Tongue-and-Groove Siding

If your home has wood tongue-and-groove boards, here’s a list of what you’ll need to remove and replace the old sections.

• Protective goggles
• Nail puller or hacksaw
• Chalk and ruler for marking lines
• Chisel
• Mallet or heavy hammer
• Portable circular saw
• Ear plugs (wear when using saw)
• Roofing cement

Removing Tongue-and-Groove Siding

Remember to wear goggles to protect your eyes from nails and splinters. No kidding, folks: more than one handyperson has suffered serious consequences because he or she was too arrogant/lazy/casual to bother. Sunglasses are not sufficient to deflect flying debris, so invest a few dollars in getting a pair of sturdy clear goggles that you can keep around for lots of do-it-yourself projects.

It is interesting to note that you will have better results if you mark off and remove a section that spans across three studs, as the replacement piece will blend in better and look less like a "patch job."

Use a nail puller to yank out the nails that anchor the boards to be removed. If you can’t pull them out, carefully pry the board away from the building paper beneath and cut the nails from the underside with a small hacksaw. If you’re removing the whole board, you can probably just pry it away from the building paper.

However, when you want to cut out a section of board without removing the entire piece, mark the ends with chalk, extending beyond the damage to the nearest studs, and use a ruler to give you a straight edge. Now cut along the marks with a portable circular saw, stopping just shy of the boards above and beneath the one you’re removing. Extend the cuts to the edges using a chisel and mallet or hammer.

Next, run the circular saw across the length of the board (stopping just short of your vertical cuts), so that the board is split in half lengthwise. Extend the cuts to the vertical cuts with a chisel and hammer. Pry out split board lengths with a pry bar or chisel.

Installing Tongue-and-Groove Siding
Installing a new piece of tongue-and-groove siding requires that you first remove the groove from the backside of the replacement board, so that you can slip it into place. Once you’ve got the board positioned correctly, countersink your installation nails and caulk the nail heads and joining seams between boards with outdoor caulk. Prime and paint or stain and seal to match.

Visit our Siding forum to get more information for your DIY projects!