Hi, I am looking to replace the wood siding on a very small section of my home with vinyl myself, but I have a few questions regarding this. I am new at this. I peeked underneath the wood, there is a layer of building paper and then a wood board. This is what I want to do: 1) rip out wood siding, and building paper 2) install a polystyrene foam on top of the wood board. Should I be nailing this in? and then sealing the edges with tuck tape? 3) Then I want to put building paper on top of the board. Is this meant to be glued in or nailed? 4) Now should I install strapping or is it not needed now? 5) Now I install the vinyl siding. This part my friend who knows will show me how. I had gotten some conflicting information from a how-to pamplet, where they said to caulk first, then install strapping, then building paper, then insulation, then side. So I just want to run by you guys to see if what I wanted to do makes sense. Thanks.

Hi all, I'm a weekend warrior, new to siding. Bought my house last year (built in 1985), and have replaced the floors and the pb plumbing, now it's on to the hardboard masonite siding. It's really not all that bad, but the lower third of the boards all around the house is rotting on the ends and at the nails. I suppose I may as well do the whole thing. So, I have several questions and am already appreciative of your patient answers. First, I'm hoping that I'll just pull off the old boards and put on hardi in their place -- that I won't find big problems underneath, that the sheathing is good, that most of my trim, fascia, soffit is still good, that the flashing is in place, and I can just hum along putting one board in place of another. Is this a pipe dream? What do I need to look out for? Also, do I need to tape up old nail holes in the sheathing? Second, I'm hoping not to create clouds of dust and am opting for the Matco shears on my 18v cordless. Does this work? And for cut-outs -- can I make the smaller vertical cuts with the shears, then score and snap the longer horizontal section? I'm planning on blind nailing. Any problem with using my Bostitch framing nailer with 2 1/2" nails with a .099 diameter? Galvinized nails, of course, nailed along the same vertical lines as the old stuff. (I assume the construction crew knew where the studs were). I'm planning on using a piece of flashing behind each joint, and butting the boards one against the other. I like that better than caulk, because it seems to me that when the caulk fails, you end up with water getting through. Of course, I will leave small gaps between the boards and all trim and will caulk those. I have also seen and will observe the clearances recommended on the hardi instructions. Question, though -- what kind of flashing, since hardi on aluminum is a no-no? Well, I suppose that's enough for now. I appreciate your help. - Tom