How to Install Cedar Siding Over Studs

Layout

• 1

  Stretch a tape measure across the top of the wall. Mark the location of the studs' centers with a pencil. Move the tape measure to the bottom of the wall. Mark the location of the studs' centers with a pencil.

• 2

  Draw a vertical chalk snap line between each set of stud marks you made. Pull the chalk string taut and snap the string to create a line that indicates the location of the stud. Snap lines for the walls' remaining studs. Mark the location of the top of the first siding plank at each of the wall's corners. Stretch the string between the marks, pull it taut and snap it.

• 3

  Stretch a tape measure across the length of a siding plank and use a pencil to lay out a cut mark. One end of the first plank must meet the wall's corner and the other end must fall over the center of a stud.

• 4

  Align a T-square's edge with the mark and run a pencil along the T-square's edge to create a cut line. Align the cut line with a chop saw's blade, activate the saw and cut the plank to length.

Bevel Siding

• 5

  Set the thick edge of the first bevel siding plank over the band board or furring strip. Align the plank's end with the wall's corner and the plank's top with the horizontal chalk line.

• 6

  Drive a nail through the siding and into the wall's corner stud roughly 1 to 1 1/2 inches above the planks' bottom edge. For rabbeted bevel planks, drive the nail perpendicular to the wall's face. For bevel siding without rabbets, drive the nail perpendicular to the plank's face.

• 7

  Move to an adjacent stud. While holding the siding plank level, drive a nail through the plank and into the stud at the same height and angle as the first nail. Drive nails through the plank at the remaining studs. Do not install more than one nail per stud.

• 8

  Measure, mark and cut subsequent siding planks, ensuring that planks fall over studs and meet the wall's corners. Butt the ends of subsequent planks against previous planks and fasten them to the wall with one nail per stud. Overlap subsequent courses of bevel siding by 1 inch for narrow planks and up to 2 inches for wide planks, such as planks that are wider than 12 inches. If your planks have rabbets, use the rabbets to space the overlap.