About Metal siding installation

These days, metal siding is the preferred option for many homeowners while choosing house siding. Metal siding is widely used in homes as it is energy efficient. The heating as well as cooling costs required, will be much lower when you opt for metal siding. It is also resistant towards fire. Metal sidings are found in a number of varieties like aluminum siding, corrugated metal siding and barn metal siding. When you buy the metal siding, it is accompanied by a booklet about the instructions for installation. The procedure for metal siding installation is more or less the same for each and every variety of metal siding. Here, we will discuss how to install metal siding.


Preparing the Wall to Install Metal Siding

Take measurements of all the walls on which the metal siding needs to be installed. The measurements will decide the amount of steel siding required. Now starts the preparation of the surface of the walls so that the end result after installing metal siding is an impressive one. Check out for nails and if you find any, hammer them into the wall. If you find any rotten piece of wood on the wall, replace it. Clean off all the old debris of paint, putty or caulking from the wall. If any depression has formed on the wall fill it up with wedges.


Installation of the Underlayment of Metal Siding

Before you install the metal siding, an underlayment of aluminum foil has to be fixed on the wall which would ensure proper insulation. Select an underlayment with perforations so that the water vapor that forms inside will get an outlet to come out. Fasten up the underlayment with the walls. Here, give special attention to the corners of the walls and the edges adjacent to all the openings like doors and windows. Take care that all the joints of the underlayment are overlapped with each other, at least upto two inches. When you have completed the task of placing the underlayment, it is the time to fix the siding with nails.


Fixing up the Metal Siding

This is the most crucial phase of the metal siding installation. If the fixing job is done well, only then will the metal siding last for a long period of time. While installing the sheet of metal siding, it is essential to keep the sheets in a straight line. You should refer to the eaves and the windows to check whether the siding is parallel to them. In both, the horizontal as well as the vertical direction, the two adjacent sheets should overlap two inches with each other. The metal siding consist of factory made holes on it which makes the fixing job much easier. You just have to put the nails into those holes and hammer them. Galvanized steel nails of two-inch length are ideal for this purpose. Make sure that the nailing work is not done too tightly. This is because metal siding undergoes contraction and expansion when the weather becomes too cold or hot. When fastened tightly, its movements will be hampered and the siding may get bent as a result.

While hammering, take care that the nail is positioned straight into the wall and not in any angular direction. Another thing that you need to remember, is that you should not fix any nail near the area close to the overlapping of two sheets of the metal siding. Keep the nails at a distance of at least six inches from these joints. A gap of three-fourth inch should be spared at the corners of the walls for the purpose of installing corner caps.

Handle one wall at a time. Once you have finished the work of installation on one wall, only then move on to the next one. When the siding installation is done, the corner cap should be placed. The rims of the corner caps should be put under the border of the siding panel sheet and fixed by hammering nails so that the sheet and the panel are joined, firmly. If you are interested, you can paint the metal siding after its installation.

Hope, now the procedure of how to install metal siding is clear. Metal siding has many advantages over other types of house siding like wood or vinyl siding. Metal siding is durable and also resistant to temperature changes. To ensure that the metal siding is corrosion-resistant, you can add the various coats available for the same. Metal siding also looks attractive and you can install metal siding as retrofit when you are considering ways of home improvement. If you want to know how to install corrugated metal siding, the technique remains the same, only the siding material will be different.


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