At our lakeside cabin, we have 10 inch novelty siding applied directly to the two by four framing. We’d like new siding. Would it be OK to apply a vapor barrier to the existing siding and put new siding over that or do we need to rip the old siding off and start fresh? The existing siding is in very good shape but could use paint scraping in a few spots.
Any advice would be appreciated?
Thanks.
Jim.
Replies
If by vapor barrier you mean tarpaper or housewrap, then absolutely. You should take the window and door trim off so that you could properly integrate the flashing and the new siding. Essentially, the old siding would act like regular sheathing.
Thanks Andy!
That’s exactly what I was thinking. I guess I’m lucky that the novelty siding has a flat profile and can substitute for sheathing. I really appreciate the answer.
Jim.
Not sure of your level of expertise, Jim. There's a bunch of good window flashing content on the mag's site though. For example: https://www.finehomebuilding.com/2009/10/29/replace-window-series-flash-new-window
Thanks again Andy. I may take on parts of this myself but I will most likely hire a contractor for the heavy lifting. Before talking to contractors, I wanted an independent answer on the sheathing question. This helps a lot!
Jim.