Fiber-cement siding is a great alternative to vinyl siding for many homeowners.

Fiber-cement siding is a great alternative to vinyl siding for many homeowners.

As you get close to the top, you'll start feeling better about your decision to side your house! You'll find though that once you are no longer using two pieces per course, things get a little more difficult. Now you have to cut both ends of the same piece and have to worry not only about the angle, but the length as well. Hopefully, by now you have got a feel for the needed angle and have a good template. Have your helper hold your tape measure up inside the J channel (not on the outside) and measure to the same location on your end. This is the long point of the piece.

Installing Vinyl on the Next Level

If you're house has a hip roof, consider yourself blessed. For the rest of us, dealing with a gable end doesn't have to be that difficult.
Turn your J upside down and run it up the gable where the wall meets the overhang. The toughest part will be cutting this angle on each piece. It's very helpful to know the pitch of the roof and be able to figure the angle with a framing square. Once you have the right angle, you can use a cutoff piece as a template for future pieces. The same piece will work for both ends, you just have to flip it over.

You're going to continue course after course in the same fashion until you reach an opening, either a window or a door. Most of the time, the bottom of a window will not fall perfectly at the top of a course of siding. This means you'll have to notch some of the siding out. To do that, have your helper hold the other end up and hold your end so that it is at the correct height. Then you have to mark the piece where it should be once inserted into the J channel. You have to mark not only the sides, but the bottom of the window as well.

Planning Seams