When your siding needs to be replaced, it’s important to hire a reputable siding company to install it so you can bypass the trouble poor siding installation causes. Since siding is your home’s protective layer, it’s vital that your contractor attends to details and goes the extra mile to ensure you get the long-lasting, high performance your siding was made to deliver.
Siding is a significant investment, and when you choose the right team of professionals to install it, you’ll be grateful for years to come. Let’s take a look at how you can avoid common siding installation mistakes.
Siding Installation Errors a Good Installation Team Will Avoid
1. Installing Siding Material That Doesn’t Last
There are two main ingredients in successful siding installation: hiring a top contractor, and choosing premium siding material for them to install. Get either of these wrong, and it will cost you. When it comes to selecting siding material, you can either pay now or pay later. Happy homeowners invest upfront in a siding material that will give them the protection they need for decades. For example, at Lakeside Renovation & Design, we only install premium products, like James Hardie siding. We have a great relationship with our vendor, and the benefits of our partnership are passed on to homeowners.
2. Skipping the Underlayment Step Before Installing New Siding
Inexperienced siding crews may try to cut corners by skipping the underlayment step of siding installation. This shortens the lifespan of your new siding and can contribute to repair costs in the future. Why? Because underlayment provides a protective barrier against water infiltration and contributes to the comfort level of your interior.
3. Driving Nails in Too Tightly
Temperatures fluctuate throughout the year, so when siding is nailed to your home, it should not be done too tightly. Why? Because siding expands and contracts as temperatures change. If it is nailed too securely to your home, its movement will be restricted, causing it to crack or buckle—and making your home vulnerable to water infiltration, pests, and rot.
4. Placing Nails Too Close Together or Too Far Apart
You want your siding to be installed securely, right? Yet it needs room to breathe. Putting nails too closely together restricts it. And putting nails too far apart can cause siding to warp or sag and look unsightly over time. An experienced contractor understands this and prevents this common mistake.
5. Overlapping Siding Joints
Your installation team should be cautious not to overlap your new siding’s joints. Overlapped joints create a wavy look that will diminish your home’s appearance.
6. Failure to Leave the Appropriate Amount of Clearance
Your siding shouldn’t touch your roof, your home’s trim, or the soil. Yet too much clearance opens the door to rot, which damages your home’s exterior.
Your Part in Ensuring Siding Installation Errors Are Avoided
Vet your contractor by researching, checking online reviews, seeing the work they’ve recently completed, and more. You can never be too careful about who you hire to side your home. Hire an experienced contractor to ensure your exterior is well protected.
By all means, don’t look at siding installation as a DIY project. It’s much too technical for homeowners to take on without training or experience. If the appropriate steps aren’t implemented properly due to an avid DIY enthusiast’s zeal without knowledge, the result could be major water damage, wood rot, and more.
Take your time choosing the color combination for your siding, trim, and door. You’ll be glad you did! Sample the colors you find online by either painting them on a portion of your existing siding to get a good look at them during different times of day, or getting a sample to hold up to your home and see how it works with your roof and other fixed elements around your exterior (like landscaping, your brick or stone, and more).
Get the Results You Desire with Premium Siding Installation
James Hardie fiber cement siding can be incredibly durable if it is installed by an experienced professional. At Lakeside Renovation & Design, we are a James Hardie Elite Preferred contractor, meaning the Hardie company trained us themselves, and we install siding according to their strict standards.
When you hire us, you get our own in-house team, not a third-party crew. We invest in our team, and they invest in and care for you! Take a look at how our siding services can deliver a reliable installation you can trust.