Library builder

Thanks to the work you did in the previous step, panel installation can go quickly, espe­cially when you have a good-size crew, as we did on this job. The first panel course is always the bottom-most course. Start against the cor­ner on one side of the house (preferably the back corner). Pull up the first […]

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 houseand mark the edge of the flange on both sides of the corner at the top […]

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 photo at bottom left). The jig, which sits on a long worktable, is […]

FIBER-CEMENT SIDING has been around a long time. The first house I worked on in the late 40s was cov­ered with fiber-cement siding. It was a bit brittle and not too attractive but just about indestructible. It fell out of favor because it was hard to work with and full of asbestos, while high — […]

Before you install the siding, soffits, and exte­rior trim, its important to resolve some venti­lation and electrical details. For example, this house has a rectangular attic vent centered beneath the ridge in each gable-end wall. If you chose to sheathe the gable-end truss on the ground, this is the logical place to cut the hole […]

The setting process anchors the windows and doors in their final positions. Complete installation happens later, when we move inside the house and work on the interior trim. The windows and doors used in afford­able housing are mainly vinyl and vinyl clad, though aluminum-clad frames are still installed in some areas. Some codes require that […]

Whether or not you wrap the house, it’s important to flash around the window and door openings. Especially with windows, proper flashing can prevent the water that runs down both sides of the window from entering the wall cavity through the sill area. To flash window and door openings, I gener­ally use б-in.- to 8-in.-wide […]

We didn’t use housewrap on this project, but this thin protective layer is worth considering on any house where finish siding is applied over wood framing. Modern housewraps, such asTyvek® and Barricade®, are lightweight, fabric-like materials that come in huge rolls and are literally wrapped around the walls of a house. The main purpose of […]

PROVIDING A FAMILY with four walls and a roof is just the first step in helping them get established. Here at the Twin Cities’ affiliate, we also aim to equip families with knowl­edge, so that they become successful homeowners. Because Habitat fami­lies are first-time home buyers, most are unfamiliar with the basic mainte­nance, repair, and […]

HORIZONTAL SIDING PANELS are usually 12 ft. 6 in. long, though some companies make longer panels. Siding is sold by the square, or the number of panels needed to cover 100 sq. ft. To estimate how many squares of siding you’ll need, calculate how many square feet of wall surface you need to cover, add […]