A long, flat work surface is essential for vinyl siding and sheet-metal work. A couple of 2×12 boards on sawhorses work fine. For precise 90- degree-angle cuts and angled rake cuts, I suggest making a cutting jig for a circular saw (see the bottom center photo).The jig, which sits on a long worktable, is essentially a wooden cradle that guides the base of the circular saw. The cradle can be positioned at a right angle, or at other angles, to the siding.
Use both right — and left-handed aviation snips to make straight and curved cutouts (see the center right photo); tinsnips are also helpful. Other specialty tools you’ll need include a slot punch, to make nailing slots in siding (see the top right photo); a snap-lock punch, to create crimps or tabs that lock into the finish trim (see the bottom right photo); and a zip tool, in case you need to remove a damaged panel from a wall.
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as you install it around the building, and drive your first nail in each piece no less than 4 in. from an end. Remember: The strip must be able to move beneath the nail heads. At a wall’s outside corner, the starter strip must be 1 in. or more from the vinyl corner trim, as shown in the right photo on p. 165. Keep the strip ІУ2 in. to 2 in. from the inside corners.
Corner trim, J-channel, and undersill trim
The corner trim pieces, which receive the ends of the vinyl siding panels, must be installed straight and plumb or they won’t look attractive. Hold a short, cutoff piece of vinyl corner post against the sheathed corner of the house and mark the edge of the flange on both sides of the
corner at the top and bottom of the wall. Snap a chalkline between the marks. Set a corner post /4 in. to У2 in. down from the soffit, and drive a Р/2-in.-long nail at the top of a slot on both sides of the corner. The corner post hangs from these nails, allowing the vinyl to move. Hold the posts directly on the chalklines and drive nails about every 12 in. in both flanges, down to the bottom of the wall. Keep each nail in the center of its slot. The corner posts should extend /’2 in. to 1 in. below the starter strip.
Most doors and windows have factory-made siding channels. If yours do not, install J-chan — nel along the top and sides of the window to hide the ends of the siding. You can use a miter or a square cut at the top corners. Either way, at the ends of the top piece, leave l-in.-long drain tabs that can be folded down over the window sides. This helps channel water down around the window (see the photo at right).