapler. Please note: it should be vapor-permeable only if basalt wool is used as a heat insulator. Polystyrene foam can be covered with cheaper film, for example, polyethylene.
4. A siding frame is installed on top of the insulation frame, the profiles of which are already perpendicular to the cladding panels (in our example, vertically). At the same time, these profiles will hold the insulation in the gap between the bars.

Do not finish finishing at temperatures below those specified in the siding documentation. Under such conditions, the material becomes brittle and will crumble when cutting parts.

Installation of vinyl siding should begin at the back of the house, that is, the side that is not visible from the street. At first, novice masters, until they get the hang of it, always make mistakes, and here they will be the least noticeable. This installation order is all the more desirable if the panels are overlapped in length, since the joints from the street side will be practically invisible.

Every 3rd row must be checked for horizontalness using a level.

Video: do-it-yourself siding on a wooden house

Installing siding is a wonderful way to finish a wooden house, which provides protection to the main building material, allowing you to give the house the desired appearance. The most popular is PVC siding, which is easy to install yourself.

Reading time ≈ 4 minutes

One of the most economical ways to give the facade of a house an attractive appearance is to decorate the house with siding yourself. Moreover, this product is very easy to install. To do this, it is enough to have all the necessary tools and materials, as well as desire.

The advantage of finishing siding with the involvement of workers is that they will be able to accurately calculate the amount of materials and help you select the highest quality ones. This is why you need to use the services of specialists. But you can completely decorate your house with siding yourself, and how to do this, see our article with photos and videos.

In order for the siding to last for a long time, it should be installed correctly with your own hands. The following recommendations will help you deal with this:

• The panels should not be tightly mounted to the sheathing, since siding, like other cladding materials, is prone to contraction and expansion under the influence of temperature. During operation, you should leave a gap of about two millimeters;
• If products are joined using accessories or overlapped, the gap for thermal expansion must exceed 6 ml;
• The material can be cut at a temperature of no more than -10°;
• Decorating a house with siding yourself involves using short galvanized screws as fasteners. They should have a rounded head and should not have a drill at the end. It is also permissible to use tar nails;
• Fasteners must be placed in the middle of the slot;
• There is no need to pre-cut the product. It's best to do this as you go.

Schemes and drawings

Sheathing device

Using lathing, you can organize a ventilated facade system. The lathing for siding can be metal or wood. Depending on the type of facing material, it is installed vertically or horizontally.

Siding Installation Tools

The use of a notch punch and a perforator will greatly facilitate the work process. In addition to these, you will need the following tools:

• Scissors and hacksaw for metal
• Screwdriver
• Two meter building level
• Special pencil for marking
• A tape measure with a length of at least eight meters
• Carpenter's square
• Construction rope.

Step-by-step instructions for decorating a house with siding yourself

Finishing a house with siding can be done using a special H-rail, which is specially designed for these purposes.

This method involves arranging the edges of the panels into the grooves of the product. This eliminates the need to join the panels in a straight line. It is best to match the slats to the color of the siding so that they do not stand out.

Before installing the slats, you must secure the drain strips to the bottom of the wall. It is necessary to install starting slats on them, which will become the basis for attaching the first siding panel.

When fastening, first fasten the upper lock of the first row with the lower lock of the next one and attach it to the sheathing. Only after installing the finishing H-rail can the last row of the product be mounted and there is no need to secure them additionally. It is worth knowing that finishing with siding provides for its indentation from external and internal corners. The gap should be at least ten millimeters.

Sheathing is also necessary for the roof overhang. To do this, you can take leftover material. You can use special panels with perforations. This procedure allows you to provide the space under the roof with a natural look.

Finishing a house with siding is quite easy to do with your own hands, but it is better to get an assistant. When purchasing material for façade finishing, it is recommended that you additionally obtain installation instructions from the seller, which will indicate all the processes required to be performed.