Cutting Lap Siding

In certain installations nails are driven through the bottom of the siding leaving the heads exposed.

Cutting lap siding.

I m using white pine 1 2 x 6 on my own house and it seems to be okay. If you cut 1 2 thick you can sticker the wood without any problems and it will dry faster since it is thinner. In most cases the siding will wrap all the way around the house. When i saw lap siding i saw 1 2 thick by 6 or 8 without any taper.

The vertical seams in lap siding should never align one over the other so you may also need to remove portions of boards that are not damaged. I ve cut a lot of siding like this and haven t had any complaints. Between each cut adjust the blade depth so it is deeper by inch. Using the line you scored with the hammer and chisel as your cutting guide use the circular saw to cut along the length of the line.

Run your siding stock across the table saw with one 3 4 inch edge down cutting a bevel along its length. Step 4 install a 1 4 inch roundover bit into your router and set the depth to1 4 inch. Keep the boards pressed against the table and the fence and feed them slowly to avoid chipping and splits. Use moderate contact on butt joints when joining two pieces of plank.

The sheet should be removed immediately after each plank is installed. Set the depth of the blade to about inch and cut the lap siding in small increments. This piece will lap over the bottom board. An oscillating tool with a metal cutting blade is ideal for this job but a simple hacksaw blade will also work.

Hardieplank lap siding with colorplus technology is shipped with a protective laminate slip sheet which should be left in place during cutting and fastening to reduce marring and scratching. Cut and position the second from the bottom siding board so it aligns with the layout marks you made with the story pole. Check for level to be sure your layout marks are correct. When the nails have been cut the lower board can be pulled out.

For a slow but virtually dustless way to cut siding use power. When cutting fiber cement siding with circular saw use a blade that has only four or six teeth.