Welcome to ptc@home Overview

Replacing the siding is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to upgrade the energy performance of a home
Aug. 11, 2023
2 min read

The latest video project at Protradecraft is a bit of a DIY project called PTC@Home. We’re going to do an exterior insulation and siding replacement on the editor, Dan Morrison’s house.

That’s ME!

Rather than draw a bunch of siding that I’m just going to remove, I’m going to start this animation with the old siding removed and in the dumpster.

Next, I’ll remove the brick molding around the windows, which I have already replaced with tilt-ins from the inside. The 1x3s that surround the window opening are painted along the edge because they acted as the exterior stops.

You can see that the old-fashioned 1x6 tongue and groove boards are not much of an air barrier, with gaps between every board, holes in many, and a pretty clear pathway for air to whip through around the windows.

I’ll solve the sheathing gaps with Tyvek HomeWrap, sealing the edges tightly to the 1x3s with DuPont flashing tape around the perimeter of the window.

The flashing tape bridges the Tyvek and the wood sheathing and thus terminates the Tyvek edge to the 1x3s.

At the bottom, I’ll do some fancy flashing so that the sill flashing will extend beyond the two layers of 1-inch styrofoam.

This foam will move the condensing surface away from the wall sheathing, substantially reducing interior moisture problems.

I’ll also add a layer of Tyvek’s new DrainVent, which is a woven mesh rainscreen on a roll and should help reduce moisture problems from the outside.

Now I’ll be ready to dress up the outside with new siding and exterior trim from Boral’s Tru Exteriors line.

I’ll begin with the trim, but before going too crazy with it, I’m going to need to account for the extra two inches of wall thickness on the gables because there is no existing overhang.

I’ll frame out an overhang to match the eaves and button it up. With that framed out and the extra foot of roof dried in, I can get back to the exterior trim. After the trim is complete comes the easy part: installing Tru Exterior shiplap siding to the walls. I’ll go into detail about how to detail the bottom of the wall and the top of the wall, too. At that point, it will be time to tear off the roof and do the same thing.

About the Author

Dan Morrison

Dan Morrison is a founding editor of ProTradeCraft.com, where he is also the editor-in-chief. Fun fact: Dan is also a founding editor of Green Building Advisor and executive editor of Fine Homebuilding.

Sign up for ProTradeCraft Newsletters
Get all the latest news and updates.