already figured I got chumped on the (yikes!) vinyl on my house. I’m new to it, but the house is 2 years old. GC has gone under, so no recourse there. (before I ask my question, I’m only in this house for the short term, so no ‘vinyl is crap’ arguments!). Already found out that there is no tyvek or tarpaper under the vinyl, it’s just right on the osb (he built all the houses here like that, must have greased the inspector). I’m not TOO concerned with that (again, only will be here 2 more years). Unless it becomes a problem point with a home inspector when I go to sell.
Last night, found one point where the vinyl (~6″ single) does not overlap at all where at a joint where 2 pieces join end-to-end on the gable wall. There is a gap there of about 1/8″.
How best to do a quick fix on this? I have some scraps of vinyl to match in the shed (2 pieces about 6 foot each), and have thought to maybe just work in a piece about 8″ long to cover this open joint. That, or maybe just caulk it and forget it.
BTW, the rest of the house is close to perfect as you can ask (mostly), except for the fact that I just about rewired it before I moved in.
Replies
Vinyl is crap!
If the siding wasn't nailed tight to the wall, then you should be able to pull the gap together and make it overlap as much as possible. Then you can put a nail or screw near the joint on both sides (up top under the next row of course) to hold it there. When it expands in the summer, it will grow at the ends but that joint will stay fixed. If you can't pull it together, there is a hand tool made like a hand punch that will elongate those slots to give you more slack.
Fix it correctly. Installing a new, full length piece of vinyl will take about 20 or 30 minutes. The only problem is that you have to go get it.
I'd take out one of the offending pieces, and splice in the longest piece you have on hand. Two splices 8" apart would look pretty bad, IMHO.
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