How to Install Corner Boards for Clapboard Siding

Clapboard siding is an exterior building covering that consists of wooden planks that overlap each other from the top to bottom of the wall. Each plank installs horizontally across the width of the wall and ends at the corner of the home. Once the clapboard is fully installed on the walls, you install corner boards to cover the exposed ends. Installing corner boards requires only that you cut them to size and attach them to the wall.

Ladder
Tape measure
Pencil
Safety glasses
Circular saw
Alkyd oil wood primer
Paint brush
No. 304 stainless steel nails
Hammer
Exterior-grade caulk
Caulking gun

Instructions

- 1
  Push a ladder up to the side of the home at one of the corners. Stretch a tape measure from the top edge of the uppermost clapboard all the way to the bottom edge of the lowest clapboard. Note the measurement, which is the length needed for the corner boards.
- 2
  Climb down from the ladder and lay long strips of clapboard corner board on a work table. Measure the corner boards to the proper length and mark them using a pencil.
- 3
  Put on safety glasses and cut the corner strips off at the pencil lines using a circular saw.
- 4
  Open a can of alkyd oil wood primer and dip a paint brush into it. Paint the primer onto all surfaces of the corner board that you cut to seal them from moisture. Allow the primer to dry completely prior to installation.
- 5
  Climb back up on the ladder carrying one of the corner boards. Align the board along the edge of the home corner on one wall. The end of the board should be flush with the corner of the building.
- 6
  Secure the board to the underlying clapboard siding using No. 304 stainless steel nails and a hammer. Space each of the nails approximately six to eight inches apart.
- 7
  Install another corner board on the other side of the home corner, sliding the edge until it meets the other corner board. Secure it to the underlying clapboard with additional nails.
- 8
  Install a tube of exterior-grade caulk in a caulking gun and apply a continuous 1/4-inch-wide bead along the edges of the corner boards to seal them.

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