Can Vinyl Siding Be Placed Over Wood Siding

Vinyl siding is less likely than wood to trap moisture due to the tiny weep holes in the butts of the panels and the fact that it s loosely hung to allow air to circulate behind it.

Can vinyl siding be placed over wood siding.

The best place to start is to closely examine the existing siding to get a good understanding of what condition it is actually in. The bonus of installing vinyl into wood siding is that you can simply hammer the nails into the existing surface. When you have wood siding on your house and you decide to install vinyl siding the dilemma of removing the existing wood siding or leave it on arises. Never install vinyl siding over rotten wood.

This could be done with vinyl but not with a cement siding where you nail right to the house as opposed to hanging the siding like you do with vinyl or aluminum. Since you need a firm base to install vinyl siding you first need to remove old vinyl and expose the underlying wood. Yes you can put vinyl siding over existing wood siding assuming its condition is still good. While covering lap siding with vinyl is an option for some siding other varieties of lap siding can t be covered by vinyl.

You can install vinyl siding over old wood siding but should not try to install new vinyl siding over old vinyl siding. The manufacturers specifically say that to install their product over existing siding is to void the warranty. According to the best practices manual from james hardie existing siding can be used as a substrate as long as it is in good condition meaning that it is not warped bowed curling delaminated or rotting. Vinyl also must be installed over a moisture barrier so if none exists under the wood siding the house will have to be wrapped with polyethylene or similar material.

Surprisingly many vinyl siding manufacturers state that it s perfectly acceptable to install their product over old siding. Generally the best idea is to remove any existing siding from your exterior walls before installing the vinyl siding. If it isn t there will be more steps that need to take place before it becomes possible and you might need the help of wood siding repair contractors to have the bad boards replaced which isn t always easy to do for the homeowner himself. Thanks for your interest in the project.

This goes for fiber cement hardwood and masonite siding. A current trend in home remodeling is doing away with wood siding and installing vinyl siding on the exterior of homes. With other siding types fiber cement engineered wood etc.