Four causes of water damage to wood siding, and how to repair it

• June 15th, 2010
• In: Fiber Cement, Wood Siding
• By: Rob Sabo
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Wood siding, especially hardboard siding sold in 4-foot by 8-foot sheets, often shows signs of water damage before many other types of siding. Regions with wet climates, such as in the Pacific Northwest, or along the Gulf Coast, can be hard on wood siding. But you typically don’t have to hire a siding contractor to re-side an entire wall of your whole house; oftentimes, you can either fix damaged panels or just remove small sections of siding.

Causes of Water Damage to Wood Siding

1. Rainfall and excessive weather. Water is going to abuse any type of wood siding. Even properly applied, no siding is indestructible.

2. Lawn sprinklers that constantly wet the siding. Do your sprinklers blast your house? Over time, they’ll ruin your siding–especially if they are forcing water behind siding edges.

3. Shrubbery growing too close to the house. Shrubbery that is too close to the structure does not allow air to circulate and can keep siding wet.

4. Improper installation. Many times water damage is a result of improper installation by the original carpentry crew. If the siding contractor did not properly install the product, such as hanging it too low to the ground, or the carpenters punched nails through the face of the siding, it will take on water where it’s not supposed to.

Replacing Damaged Siding

In cases where individual panels are damaged, either you or a siding contractor can simply pull the nails, remove the damaged siding panel (this also is the case with lap siding) and install a new one. I suggest replacing damaged hardboard siding with fiber cement siding. It’s proven to be extremely durable and weather resistant. In most cases, the sheathing and house wrap are in good enough condition to reuse.

Also, consider re-painting mildly damaged siding panels. The paint will seal the edges from further damage. Lastly, trim your shrubs and adjust your sprinklers!