Removing cedar siding tips needed (3 Viewers)

[KLF]

I need some input from the group on the best way to remove some beveled cedar siding on my house. I need to re-do the roof on a tool shed that was put on by the PO, but they obviously didn't know what they were doing. It's only 5' x 10', between the main house and the garage, very flat (2.5/12 pitch). No step flashing, no ice & water shield, so now it leaks at both ends.

The vent pipes are for the radon air & water systems, and ya stupid place to put them right under the valley, of course they leak now too. They will be moved, since I need to replace the sheathing too.

Cedar siding is ridiculously expensive, so I'd like to save & reuse the pieces that are on there now. Any suggestions how to get it off without destroying it? I have lots of pry bars, a sawzall, and an oscillating multi-tool at my disposal. Nails are stainless ring shank, very tough, difficult to remove. My experience has been that trying to pry them out from below the siding usually just tears the nail head thru the siding.

Should I just use a pin punch to drive the nails thru the siding, then caulk & stain when I re-install? Appearance isn't that important, this is the back of the house, and those spots are kinda hidden.

 

[FJ60Cam]

If you are going to patch & paint, you could use a Crescent 56 nail puller. It will leave two small teeth marks next to the nail hole, but is a sure-fire way to pull the nails without major trauma.

Being stainless ring shanks, this might just pull the head off though.

I'm usually able to gently pry the board up slightly (1/4" or so) with a pry bar, then hammer the board back down. Usually this will leave the nail proud enough to pull.

 

[KLF]

Hmmm... seems like just punching the nails thru will make less damage and leave a clean hole that is easy to fill with some clear caulk. Not sure I want to invest $35-40 on a nail puller. I tried prying the board up a little to get the nail to pop up, but the nail says put, it just pulls through the cedar.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[RMutt2017]

Yeah I would just pull the cedar off carefully, leaving the nails, just get a good flatbar work your way behind them and work them off, if the wood splits, and it will, keep the bits and glue back together using weatherproof wood glue, Titebond type III, and blue tape to hold it together while it cures. The siding looks like it goes down to far, you should have a space between roof and siding at least a 1/4" , I would go 1/2". This prevents water from wicking back up the siding. While your there put some flashing behind siding and if you can, under shingles. But you know that.
Vents can be a bitch to move, they shouldn't leak, even if someone put them directly under the valley drain off, I would think reflashing them correctly and maybe some sort of gutter/flashing to redirect water away from pouring onto vents will be easier then rerouting vents.
Good Luck.

 

[KLF]

Yeah, that's another mistake they made, the siding is right down tight to the roof, this is wicking moisture up the sheathing and causing the leaks. Not good for the siding either, so it will be trimmed.

The shed is open under that roof, lots of access, it will be easy to move the vents. The radon fan is right under the roof. The contractor that put them there was adamant about the location, something about a code that they needed to be 5' away from any other windows. I knew they were gonna leak, told him so, and I was right.

I have a new box of Grace Ice & Water shield, I'll run it at least 8-10" up the sheathing from the roof, then step flash the shingles (with sealant). I hate leaks!

 

[semlin]

i took off half a house worth 100 year old fir bevel siding with a flatbar and a small nail puller and reused it. it was brittle but you got a feel for it. to the extent nails get left behind, you can fill the holes with wood putty

in your case you might consider just running a skilsaw along the siding parallel to the roof line to remove a couple of inches of the siding ( cut away the last bit under the eaves with a backsaw or dovetail saw ). you should have that much spacing anyway and it will be easy to slip the new flashing under the cedar.

 

[45Kevin]

in your case you might consider just running a skilsaw along the siding parallel to the roof line to remove a couple of inches of the siding ( cut away the last bit under the eaves with a backsaw or dovetail saw ). you should have that much spacing anyway and it will be easy to slip the new flashing under the cedar.

Winner.

Lay a board on the roof to guide your circ. saw and finish the ends with a hand saw, or sharp Olfa knife. You will probably have to punch a few nails through to get your flashing up under the siding though.

 

[Creeker]

Well, if easing the plank up doesn't get the nail free, you could try this:

It'd be a lot of work though. Still, I agree with your approach. You have to pull off enough siding to get ice and water shield turned up on the wall, along with flashing and moisture barrier. Then you can reinstall the siding over it, leaving a gap at the roof.

As you point out, with that low of a pitch, the shingles really aren't working. If you could afford a low end standing seam roof it would be a lot better. I've found them fairly easy to DIY if it's a simple shape. edit: oh hell yeah, you're in NH. There's a lot of metal roofs there, so you're used to seeing it.

 

[KLF]

Sorry for not keeping this thread updated. Siding is all removed, I found all sorts of surprises when I pulled it off, I ended up taking off a lot more than I expected. I found most of the time I could ease up the plank, sometimes the nail would start to come out, but a lot of them just pulled thru, cedar is so soft. I got every piece off without breaking any of them.

Turns out the person that put this shed on (I think it was PO) didn't know how to do this type of roof. Who can count all the mistakes in these photos? Ya lots of mold and some rot in the wall sheathing. I had to cut out and patch some of it with plywood, plus replace one rafter and half of the roof sheathing.

I hate OSB, I would never use it if I was building new.

 

[KLF]

BTT. More fun fixing poor flashing mistakes. Now I'm on the front of the house, where the fascia of the mud room hit the wall of the main house. Poorly installed gutter. Got the rotted fascia off, sheathing was mushy. Great. Here we go again.

Developed a new technique for removing the fragile siding:

Open up with a flat trim bar, carbide tipped blade on an oscillating multi tool, easily cuts the top of the stainless nail off. Worked really well.

 

[Bob Morazes]

Why not just extend the existing main house roofline and valley.
You can eliminate all that ugliness with the roof tucked under the soffit.
Bobmo

 

[Rugy]

Suggestion to make a diverter at the wall, roof to gutter interface.
That way all of the rain water hitting the siding then runs down to the roof flashing and then directed into the gutter.
Here any projects being done we have to rain-screen the house.

 

[KLF]

There was a tiny "kickout" to try to push water away from the siding, you can barely see it in the photo, but too small. I'm finishing up putting it all back together today, had to cut out a 2' x 2' chunk of sheathing, replaced with plywood. Totally covered with flashing tape now, new fascia/shadow going on next.

Roofer is coming on Tuesday for a new roof, I'll make sure they put a much better diverter back.

I only pulled 7 courses of siding. Wouldn't all the siding have to come off to do a rain screen?

 

[PAToyota]

Take a read through this - particularly the flashing and kickout diverter: Kickout Flashing: How to Flash Troublesome Roof-to-Wall Intersections - Fine Homebuilding

 

[KLF]

Nice article. I subscribe to that magazine and have an account there, I use a lot of their articles in my class as handouts. That and Journal of Light Construction.

I like that Dryflekt thing! Their website has gone dark but looks like they are still available. Amazon has a similar product:

https://www.amazon.com/Brown-Univer...d=1527528407&sr=8-1&keywords=kickout+flashing

Thanks!

 

[kirvesmies]

BTT. More fun fixing poor flashing mistakes. Now I'm on the front of the house, where the fascia of the mud room hit the wall of the main house. Poorly installed gutter. Got the rotted fascia off, sheathing was mushy. Great. Here we go again.

View attachment 1709129

@ klf, when that roof and siding goes back together, make sure the lower end of that bottom step flashing is draining out on to the exterior of the siding. also, a piece of step flashing overlapped by starter metal and that bottom step flash after the siding and fascia are installed will go a long way in keeping water out of the wall. that scenario you have there is a money maker for me

 

[kirvesmies]

oh $h!t, just noticed the date of the preceding post, hope you've got the leak looked after