Can I put siding over clapboard?

It is surprisingly common for house walls to be shingled. It can look stylish, but once the damage from wear and tear occurs, you will quickly find that there are numerous issues to deal with.

Because shingles are laid overlapping, similar to Your roof structureIt’s surprisingly easy for moisture and bugs to find their way through the shingles and into your walls, causing a number of problems.

This could be due to rising damp or a small crack in a clapboard. The fact that many houses have wood clapboards also means you have the problem of maintenance. If not properly maintained, the shingles remain open to wet ingestion, causing them to swell and start to rot.

In short, if you have shingles, you need to do regular visual checks to make sure you spot any problems early on.

Unsurprisingly, many clapboard homeowners are considering this different types of cladding for houses instead. The question then becomes how easy is the siding to assemble, especially over your existing clapboard.

The short answer to Can I put siding over shingles

No!

You will find that this is done in some cases, but these are generally rare.

There are several reasons why it’s not a good idea to put a cladding over shingles:

Red & Mold

If your clapboard is rot or mold, installing siding over the top will effectively trap the moisture and give it a warm environment to thrive in. In short, the growth and spread of rot will multiply and form the fixtures for your new week of siding.

As you remove some of your old shingles, you will likely find that there is more mold, rot, and other types of wall deterioration that you think might be present.

To properly protect your home and last for years to come, you need to remove all traces of this mold and rot before adding your new cladding.

Weather problems

If you put siding over clapboard, you can’t add a moisture barrier layer. This is a sheet that normally goes against the walls and prevents moisture from entering your home. At the same time, it lets your walls breathe and lets moisture out.

Not only will this improve your insulation by reducing drafts, but it will also help prevent moisture and rot problems in the future.

Simply adding facing to your clapboard will mean you won’t have that option, which can cause problems in the near future.

Thickened the walls

A shingle surface is not even. This means you’ll need to add rigid foam to absorb these irregularities and provide a flat surface for the siding.

This could increase the insulation of your home and make it warmer in the winter. However, it also increases the depth of your walls and makes the doors and windows appear deeper. Most people would say that this is not an attractive look, although you have to decide this problem yourself.

It doesn’t take much effort to remove the shingles first, and it is really worth it.