rotten wood siding

need help with 4x8 sheets of wood siding running verticle that is rotten about 2 inches from the bottom. How can i repair this without replacing the whole 4x8 sheet. I need to repair all the way around the house. is their a way to just replace about a foot up.

 

If you replace the first foot or so, you would need to make a super straight cut (probably screw a guide onto the house so that you can perfectly follow a chalk line) and once the lower rotten section is removed, you'd slip a z-flashing under the existing siding above... then install the new siding underneath the z-flashing.

You'd want to make sure that your cut line is not too high, because you don't want your cut to extend above the top of your rim joist. The existing siding above your cut should be renailed along the sole plate of your wall framing. So depending on the width of your rim joist and the amount of siding that overlaps the foundation, you might only want to replace 10" or 11", depending...

 

Another thing I have done with so small a damaged area....snap a level line at the highest level of damage and cut it off. Leave that wood off the house and install a 1x4 trim board along the bottom to hide the cut off material area. Sort of dresses things up, ties into all your door molding and keeps the siding from wicking up the moisture, which is what caused the damage in the first place.