Can You Repair Weathered Wood Siding?

Cut Through Weathered Piece

• If a piece of siding is weathered, simply remove it and replace it. Placing a horizontal slit into the damaged piece of siding will allow the slit to run the entire length of the piece. Make the cut halfway up the width of the board, and ensure the cut is not too deep to avoid damaging the felt material underneath the siding.

Weathered Siding Removal

• Put the tip of a flat bar underneath the weathered siding piece, and force this bar farther under the siding by striking it gently with a hammer. Pulling the flat bar toward you will help to loosen the weathered siding, and you can use your hands to pull off only the bottom of the two horizontal halves you created when you slit the siding with the knife.

More Removal Information

• Using a hammer’s claws, take out any nails that remain on the part of the house wall located at the bottom of where the weathered siding was. Insert the flat bar beneath the intact siding located above where half of your weathered siding still remains. Pushing the bar delicately will allow the heads of the nails in this area to surface slightly so that you can pull the heads up using the flat bar and yank the nails completely out, which will dislodge the top half of your damaged siding.

Preparation for Replacement

• Put the two weathered siding halves together, and lay them over a new piece of siding to determine what size to cut your new weathered siding section. Using a utility knife, draw around the edge of the weathered siding, forming a dent in the large section of siding you plan to cut. Trim this large piece with a saw. You'll need to apply a latex caulk to the right and left sides of the space where the new wood siding will go, making sure caulk gets on the edge of the back parts of the adjacent siding pieces as well.

Attaching New Siding

• Insert the new wood siding piece into the empty space, ensuring that at least an inch of the top edge of this piece is beneath the adjacent siding piece above it. Nail the bottom part of the new siding piece, placing the nails at an angle about 3/4 inch from the bottom edge. You'll need to put nails in the siding piece above the new siding as well. Cover the nail heads with caulk, wipe off the excess caulk, and paint the new siding piece the same color as the rest of your home’s siding.