Tools you need to side your house

First, let´s talk about some of the tools you´re going to need to start siding.

Tools that are a must

1. Hammer
2. 4´ Level
3. Utility Knife
4. Pencil
5. Tape Measure
6. Aviation Snips
7. Tool Pouch

Optional:

• Fluid Level or Laser Level

This list of tools will enable you to install the majority of popular siding today. You can install aluminum or steel and vinyl, and even wood shingles or shakes. Wood board siding would require a miter saw and possibly a drill for pre-drilling. Stucco, brick, and stone are totally different animals and aren´t going to be included in this category, though they will be covered in a separate section.

You have to consider a few things before you begin work.

• Is the house plumb?
  
  
• Was the existing siding installed level or did the foundation throw it out?
  

If the house is out a little, you can´t just walk up and start installing everything plumb and level. It will actually make the house look terrible because it will accentuate the already present flaw by showing just how bad the windows are off, for example. Sometimes you´ll just go with the existing lean, sometimes you can fudge and compromise between lean and plumb to help it look better. You can also use furring strips to try to help, but I would only recommend that in very extreme cases.

Where to start?

You have to find a good starting point. The easiest way to do that is with a fluid level. You use a fluid level (which can just be a bit of hose with clear plastic tubes on the ends) to transfer a level line around the entire house.

Find the lowest spot

You´re wanting to find the lowest spot so you can match it up from there. This can be done with a 4´ level, but it´s easier and quicker this way.

Measure up from the top of the foundation and put a mark about 3 or 4 inches up, near a corner. Put enough water in the fluid level so that you can see it in both ends.

Place one end up against the wall and match up the water line with the line on the wall. Hold it there and have a friend go around the corner and put the other end about the same height. Have him or her (wives work great for this part, and it makes them think of how smart you are) move the other end down until they can see the water line on their end. Then they just put a mark on the wall even with that water line. You can do this with pretty much as long a hose as you like because the water will always equalize itself.

They have electronic kits that will monitor one end for you, but if you have a helper, I´d recommend the old fashioned way. If you have a really long hose, you can transfer your original mark to every corner of the house, but if you need to, just move to another corner after you have transferred the mark to that corner. Then measure down from the mark on all the corners to the foundation and you will find your lowest corner, the one with the longest measurement.

Start siding

That is where you´ll start siding, and what you´ll base everything else on. It´s best to work both directions from that corner and make it all match up on the opposite corner. That way any irregularities are taken out gradually, as you´ll see in the next article.