The Bottom Of Exterior Wood Siding Should Be

Think of a wood home as a living thing.

The bottom of exterior wood siding should be.

Paint can hide wood rot so poke the siding with the tip of the screwdriver the wood should be firm and hard. When it is higher from the ground splashing water onto the wood is minimized. Most other areas were caulk is necessary should be lightly smoothed with your finger. Any product intended for.

Solid wood or lumber. The further the better. The siding expands and contracts with temperature and humidity. Correct way to apply wood filler to exterior siding.

Also avoid caulking tongue and groove siding boards together. Finally you should refrain from caulking the bottoms of horizontal siding sheets or the edges of the tongue and groove panels. This is what you see happening in the family handyman magazine cover. This is a very common form of siding made from solid pieces of wood that may be installed vertically horizontally diagonally or in any combination.

Six inches would not be too far. While paint does tend to somewhat glue these pieces together caulking them is never advised and can cause permanent damage. The layering of siding panels acts as a natural waterproofing that will allow precipitation to fall off naturally so caulking would stop the normal movement and function of your panels. Caulking on the exterior siding joints at the corner board if done carefully does not need to be smoothed with a finger.

If the screwdriver sinks into the wood you ve got a wood rot problem. Both types are applied from the bottom of a structure to the top with each new layer overlapping the one below it. 1 32 inch are used to connect the brick to the house framing or the brick may be connected to a concrete or block wall with cement mortar. Ideally you d want at least 6 inches of slab exposed between the bottom of the siding and the start of the soil.

There should be a clearance of approximately inch between the fastener head and the vinyl siding panel. The hole should be about 3 16 of an inch for most caulking joints. It needs to move and breathe. The bottom side view shows the proper exterior wall on slab placement.

The top side view is the wrong way to build. Bottom of siding boards should not be caulked water is meant to exit through the bottom of each board. Wood siding should be 4 or so from the ground whether that be soil or solid surface.