Are you in need of new siding for your home and are considering clapboard siding? It will help to know these tips for installing this different type of siding material. 

Use A Story Pole To Determine Board Spacing 

What makes clapboard siding unique is that each row of material is installed individually in an overlapped manner, which gives you more control of the spacing of the siding boards. However, there are certain parts that you want to align, such as making sure that the top of a board aligns with the top of a window frame. Thankfully, a story pole can be used to help determine your spacing.

A story pole is essentially a long pole that has consistent increments marked on it. These increments will match up with the height of each siding board after they are overlapped, so the increments will be slightly shorter than the board height. You can then align the pole so that an increment is set at the top of a window frame, and then mark off where each row of siding material will overlap to keep everything aligned. This allows you to work from the bottom up the side of the home, but still hit those marks so everything is aligned nicely. 

Mark Each Overlap With A Chalk Line

Precision is key when installing clapboard siding since you want to ensure that each board is level and installed evenly across the side of your home. If not, things can fall out of alignment and you'll have siding that looks like it is slanted. 

The best way to prevent this problem from happening is to make sure that the first board is as level as possible. Then create a chalk line on the board with the appropriate amount of board overlap so that you know where the bottom of the board will fall. You can then use that chalk line to align the board above it to get it roughly in place, and then verify its position is correct with a level. The chalk line will get you most of the way there by using visual cues, and the level confirms it's accurate. 

Use Felt Paper Behind Seams

There will likely be places on your home's exterior where there is a seam between two pieces of clapboard siding running horizontally. You'll want to place felt paper behind these seams to make sure that no water gets through to the inside of your home. While caulking is used to seal the seams, the felt is an extra safety measure in case the caulk fails. 

Contact a siding company, such as Badger State Exteriors, for more information.