Vinyl siding repair

[keith44]

We have damage to the siding on our house.  The home was constructed last year.  One little hole has appeared in the center of a piece of the siding about 1/2 inch by 1 inch.  We do not have a piece to replace this damage with.  What's the best way to repair this hole to keep rain out and be as disguised as possible?

[bobg]

  Probably silicone caulk will fix it. The only problem is the clear stuff seems to yellow after a couple years.

[PowPow]

Habitat for Humanity has a store here that sells leftover materials including siding; the Re-Store.
If you have one nearby, you might find a small matching piece to match yours without buying a whole box.

[LanceR]

Kieth, this should be pretty painless to fix.

At a year old you should not have a  problem finding out the siding brand and the color it is sold under.  Then find the retailer or wholesale and they should sell it by the piece.  Buy some extra pieces for any future repairs or renovations.

Most  damage to vinyl siding comes from three causes; impact damage-particularly when the siding is very cold, damage from carelessly placed ladders or from nails under the siding that are not set close enough to the surface.  In nailing siding the nails must not be driven down tight but must remain a small fraction of an inch "proud" in order to let the siding expand and contract with temperature changes.  Sometime, in an effort to allow that movement, the installer errs on the side of leaving the nails too high and anything that presses against the siding causes the nail head underneath the siding to pop through.  If that is the case with your damage run your hand down the siding at the level of the nail lines and see if there are more proud nails.  If so, you've got an installation defect that the installer should make right.

Anyplace that sells siding tools should have a siding lock  tool.  Picture a knife handle with a flat piece of spring steel that has a slight curve to it and a sharp hook on the end.  You push the hook up into the locking seam above the damaged spot, snap it onto the locking hem and unzip the seam.  Carefully hold the upper piece out of the way and pull the nails.  Now, nail the new piece in at the exact same nailing line (but NOT in the same exact holes) and use the tool to pull the locking hem down over the new piece.

Here's a link to one commonly available siding lock tool:  http://malcoproducts.com/product/roofing-siding-gutter/siding-vinyl/siding-tools-vinyl/sideswiper-ii

If you can't get the siding brand name from the installer then get the siding tool and unzip the seam.  Every manufacturer that I know of puts the brand name and product line name on the locking hem.

There are a few premium siding products that are designed for very high wind resistance.  The siding on our home is rated for well over 100 MPH sustained winds (as if the rest of the house will still be here!?) and it's seams cannot be unlocked this way.  Fortunately for making repairs, that style of siding is pretty uncommon

If you decide to go the caulk route than contact the nearest siding wholesaler.  There are color matched caulks available for every brand and color shade of caulk.  It will come in a caulk gun tube.  Make sure you put it on during a still wind conditions.  The surface of the caulk is very tacky for several hours and it will pick up any airborne dust or debris.  The caulk is very elastic and should last many years.  OSI is the best of the common brands.

Good luck

Lance

[Rex in OTZ]

The best thing to do is get some extra sideing componets and keep in garage or attic, 2 -3 sticks of the door frame trim (J channel) a couple sticks of the outside corner, and 4 sticks of the sideing itself.
if you cannot find what your wanting to replace you could remove the part and fix useing fiberglass mat (not fabric) and use vinyl pipe cement or Pliobond and glue the mat to the backside the damaged area, wont be really pretty but will hold all the broken parts into some semblance of shape.
collect little shaveings and scraps of your sideing and disolving in jar of MEK to use as a Type of colored glue simular ABS pipe cement.

[JonD.]

I would get some good exterior caulk and use a putty knife to smooth into the hole neatly. If needed you can get a dab of closely matching paint.

You may need o put some kind of patching material in the hole first to hold the caulk from going inside the siding and to give you a smooth flush finish when you smooth it down.

[illini warrior]

Use a small matching piece of siding ....... use plastic pipe cement to glue over the hole ....... clean up any excess glue because it dries yellow in color .......
You won't see the patch from a few feet away ...... had patches on my house for 20 yrs now
 

[keith44]

Welcome to the board (s) illini warrior.
 
problem solved...new piece finally located and installed.   Thanks guys.