Do-it-yourself overlap siding - methods and step-by-step instructions!

The technology of overlapping siding was known to our ancestors for many centuries. True, in those days it was called much simpler - sheathing of external walls with unedged or edged boards. At present, the technologies for the manufacture of sawn timber have significantly improved, special impregnations have appeared to protect wood from pests and putrefactive processes, varnishes and paints with unique performance properties are used to finish external surfaces. The performance and appearance of the boards have been significantly improved, which makes it possible to give the facades a new look.

What is the Classic American

If in our country, at best, ordinary edged boards were used to decorate the facade walls of buildings, then in America there was a slightly different approach.

For overlapping siding, lumber with a special profile was used. What are the advantages of "American"?

1. The boards are not rectangular , and the wedge-shaped profile is . Due to this, the design appearance of the surfaces is significantly improved. The angle of inclination of the lower edges decreases, the surface becomes less ribbed. Another plus - the amount of overlap does not affect the angle of inclination of the lamellas.

   

   Siding "American"

2. The lower edges of the boards are less noticeable, namely cracks appear on them most quickly, peels off paint . The fact is that most of all moisture gets on these surfaces, they dry longer. As a result, natural wood cannot withstand such harsh operating conditions. Decreasing the angle of inclination shortens the natural drying process, the relative humidity takes on optimal values ​​faster.

   

   "American"

3. The editing process is simplified.

   Overlap siding technology involves fixing with nails or screws. The thinner the boards are, the easier it is to work.

   

   Fastening "American"

4. Woodworking enterprises produce more products from one cubic meter of wood . Various types of wood-based panels are made from the shavings obtained during the planing of the wedge-shaped board. This technology minimizes the amount of waste, increases the profitability of the economic activity of enterprises.

5. The load on walls and foundations is reduced, the lathing can be made from thin battens . These factors have a positive impact on the cost of finishing the house.

Important! Today, in the implementation, you can also find boards with a complex profile that allows you to imitate overlap siding. At the same time, the appearance is completely preserved, and the quality of the skin is significantly increased.We will talk about this technology a little below.

Traditional overlapped wooden siding

The main feature of the technology is that each subsequent horizontal row of boards hangs slightly over the previous one. Today you can find "American" not only made of natural wood, but also of plastic and metal, but we will focus on the traditional material.

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Wood siding

Step 1. Preparatory work.

Overlap siding can be done on walls from any building material, from natural wood to aerated concrete slabs. There is no point in leveling the surfaces to an ideal state, the boards are fixed to a special supporting crate. But it is strongly recommended to do additional insulation of external walls. This will not only increase the comfort of living in the building, but also significantly reduce financial losses during the heating season.

Important! It is better to use pressed mineral wool as insulation.

As a last resort, you can use non-combustible foam. Just remember that existing legislation prohibits the use of any type of foam for insulating buildings that are more than one floor high. Do not violate this requirement, do not expose the building and your life to additional risks.

The thickness of the insulation layer depends on the climatic zone of the location of the building, but in all cases should be more than 10 cm. The smaller thickness of the insulation will save a little money on the purchase of material, but the thermal protection will be so low that the overall efficiency there is no need to talk about insulation.

The insulation technology is common, it makes no sense to dwell on it. The only thing that should be mentioned is the quality of the lathing. Vertical posts must be strictly perpendicular and must lie in the same plane. Check their position before starting work.

Step 2.

Calculate the quantity and range of materials. Find out the area of ​​the walls minus the window and door openings. It is not recommended to overlap the basement of the building, keep this in mind when purchasing boards. Additionally, you will need lumber for finishing the inner and outer corners, slopes and platbands of windows and doors, filing the overhanging rafter system.

Practical advice! Always increase the amount of materials by 5-8%, any construction work cannot do without waste.

It is better to have a small supply than to suspend work due to lack of boards.

For fixing it is better to use ordinary nails, it is much cheaper and faster than fixing with screws. At the same time, the reliability of fixation is no different. The length of the nails depends on the thickness of the lumber, but one rule always applies - the nails should be two-thirds of the length included in the supporting elements. For example, if the board is 25 mm thick, then the length of the nail must be at least 70 mm.

After cutting the boards, the ends must be impregnated with mastics, purchase them as well. Even if the boards are factory-impregnated, the ends on the cuts should still be finished.

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Impregnation for wood

Step 3. Prepare the tools. For sheathing, you will need a hand-held portable electric saw, a building level, a water or laser level, a tape measure and a pencil.

If you have a small stationary saw - great, the work will go much faster. You can, of course, use ordinary hacksaws, but it's hard to work with them, and the cut is not very even, especially for beginners.

Step 4. Check the condition of the lathing, if necessary correct problem areas. There are two ways to fix uprights.

1. Use a nail puller to slightly tear off the slats from the wall, place wooden wedges in the right places and nail again.
2. Fasten thin slats on top of the old ones, by changing their thickness, align the position.

Both methods are equivalent, the specific choice depends on the magnitude of the deviations. If the deviations are significant, then it is better to use the second method. The maximum difference in position of the rails should not exceed 0.

5 cm per linear meter, otherwise the bend of the outer skin will be noticeable. If you missed this point, then correct the error already during the trimming. In places where the sheathing is bent, nail the boards loose. As soon as you see that they begin to bend, stop. If you did not have time to react in time - it's okay.

Pull the nail out a little and trim the board.

Step 5. Sheathing the corners. Prepare the boards, use a saw to cut them in width and length. Remove the edges at a 45 ° angle.

Connect two boards at a 45 ° cut, fasten with self-tapping screws. Fix securely, boards may warp during operation. Sink the heads of the self-tapping screws, fill the holes with wood putty. Grind the joint with sandpaper. To improve the quality of sanding, it is better to fix the sandpaper with a stapler to an even square or rectangular block.

Be sure to soak the cut ends of the boards with any antiseptic or special primer.

Practical advice! Finishing the corners can be done according to a different method - first sheathe the walls, fasten the ends of the siding boards back to back. After finishing the sheathing in the corners, nail in even boards and close the ends. This method simplifies the installation process - there is no need to accurately fit each board in length. But it also has a drawback - snow blows in the gap in winter.

It is necessary to take measures to seal large gaps, otherwise the insulation may get wet. Wet glass wool is a big problem for all timber structures. In addition, the effectiveness of insulation is significantly reduced.

Step 6. Fasten the formed corners under the spacer board.

A dividing board separates the bottom of the foundation from the main one. We have already mentioned that it is better to sheathe this area with waterproof materials, but the use of wooden siding is also allowed. Fix the corners with nails, make sure that the boards do not crack.

Professional advice! Never drive nails into the boards at right angles, as this will increase the chance of cracking. The nail should enter the wood at an angle of about 30 °, due to this position, it simultaneously pierces several layers of wood, and this prevents cracking.

While fixing, constantly check the vertical position of the corners, do not allow even the slightest deviations. If this condition is not met, then each siding board will have to be adjusted in length, as well as an oblique cut. Even experienced builders find it difficult to avoid crevices at the junction with oblique cuts.

Step 7. Install the starting bottom bar .

.. For these purposes, an ordinary edged board is taken and exposed in a horizontal position. If you do not have an expensive laser level, then use a water level. It is much cheaper, and the accuracy is not lower than that of a laser.

Step 8. Place the gutters on the gutters around the bottom boards. They can be purchased metal or homemade wood. The gutter removes rainwater from the lower girdle. Its other purpose is to level the first row of siding.

Step 9. Take measurements between the gutter and the top of the wall, count the number of rows of siding taking into account the width of the boards and the amount of overlap. The overlap is done within 2-3 cm. Mark the position of the boards, for this it is better to use a template. It is made very simply.

1. On one side of the flat strip, mark the width of the boards. Do this very accurately, errors are completely eliminated. Indicate in any way that this is the front of the template.
2. On the other side of the template, mark to the width of the boards, but blending by the amount of overlap of the bottom edges.We already mentioned that the overlap is done within 2-3 cm.

Step 10. Attach the template to the corner and transfer the marks from the front of the template, then turn it over and transfer the marks with the reverse. At each corner, you should have two rows of marks, one indicating the top edge of the first board, and the other the bottom of the next covering. Repeat the same operation at all corners of the building.

Step 11.

Proceed with fixing the siding boards. Place the first on the bottom marks and fix it with studs. Then on top of it the next one, pay attention to the two marks, taking into account the height of the overlap.

Practical advice! If the boards are long, then an assistant should be called. There is no such possibility - use different stops to fix the selected position of the board.

According to the specified algorithm, continue to sheathe the wall to the very top. Next, you need to finish the soffit.

Step 1. Select the material that will be used for cladding ..

. In the case of house cladding with natural boards, we do not recommend using various plastics. The soffit can be trimmed with an ordinary edged board or overlapped with siding for the walls. Make the decision yourself, taking into account your own needs.

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Spotlights for roofs

Step 2.

Begin the soffit sheathing with marking, the lines can be beaten off with a rope with blue or pencil marks on the rafters. Boards will be nailed along the lines.

Step 3. Nail the first board, check its position several times. If there is a non-parallel line between the rafters and the wall, then an individual decision should be made in each case.

With a slight parallelism within 2-3 cm, it can be eliminated by gradually displacing the boards. The non-parallelism of 2-3 mm is completely invisible, multiply this value by the number of rows of siding and find out if this method can be used. In case of large discrepancies, you will have to trim the first and last boards with a wedge. Unfortunately, such an operation will not go unnoticed.

Step 4.

Close the joints of the soffit with the wall cladding with decorative strips. Remember to leave air vents for natural ventilation. Front end walls do not have a roof overhang; they should be treated differently. As the sheathing progresses, the boards are trimmed with a wedge to size, the joints are subsequently closed with decorative end strips.If you wish, you can additionally nail wide boards to the slats, which will help to hide the unevenness of the cuts.

Note! We have given a description of the universal overlap siding technology, but everyone can change it a little. Use various finishing elements for corners, joints, etc. The combination of wooden boards with plastic decorative elements gives an original look.

Simulated overlap siding

Very beautiful and reliable casing. In appearance, it is impossible to distinguish it from the above-described traditional method, but in all its indicators it is much superior to it.

The effect is achieved due to the unique profile of the boards. They also have a wedge-shaped geometry, but the side edges with locks. In connection with this structure, the front plane is located at a slope to the wall, and the opposite plane is parallel to it. To improve ventilation, special grooves can be made on the back side.

The process of wall decoration with such siding is almost no different from ordinary clapboard cladding, but as a result, the owners receive a completely new design of the facade walls.

Questions and answers

Consider frequently asked questions, overlap siding.

What size should the overlap be?

One of the advantages of this method of wall decoration is that each master chooses the size of the overlap individually. Due to this, it is possible to precisely adjust the position of the rows along the height of the window openings, there is no need to cut them in width. Any trimming degrades the appearance of the wall surfaces. But the size of the overlap must be selected not only according to this parameter - much depends on the method of fixing the boards.

If you want to make the carnations invisible, then two conditions must be met.

1. The nail heads of the previous row must be covered with the next board.
2. The fastening should keep the lumber from warping.

Based on these requirements, practice shows that the boards should overlap by about a third of the width, one nail holds two at once. But an increase in overlap automatically leads to an increase in material consumption, respectively, the cost of work increases.

Note! There is one more important point. If you have an "American", then increasing the overlap has no effect on the angle; if the board is flat, then the more overlap, the further the second end goes from the wall.

How to fasten nails - in a row or in a checkerboard pattern?

A very difficult question, has no unambiguous answer. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. But practitioners still advise to drive nails across the entire width of the boards in a checkerboard pattern.

In this case, one row of hardware will be noticeable, but the likelihood of warping is almost completely eliminated. For the visible row, nails from stainless alloys are used, and for the closed row, ordinary ones can be used.

Can the inner and outer corners be closed without gaps?

It is possible, but not always advisable. Why?

1. This is very difficult. Each board should be attached to the end of the lamellas and accurately remove their location, the pattern will be in the form of a herringbone.

   In the future, excess material is carefully removed, the position is checked and the final adjustment is carried out. Places of cuts must be sanded and soaked at least twice with antiseptics. The same manipulations should be done with the second board. As practice shows, the time for finishing one corner increases several times.

2. The gaps between the decorative corners and the horizontal boards serve as additional ventilation holes.

   For all sawn timber, optimum relative humidity values ​​are very important - wet structures are quickly damaged by various diseases and rot.

Which corner finish is better - right next to the boards or do the corner boards cover the lamellas?

We prefer the second option for several reasons.

1. The work is much easier. Deviations in length of a few centimeters do not create problems for decorative finishing. Boards can be cut not each individually, but in batches, which significantly speeds up the plating process.

   In addition, there is no need to run multiple times with the board to the bench for accurate measurement and finishing.

2. The ends of the boards are perfectly blown with air - the risks of rotting are reduced, the elements can not be treated with antiseptics.

How to replace a damaged board?

For example, consider the most difficult option - the boards are fixed with two rows of nails. To work, you need a nailer that has a flat blade on one side.

1. Slide the flat end of the nailer into the gap between the whole and damaged boards, the tool should be as close to the nail as possible.

2. Press down gently on the tool until the head protrudes a few millimeters from the surface of the board. Take out the nailer and tap with a hammer on the board near the nail, this will make it easier for the cap to come out.
3. Grasp the head with the opposite curved side of the nailer and pull it out. These manipulations must be done on the damaged and covering boards. To avoid damaging the surfaces, be sure to place wooden spacers between the nailer and the sheathing boards.

Visible nails are pulled out this way. As for the invisible, you will have to bite them with nippers.Raise the whole board until there is a fairly wide gap that allows the nippers to get close to the nail. Depending on the circumstances, it may be necessary to undermine two or more whole boards - this will make it possible to enlarge the gap without the risk of cracking whole lamellas.

Video - Overlap Wood Siding