Attaching siding to concrete

Problem: homeowner's house has a large unclad section of exposed concrete foundation/wall at bottom. He'd like it covered with siding.

Remainder of house has standard horizontal shiplap siding. I'm trying to figure out how to attach siding to the exposed concrete sections.

Along one wall I *could* furr out the wall and attach siding to the furring strips; there's a "bulge" there anyhow that needs to be capped somehow.

The problem is the adjoining wall, where the existing siding appears to be attached directly to the concrete wall. (How I don't know.) On this section, what if a guy were to drill for anchors, then screw each board to the concrete wall individually?

All this assumes the standard precautions: cover wall with vapor barrier, use siding pre-primed on both sides, etc.

Siding is 1x8, what the local yards call "V-rustic", shiplap with chamfered edges to form V-grooves between adjacent boards. (Stuff is expen$ive, I can tell you that. And forget about redwood: ain't available any more.)

What d'you think?

Reply to
David Nebenzahl
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Many times they use the gunpowder tools to drive fasterners into concrete. Lots faster than drilling, drives the fastener in one shot and voila, a ferring, 2x4 or whatever is fastened solidly when it's done right. You have to use the right nails and gunpowder loads for the job, of course. You'll want ear protection too; it's louder than a .22 shot.

Reply to
Twayne

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Pichurs'd be nice...what kind of wall--block, poured, ???

Furring it out would be first choice methinks; I'd really investigate what was done already if it really is directly on concrete/block...

How big an area needs covering?

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Reply to
dpb

On 12/17/2010 11:28 AM dpb spake thus:

Shouldn't be necessary. Poured concrete. See below for dimensions.

One wall: approx. 18' by one board or less (height of exposed area varies from about 7" to about 10", and I want to leave at least 2-3" between bottom of bottom board and the ground). This wall could be furred, because as I said there's already a "bulge" at the top which requires covering with a cap or some such, so the siding could sit 3/4" out from the wall. Probably best to run furring horizontally here?

The other wall is really the problem: area to be covered is about 5' wide by about 4' high at the highest point (ground is sloped and makes an approximate triangle of uncovered concrete). Problem here is that the existing siding is flush with the concrete: no furring. So if I furred the new siding, I'd have a lot of patching and filling to do, and it'd probably look funky.

I'd like to attach the siding directly to the concrete here. Another poster mentioned Remington rounds for fastening; that's one way. Other way would seem to be drilling lots and lots of holes (with hammer drill/rotary hammer) and sticking in screw anchors, then using deck screws to attach boards.

I have no experience with the gunpowder approach, and would have to buy the equipment. Comments on the above attachment methods?

Reply to
David Nebenzahl

I think trying to get the same style siding to transition across the two different backings "cleanly" will be needlessly difficult. I'd suggest considering a different treatment for the lower concrete wall, such as brick veneer, stone face, stucco or similar, so that the transition looks "logical".

Reply to
Pete C.

i doubt you could use that method to attach thin siding. the round would blow holes in it or massively dent it. usually you'd use these to attach wood, which you'd then use screws through the siding.

Reply to
chaniarts

It pains me to say this because of the amount of work involved but I would use the drill, and the non-cone plastic anchors that are made for masonry.

I would then use #8 x 1.25" 1/4" HH SS with washer attached screws one about every 16". Just snug them down no tighter than you would nail.

Unless you are a whiz at measuring this means each piece will need to held into place to mark the screw holes, taken down, drilled and then installed. At least it isn't a terribly large area.

A heck of a lot of work that no one will appreciate except for you but then that is the way it goes some times.

Reply to
Colbyt

Woof, you don't apply siding with it! You apply an attachment surface (strips of wood) FOR the siding with it. You can get the manual type where you load the powder and then whack the top of it with hammer; works well for a one time job. The fully auto types are expensive and overkill for a one time job.

HTH,

Twayne`

Reply to
Twayne

Twayne wrote: ...

OP said did _NOT_ want to fur it out... :(

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Reply to
dpb

The one side that's only got a minimum of space already I'd suggest better to leave. Paint a matching or contrasting color instead. That's too close to the ground when add another for two reasons--termites and ground water and rain splash.

The other, I'd strongly consider just construction adhesive or similar w/ an occasional fastener.

The powder loads won't work well w/ siding--they would require a washer to prevent driving thru the siding in all likelihood.

As another said, a contrasting treatment would be simpler given the description as I envision it.

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Reply to
dpb

If you're trying to apply relatively thin furring strips to concrete *do not* attempt it with one of the basic .22 powder actuated nailers, they will not give you adequate depth control to avoid setting the pin too deep in the wood where it looses strength. Rent something like a Hilti DX36M (Depot rents them) which has a pressure adjustment to give you finer setting control than the coarse color coded blanks. These guns also have color coded loads, but the pressure control allows you to dial a load down to a lower pressure, i.e. if a green load doesn't set the pin deep enough you can switch to a yellow load and if that sets the pin too deep at full power you can dial it down to a "green and a half" to get the right setting depth.

Reply to
Pete C.

I would think that this is a very good case for a photoshop job. Take a good picture of the subject wall, and photoshop up a nice 4-up print with as-is, veneer stone, veneer brick and siding variants and show them to the prospective client. Faced with a good visual like that it is likely they will go for stone or brick.

Reply to
Pete C.

Double check my statement, but I believe current code requires 6" of exposed masonry between grass and any form of siding. If the home owner objects to the exposed concrete, consider "plastering" the exposed concrete with one of the EIFS finishes, Thoroseal, or similar.

Reply to
DanG

And unless you are in an area with absolutely no termites, or the house contains no wood (even in the rafters), make sure you do not cover all of the surface where the termites will build their tubes.

Edward

Reply to
Edward Reid

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