Installing Vinyl Siding

ptarmigan61

I will be installing siding on our cottage project starting this spring. I have never installed the vinyl before. We have picked a Kaycan product mostly because of the colours available, but it is not the lighter builders grade. We will be using a brick red siding and using the white corner boards and accent pieces for contrast.
I read an article from Fine Homebuilding where the author recommends using "super J" channel (wider) at the top of the walls to mimic the look of frieze boards for a better look.
My question is what is the best or recommended for finishing the vinyl siding install at the top of walls and gable ends under the eaves? I have read contradictory instructions; some say to use an undersill strip, some say use J channel.
Any tips or observations would be appreciated, bot on this question as well as any advice generally on installing this stuff.
Thanks.

jlhaslip

J channel works fine, but requires closer cuts.
Don't nail it hard. let the pieces slid. check your nailing by slipping your finger nail between the nail head and the siding. nail in the middle of the slots.

the wider strip is most a design consideration and your call...

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Gary in WA

http://www.vinylsiding.org/publicati...2007Manual.pdf

http://www.fourseasonsroofingandsidi...nnel.leaks.htm

It all looks like vinyl to me.....

Be safe, Gary

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Mark Harvey

I would suggest "J" channel. I do various jobs and siding is one of them. The J channel can be used for most areas - around windows, doors, and under the eaves. Do the soffits first, if you are putting soffits on, then run the channel along the underside of the soffit. The top edge of the highest piece of siding will be hiden by the J channel. Make sense. Remember, it a cabin and you don't have to go overboard on fancy trims or items you may not need

rpostss

"Super J" (2.5") wide is best used around window and door openings, and in gable ends where you do not have to attach a nail through the siding behind the 2.5" wide flange - not at the top of a wall to mimic frieze boards. Fine Homebuilding is a great magazine but they are not vinyl siding installers.

The last course of horizontal (not gable ends) siding is best attached using an undersill strip nailed at the top, then use a crimper tool to punch tabs in the top edge of the siding that then snaps into the sill trim for a nail-less install of that last course.

You can use regular J-channel (3/4" wide) combined with the sill trim.

Tom Struble

you can use any of those products they are all a form of j channel

HomeSealed

Undersill strip AKA, utiltity strip, is usually used inside j-channel in your application to insure a nice, tight fit at the top of a wall.

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Tom Struble

the utiliy trim can also be used inside the 2.5'' j if thats the look you like

Maintenance 6

That's how I do it. The "J" channel will lay straighter and flatter for apearance and the Utility strip gives you a place to snap the last run of siding into.

milliken23

If you are going to be doing the soffit as well as the siding then the best material to use at the top is a recessed crown molding (RCM). You do the siding first and rip the top piece so that it ends one quarter of an inch below the soffit. Be sure to cut nail holes for expansion at the top of this rip piece. Then the RCM goes over the top of your final course of siding to cover the nails. The soffit then goes into the channel designed into the top of the RCM. You will need a special tool called a trim nail punch to install the RCM though. (Only about $10 at any siding supplier.) Very simple to do and it looks much better than J-channel at the top. BUT ... if you are not doing the soffit than use J-channel along with U.T.