Siding Installation in Hillsborough, NJ
Hillsborough Roofing installs siding on homes across Hillsborough and Somerset County, and the work starts well before the first panel. Old siding comes off, the sheathing gets read for rot and soft spots, and the water management layer goes back correctly. Vinyl and fiber cement both get installed here, chosen on the house rather than on a preference.
Why the old siding comes all the way off
Siding installed over the top of old siding hides everything that matters. Furring out over existing panels buries soft sheathing, buries failed window flashing, and buries the places where water has been finding its way in for years. It also throws off every trim reveal, so window and door casings end up sitting proud in a way that reads wrong from the street.
A full tear-off costs a day of labor and buys certainty. With the walls open we can see nail patterns, sheathing seams, framing at the corners, and every penetration cut into the wall. What gets found there is what determines the rest of the job, and it is far cheaper to correct with the wall open than to open it again later.
What happens under the siding
The layers behind the panels do the actual work of keeping the wall dry. Siding sheds the bulk of the water; everything under it handles what gets past. These are the stages we work through on every wall before any finish material goes up.
Reading the sheathing once the wall is bare
Plywood, OSB, or older plank sheathing all fail differently. We probe below windows, at band joists, and around any past penetration, then cut out and replace what has gone punky. Soft sheathing will not hold a fastener, and a wall that cannot hold fasteners cannot hold siding through a nor’easter.
Housewrap lapped in the right order
Housewrap only works when it is lapped shingle style, upper sheet over lower, and sealed at the seams with flashing tape. Reverse laps are common on older jobs and they funnel water into the sheathing instead of down the face of the wrap and out at the bottom of the wall.
Window and door openings flashed as assemblies
Each opening gets a sill pan or sloped sill detail, jamb flashing lapped over the sill, and head flashing lapped under the wrap above. Done in that sequence, any water reaching the rough opening drains back out. Done out of sequence, the tape becomes a shelf that holds water against framing.
Trim, corners, and the details you see
Inside and outside corners, frieze boards, band trim, and the reveal around windows get set before the field courses run. Getting trim widths and reveals right first means the courses land cleanly instead of dying into a corner with a sliver of panel.
Choosing between vinyl and fiber cement on your house
Both materials perform in this climate. Vinyl is lighter, faster to hang, forgiving on walls that are not perfectly plumb, and it comes in profiles from double 4 to dutch lap to board and batten. Fiber cement carries a heavier, flatter shadow line, takes a factory finish, and holds its plane on long walls, which reads well on colonials and farmhouse styles around Somerset County.
The house usually decides. Wall area, existing trim depth, exposure to sun and wind, how much of the elevation is visible from the road, and what the neighboring homes carry all factor in. We walk the elevations with you and price the options against each other rather than steering you at one. If you want the detail on either, read our vinyl siding and James Hardie siding pages.
Included on a full siding install
- Complete tear-off of the existing siding, trim, and old fasteners down to the sheathing
- Sheathing inspection with rot and soft sections cut out and replaced
- Housewrap installed with correct laps and taped seams across the whole envelope
- Sill pans, jamb, and head flashing at every window and door opening
- Starter strip, J-channel, corners, and trim set before field courses run
- Expansion gaps and fastening to the manufacturer specification for the material used
- Daily debris cleanup and a nail sweep of beds and walkways at the end of the job
Related siding services
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