Need help with replacing rotten exterior siding

[Flatsbroke]

The siding of my house is cedar shingle and I have a section of about 12' that is rotten. I pulled a couple shingles and the rot has hit the sheeting behind it under the vapor barrier by only about an inch. I wanted to higher a pro to remove the rotten shingles and sheeting, scab on new OSB, re-wrap that portion and install new shingles. I'm told its too small a project for the contractors I know good things about and the handymen they refer me to are next to impossible to lock down. I am about of the opinion I am just going to tackle the job myself. Does anyone have any experience with a job like this? I am trying to get as much information together as I can so I ensure that it is properly sealed and secured.

As for why this happened, it is water splashing back up on the house when it rains so I am already planning on installing a section of gutter on this part of the house to get the water away.

 

[dave_dj1]

You can do it, that is an easy allbeit a dirty job. Take the lower course of shingles off, snap a chalk line on the sheathing where you want to cut it, R&R the sheathing, then Ice and water barrier hanging down on the concrete an inch, then tyvek or the like then re shingle.
I'm in the biz and I hear all the time how most carpenters won't don't return a call. A lot of my customers wish they had met me first. I have had tons of them tell me I am the only one who called them back. I don't get it. Are you in business or not? LOL
Good luck and if you need any more advice just yell. Don't be surprised if you find some rotted sill or studs too, no big deal just go about it the right way.

 

[bdbecker]

I just sealed up a window on my garage and spliced on new siding. I can't imagine the process is that much different than what I did. Start by carefully prying up on the second course of siding to access the upper nails and remove the rotten first course next to the ground. As far as the rotten sheeting goes, as long as the damage isn't too high up the side, I'd think you'd be able to use a circular saw with the blade depth set to the thickness of the rotten ply to cut the rot off and replace it with new material. Install/tape on some new wrap, splice in some new siding boards, and you should be good to go.

https://www.familyhandyman.com/siding/how-to-replace-siding/view-all/

 

[Copymutt]

If your in the snow belt and that wall is the low end of a roof the snow piles up and soaks into the siding.
Jim

 

[meboatermike]

If it was me I would do sort of what you and Dave said and look at the 1st link that was given in bdbckers post, however the 2nd link that was posted gave my computer fits with some sort of "scam alert" which I believe was false and I had to use task manager to escape out of it.

I personally would use plywood or even pressure treated plywood to replace the sheathing in this potentially wet vulnerable area instead of OSB. It will cost extra but the area is not that large. I just do not like how OSB can perform or not perform if it gets wet especially if it cannot get a chance to dry out good.

 

[Aaron_W]

I'm in the biz and I hear all the time how most carpenters won't don't return a call. A lot of my customers wish they had met me first. I have had tons of them tell me I am the only one who called them back. I don't get it. Are you in business or not? LOL
Good luck and if you need any more advice just yell. Don't be surprised if you find some rotted sill or studs too, no big deal just go about it the right way.

It is kind of shocking. We went through the same issue last year. We had a car crash through our fence and the insurance was dicking around and wanted an estimate to change their number. I figured it was about a $2000 job, but every contractor my wife could find was either retired and angry she called (they were still listed in the phone book), or too busy to even provide an estimate and do the work when they were clear of their current jobs.

 

[njhoudini]

You can do it, that is an easy allbeit a dirty job. Take the lower course of shingles off, snap a chalk line on the sheathing where you want to cut it, R&R the sheathing, then Ice and water barrier hanging down on the concrete an inch, then tyvek or the like then re shingle.
I'm in the biz and I hear all the time how most carpenters won't don't return a call. A lot of my customers wish they had met me first. I have had tons of them tell me I am the only one who called them back. I don't get it. Are you in business or not? LOL
Good luck and if you need any more advice just yell. Don't be surprised if you find some rotted sill or studs too, no big deal just go about it the right way.

I'm glad there are guys out there like dave_dj1. I didn't have to do as much digging as you probably will have to, but Dave is right. The part I missed/didn't know about was snapping the chalk line, but fortunately, I was only replacing 1 and 1/2 rows on a short wall outside of my parents' garage with my mom while my dad was travelling and he never noticed that a few lines veer a little.

 

[yeldogt]

You can still get that groved cedar -- it's expensive. Comes in boxes. Get the stuff that's primed all sides -- you will also need cedar shims. It not one layer thick. Proper nails are important. The old school way was to make a kick out from cedar (strip) along the bottom that covered the edge of the plywood or more typical board sheathing when this stuff was popular.

The difficulty is getting the nails out of the course that's damaged without doing damage to the course above... take your time. Get everything removed and then take a look at the sheathing -- IMO it's better to let everything dry out and see what's up. Some surface damage on the sheathing is of no concern with cedar shakes -- you will have two layers of wood over it. It's a nailing surface and can be patched.

Don't use OSB -- there are buildings on the atlantic coast with 100 year old cedar and no underlayment over the sheathing -- later they used building paper ... so I'm not a fan of ice and water shield. The key is allowing the area to dry.

The lines of the upper courses hold you to the horizontal -- straight or not.

 

[Stuart in MN]

You need to be able to remove the lower layers of shingles without disturbing the upper layers. There's a tool called a shingle ripper; it's a flat bar with some hooks ground in the top edge, you slide it up under the upper shingles, catch the nails holding the lower shingles in place and then with a hammer drive the tool down to remove the nails. I bought one at Harbor Freight but I can't find it right now on their website, just google 'shingle ripper' and it will pull up pictures of the tool along with several places that sell them.

 

[6768rogues]

It is not hard to fix. Just be ready for surprises like rot that goes farther than you thought or carpenter ants.

 

[bdbecker]

...however the 2nd link that was posted gave my computer fits with some sort of "scam alert" which I believe was false and I had to use task manager to escape out of it...

I edited the post and removed the link, sorry about that. Didn't have any issues for me, but I don't want to risk it for others.

 

[Davefr]

It is not hard to fix. Just be ready for surprises like rot that goes farther than you thought or carpenter ants.

^^What he said.

You'll be very lucky if siding is the only problem. I bet the sill plate, subfloor and studs could also have issues.

You need to get to 100% good wood and address any insect infestation. Where there's rot, there's usually termites or ants.

Good luck.

 

[Flatsbroke]

Thanks guys. I actually have a good friend that highly recommended a contractor to do the job and his rate seems pretty reasonable. Im going to leave it up to the pro on this one unless he ghosts me then its my last straw and ill be doing it myself.