Vinyl siding: repair and maintenance

Having chosen vinyl siding for facade decoration, owners need to be prepared for the fact that the material will sooner or later require repair. And you also need to take care of him correctly. Our tips site decided to figure out how to repair vinyl siding with your own hands and how to wash it properly.

Due to its relative cheapness, vinyl siding is a popular facade decoration option. The portal has already written how to choose siding from polyvinyl chloride, provided instructions for its installation. But with such a finish, troubles can happen that require repairs, replacement of individual strips. You can deal with this yourself.

The causes of damage to vinyl siding can be very different. They cleaned the snow and hit the wall with the handle of the shovel. The children were playing football and hit the front with all their might … This material is rather fragile, especially at sub-zero temperatures. In addition, due to improper installation technology, siding may swell in some areas. This is especially noticeable on hot days in the sun, when the material expands. And these problems need to be fixed without waiting for the appearance of the house to deteriorate..

The first thing you’ll need to replace a cracked or damaged vinyl siding panel is a special mounting hook. It is necessary to gently remove the damaged strip, free it from the lock. The tool is useful, some craftsmen make hooks for mounting and dismantling siding with their own hands from sheet metal and profile.

In general, small holes and cracks in vinyl siding can be repaired with a simple patch cut from stock. A patch of scraps is simply glued with PVC from the wrong or front side – depending on the characteristics of the damage. In addition, a hole or crack can be sealed with silicone sealant – in several stages, while waiting for the first layer to dry. You just need to choose a sealant to match the color of the facade – on sale they are most often brown and white.

Important! After facing the facade with vinyl siding, the zealous owner should always have not only scraps, but also several whole planks. Buy material with a margin! Perhaps you will need repairs in a few years, and the sale of siding of your particular shade may no longer be available.

The process of replacing a damaged vinyl siding strip looks like this:

1. The end of the mounting hook must be inserted into the lock on the damaged panel. It is necessary to pull the hook down and along the entire strip to release the engagement;
2. The top panel is folded neatly to allow access to the nail strip;
3. The siding fasteners are pulled out with a nailer. If it is impossible to pull out some fastening element, the fasteners can simply be hammered into the crate, and the panel can be pulled out;
4. Remove the damaged bar;
5. We put a new one, nailing it to the lattice with nails or screwing it with self-tapping screws;
6. We snap the plastic locks again with the mounting hook.

Important! If swelling of a separate area is observed in hot weather, you need to disassemble this place and check the fastenings. Most likely, they are simply too tight. Provide them with mobility and the problem will be solved.

Corner siding profile can suffer too. Correct the situation like this:

1. The front plate is cut off from the damaged profile. In this case, the bar with nails is not affected;
2. You need to take a new, whole profile and also cut off the front plate from it;
3. The new part is attached to the place where the damaged piece was cut using nylon or vinyl rivets. Likewise, the H- and J-profiles can be repaired.

Important! All repair work with vinyl siding is recommended to be carried out at a temperature of at least + 10 ° C.

When it comes to caring for vinyl siding on a façade, dust can be washed off with a pressure washer or a hose with a spray nozzle. It is necessary to wash only from top to bottom to prevent water from getting under the cladding – this will shorten the service life of the crate.

In the case of stubborn dirt, you can add car shampoo, ordinary dish soap or liquid soap to the water. And wipe off the stains with a soft brush on a long handle. You can try to wash off paint stains with white spirit or sunflower oil. True, such remedies are powerless against nitro enamel, and more “harsh” chemistry cannot be used. It remains to either clean off the paint with a sandpaper, or replace the damaged panel.