What to Expect During a Siding Installation
Re-siding turns the outside of your home into a worksite for the better part of a week, and knowing the sequence helps you prepare and recognize a crew doing it correctly. Here is how a proper siding job goes from the first elevation to the final caulk joint.
Setup and tear-off
The crew sets staging, protects landscaping and the AC unit, and lays down tarps to catch debris and old fasteners. Then the existing siding comes off, exposing the sheathing. This is where the contractor inspects for soft, rotted, or water-stained sheathing and repairs it — any damage found here is fixed before new material goes up, because siding over bad sheathing just hides a growing problem.
Weather barrier and flashing
With the wall exposed, house wrap is installed as the weather-resistive barrier, lapped so any water that gets behind the siding drains down and out. Windows, doors, and penetrations are flashed and integrated with the wrap so water cannot sneak in at the openings. This unseen layer is the real waterproofing of the wall, and a careful crew takes its time here.
Siding, trim, and finish
New siding goes up from the bottom course, fastened with the correct gap and not nailed too tight so it can expand and contract through Michigan’s temperature swings. Corners, J-channel, trim, soffit, and fascia are detailed, joints are caulked where appropriate, and the site is cleaned of cutoffs and fasteners. A good contractor walks the elevations with you and points out the flashing and trim details.
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