Replies

1. 
   MikeHennessy | Feb 09, 2006 11:36pm | #1

   How about making up a "Z"-hook out of sheet metal so that you could hang one end of the plank you are nailing on the plank below to hold it in position while you nail off the other end? (Does that make any sense?)

   Mike Hennessy
   Pittsburgh, PA

2. 
   hammer1 | Feb 10, 2006 01:28am | #2

   John, there's a lot more carpenters over at Breaktime. One of them may have seen the tool. There are a number of ways to hang clapboards. The issue with this type of siding is that it isn't always the same width. Some installers will work from the top down allowing them to snap location lines on the building for the bottom of the piece. In this case you, slip the next clapboard under the preceding one, then nail the one above. You don't need any help with this method.

   If you start from the bottom up, several approaches are used. One is to use gauge blocks, each succeeding row is set a certain distance from the one below. With this method, any mistakes made, transfer to the next row. This is also a difficult way to space clapboards to meet top and bottoms of windows.

   Many installers make a story pole. A piece of 1x3, that one end can be put against the soffit and reach the bottom row, is often used. The tops and bottoms of windows, doors, etc. are marked on the pole and the installers try to divide out the spaces so the siding will come even. Instead of spacing the siding at 4", they may find that 4 1/8" will work better. Depending on window sizes, this doesn't always work. Either way, the story pole is marked out to indicate the rows of siding. Some will shoot the corner boards with a builders level and use that as a reference instead of the soffit. You still have to make sure the siding ends in a straight row at the windows and soffit.

   If the siding is not the same throughout in width, the story pole is used to mark the bottom of the row and a light chalk line is snapped on the preceding row. If the siding is even in width, you can cut the width of the clapboard off the top of the pole, which will move the marks from the bottom of the row to the top. In this method you transfer the marks to the wall and snap chalk lines for the top of the clapboard. This method allows starting from one end and staggering the starters. Most clapboards are close enough in width these days, but not all.

   If you have lines snapped on the wall, you can tack a nail or two on the line and just push up on the siding while you get it nailed. If you have marks on the bottom, snapped on the preceding clapboard, you can tack a nail a little above the line, set the clapboard on it, and remove it, lowering the clapboard to cover the small hole. You can easily make a Z shape out of some thin metal. Something that will clip over the top of the preceding board and hang down a little to place your board on. Nail your end and go remove the clip. It's the long boards that give you trouble and there aren't too many of them on most jobs.

   With clapboard siding, I always like to nail each end and then go to the middle. This helps keep the rows nice and straight. We'll often do the whole wall and nail off on the way back down, that's if the cutter is fast enough.

   The big issue for solo work is holding the dumb end of the tape. With clapboards you can use the tacked nail again. Placed so that the clip end is held tight to the starting point. Another way to measure is to go from two directions. For instance, make a mark a whole number from the right, turn your tape to the left and add the measurement to that first whole number.

   That's probably more than you wanted to know. Good luck, and don't nail too close to the ends.

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
1. 
   Stephenson | Feb 10, 2006 07:05pm | #4

   Thats not more than I wanted to know, and probably not nearly as much as I need to know to get this job done right. I appriciate all the sound advice.

   Thanks, John.

3. 
   WillGeorge | Feb 10, 2006 05:31pm | #3

   HOW ABOUT a long aluminum/steel straigh edge that ya check once in a while so it ain't bent to bad.. Screw here and there and set the siding on top.. ALOT cheeper!