Vinyl Siding

[Corinne]

Just moved into a new home (for me anyway, it is 8 yrs. old), and I have never had vinyl siding.

I had another cable jack installed in my house, and the installer ran it half way around my house. It looked great as he hid most of it, but on the south side the black cable keeps falling out from under the vinyl due to the hot weather we are having. The installer came back out and twisted the two pieces of cable, and put more plastic clips on it, and the next day, bingo, it is slipping again.

The installer said if it happened again, he would have to drill a small hole in the siding to stop the cable from slipping.

Is it OK to drill small holes in the vinyl, or would this be inviting trouble for down the road.

I have been in the crawl space, and it is roomy and clean, but for some reason installers don't go in the crawl space.

Thanks everyone.

Corinne

[willshak]

On 8/11/2005 3:03 AM US(ET), Corinne took fingers to keys, and typed the following:

Apparently, the siding was installed wrong or the cable installer did not rehook the siding correctly. I have both cable TV and cat5 cable installed under my vinyl siding. The Broadband Cable company installed theirs under there and I installed cat5 cable under other sections of the siding. There is a special tool for unzipping and rezipping vinyl siding. There is no reason for vinyl siding to become unzipped by itself, other than installer error. Mine has been up for over 20 years in the northeast and it never unhooked itself.

Vinyl siding is never nailed up. It is hung up with roofing type nails that are not driven home in slots that allow expanding and contracting of the vinyl. A nail driven into the vinyl siding other than in these slots may cause the vinyl to buckle when it expands, and could cause a visible wrinkle in the siding.

*Some* installers don't go into a crawl space, or any place where they may get damp, dirty, or encounter yucky critters or cobwebs. Others do.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Won't harm anything. My house was built in 1978 with vinyl siding and there are a few holes drilled in it. Everything is perfect.

[Corinne]

Thank you so much. The installer is due here within two hours.

Corinne

[Corinne]

The siding is in perfect condition, and one of the best vinyl jobs I have ever seen.

The installer did use proper clamps (I think), and all of the other cable he installed around the other two sides of the house are well hidden, and have not popped out from underneath.

The major problem is that it is popping out on the south side of the house, and the vinyl probably is expanding due to the hot temps we have had (95 - 102 for the last three weeks).

Thanks.

Corinne

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Should have mentioned, a dab of silicone caulk will help seal it.