There are many reasons that your vinyl siding can get damaged but unfortunately there is no way to mend, paint or patch your siding easily. This means that you will need to replace sections of siding rather then actually repair the damaged sections.
Lucky for the home owner replacing damaged siding only takes a few basic tools and a little care.
The most important thing when replacing your siding is to get a good color match.
If your siding is over 5 years old you can bet that it has changed color from its original factory new appearance. This is due to sunlight bleaching the color and mold, dirt and other things staining it.
If you are lucky you may be able to find someplace in your paperwork who manufactured your siding and what the exact color and model is. If you can not find this information you will need to match your siding the best you can by its profile and color.
If the area that you are repairing is very visible such as a front door entrance you may want to shift some siding from another non public side of your house to the front or you will need to replace a full side of the home if the color mismatch is too dramatic to live with.
Some manufacturers do place id numbers on the tab or inside area of the siding which can help you identify who made it and then contact your supplier to see if it is still available.
If you need to match your siding you will need to remove a small piece and bring it to your supply center. When you make the color selection you should do it outside in full sunlight and not in the show room.
Once you have obtained your replacement siding you can go about removing the old siding.
There is a special tool that siding installers use to remove siding once it is installed. It works in a similar way to a bottle opener.
Place the tool on the bottom edge of the siding then pull back the edge with the lip of the tool.
Slide the tool along the bottom edge of the siding until you have released the full bottom part of the piece to be replaced.
You will now need to remove the piece or pieces of vinyl siding that attach to the top of the piece you are replacing. Use the same method to detach their bottom edge and expose the nails that hold your siding in place.
Once you have the piece you are removing separated from the surrounding pieces you can remove the nails.
If the nails are in good condition sometimes I will leave them in place and cut the tabs on the vinyl siding to release it.. then I will slip the new siding right on the old nails.. It is difficult to do the first time and may require that you pull a couple nails that don’t line up but by doing so it lets you position the new siding in the same place as the old if the nail slots are in the same position… really this is best if you are fixing pieces while installing a new home or if you have saved some old siding for replacement reasons.
The nails that hold your siding in place are standard exterior grade shingle nails. For some reason I always have some of these around but they can be purchased at most home stores.
I normally leave the nails in place that were in the original siding unless they are lose then i will remove them for reuse.
To install the new piece place the bottom lip in the section of vinyl below it and pull up so the lip that you removed earlier is secure. Place it against the wall and either slip the nails through the holes or install new ones.
Now you can attach the top piece by using your siding removal tool. or by forcing the lip down and around the bottom piece.
Your new piece of siding will need time to weather to look like the rest of your home but like I said if the color change is dramatic you will need to replace all of the siding or swap out siding from the rear of your home.
Unfortunately because of the way sun hits the house swapping aged vinyl may still give you a mismatch in color but it will probably be better then brand new siding from a different manufacture that has a different texture and color… Just do your best and don’t over work it.