Step 21 – Install Exterior Siding

With a break in bad weather, it was high time to get going on installing the siding. Tyvek water resistant barriers are designed to be protected by siding and will break down if they are left uncovered for too long. The fiber cement siding I will be attaching serves dual purposes of protecting the WRB and giving a clean, finished look to the exterior of the house. Fiber cement is one of the best products on the market when it comes to siding due to its durability, longevity, and strong resistance to heat, fire, insects, and water.

The siding will be attached to the long, vertical 1×4 furring strips I installed a few months ago. It is very important for the ends of every piece of siding to fall on one of these furring strips so the siding will be secure and lie straight. For this reason, I needed to add some extra furring strips around the doors and windows. I will be use trim siding in these areas that will use up all of the space on the existing furring strips, so I needed to add more to attach the lap siding to.

The existing furring strips were attached over the studs of the house, providing plenty of anchoring for the siding, but there are no studs left for the additional furring strips to be nailed to. The polyiso foam and sheathing alone are insufficient to support them. I added additional 1×4’s on the interior of the house so that the screws that attach the furring strips will have another 3/4 inch of wood to screw into, giving them more holding power. I attached the additional 1×4 on the interior of the house with finish nails just to hold it in place, and then used 3″ #8 wood screws to attach the outside furring strips through the foam and sheathing and into the interior 1x4s.

I used QuickFlash products for the minisplit heat pump lineset stub out. I also used them to clear the gap between the furring strips and Sturdimount fixture bases (will show pics when I install them). The QuickFlash products are very handy when it comes to ensuring a nice weathertight seal. Simply cut a slit in the water resistant barrier, slide it on over the stubout, slip the top 2 inches underneath the WRB, use flashing tape first on the sides, then over the top, and finish with a counter flashing of WRB tape.

The last thing I did to prep for the siding was to attach insect screens at the bottom of the wall in between the furring strips. This will prevent any bugs from crawling or flying into the rainscreen between the siding and the water resistant barrier. I used a few pieces of scrap wood to bend some mesh screen into a box shape and wedged them in between the furring strips.

2 Comments on “Step 21 – Install Exterior Siding

  1. Matt, on the Quickflash product for the heat pump is anything done to air-seal the bottom of the flashing? Or is it assumed that it’s pressed tight enough against the wall to not be a problem?

    • Jacob, thank you for the question. Air sealing is accomplished on the inside with spray foam like Great Stuff. The peel and stick flashing is not for air sealing, only to obtain a weather tight seal. The bottom is always left open so that any water that somehow finds its way past can get out.

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