Repair Hail Damage Vinyl Siding
Often the damage occurs to one side of a home s exterior leaving homeowners with the problem of matching replacement siding to the color and material of existing siding.
Repair hail damage vinyl siding. To make it a little bit easier to check out you can spray the siding with a hose. Ask this old house general contractor tom silva helps a homeowner repair sections of his vinyl siding that have holes. Vinyl siding is fairly resilient but stray baseballs or chunks of hail can leave behind holes dents and cracks. Use a zip tool image 1 to unlock the siding from the surrounding pieces image 2.
Buckled and warped siding is significantly less. Hail storms can damage your roof gutters vents and air conditioner units. Subscribe to this old house. Look for any buckling or warping which is common in vinyl siding that has been damaged.
With high winds small hail can be detrimental to siding. There are several ways to repair damaged vinyl siding depending on the extent of the damage. Repair hail damage on your home siding. But hail storm damage to vinyl siding may be difficult to detect without knowing what to look for.
Vinyl siding is the most fragile of all siding materials and can melt in intense heat or become brittle in cold weather. Repair minor holes quickly and easily with vinyl caulk. Indicators of hail damage include holes in vinyl siding or dents in aluminum siding two of the most common materials used on the exterior of homes. Allow it to completely dry then use a razor scraper to cut the excess caulk flush with the outside of the siding.
Start at the bottom of the piece that is being replaced and insert a wooden shim between the pieces of siding as the zip tool slides along the siding. For instance if the vinyl or metal siding of your home experiences wind damage or tornado damage finding replacement siding that s an exact match can be difficult. Another way to spot hail damage is to look for chipped paint. Insurance companies often need to differentiate between mechanical damage and hail damage and homeowners need to be familiar with the evidence of hail related damage.
Introduction to repairing vinyl siding. When cold vinyl is especially prone to impact damage such as cracking or breaking apart. Aluminum hail damage tends to be easier to spot but any material can show chipped paint spots from hail. While your homeowners insurance replaces siding damage from specific types of losses it only covers the parts of your home that are damaged which can be a bigger deal than.
Repeat the procedure for the top of the damaged siding. Light hailstorms that leave a roof unscathed can be quite damaging to siding particularly aluminum siding. Squirt a generous dollop of exterior caulking that matches the color of the siding into the hole.