Cutting Lap Siding

An oscillating tool with a metal cutting blade is ideal for this job but a simple hacksaw blade will also work.

Cutting lap siding.

Use moderate contact on butt joints when joining two pieces of plank. The last boards must meet at the same level or the installation will look unprofessional. Run your siding stock across the table saw with one 3 4 inch edge down cutting a bevel along its length. When cutting fiber cement siding with circular saw use a blade that has only four or six teeth.

To keep dust to a minimum use a circular saw that s equipped with either a dust collection bag or electric fan that. Using the line you scored with the hammer and chisel as your cutting guide use the circular saw to cut along the length of the line. Step 4 install a 1 4 inch roundover bit into your router and set the depth to1 4 inch. Hardieplank lap siding with colorplus technology is shipped with a protective laminate slip sheet which should be left in place during cutting and fastening to reduce marring and scratching.

When i saw lap siding i saw 1 2 thick by 6 or 8 without any taper. In most cases the siding will wrap all the way around the house. The vertical seams in lap siding should never align one over the other so you may also need to remove portions of boards that are not damaged. If you cut 1 2 thick you can sticker the wood without any problems and it will dry faster since it is thinner.

Check for level to be sure your layout marks are correct. I m using white pine 1 2 x 6 on my own house and it seems to be okay. For a slow but virtually dustless way to cut siding use power. I ve cut a lot of siding like this and haven t had any complaints.

When the nails have been cut the lower board can be pulled out. Set the depth of the blade to about inch and cut the lap siding in small increments. In certain installations nails are driven through the bottom of the siding leaving the heads exposed. Between each cut adjust the blade depth so it is deeper by inch.

Cut and position the second from the bottom siding board so it aligns with the layout marks you made with the story pole. This piece will lap over the bottom board.