Considering using vinyl siding on your new pole building? Whether doing the work yourself, or hiring it done here are three helpful tips to keep in mind.

Vinyl Siding

Tip #1 Each piece of siding has nailing slots along the top edge. Every fastener needs to be placed in the center of a slot. Nailing on either side will only allow the siding to move in one direction. It is important for the siding be able to move freely in either direction depending on how your building moves with temperature changes. Another note to keep in mind, you should be leaving 16″ between fasteners, they are not in every nail slot.

Tip #2 Intuition says, it would make sense to fasten your vinyl siding as tight as possible – this will prevent it from falling off the wall. Nothing can be further from the truth. Vinyl siding will expand and contract with temperature. If fastened too tightly, it won’t have the ability to move, and will buckle or become wavy. Make sure to leave 1/32″ between the nail head and the siding (about the thickness of a dime). If you don’t follow this fundamental rule, your siding will buckle!

Tip #3 Do not face nail through vinyl siding. Face nailing is exactly as it sounds – the fasteners are driven through the face of the siding, rather than through the slots. This will prevent the siding from moving freely. Face nailing will cause waves to ripple through your siding which just is not pretty. Once again, this is necessary because your siding will expand or contract with changes in temperature.

Most importantly, if you hire the work done, take a gander at how it is being installed to make sure these tips are being followed.