Top left: J channel Top right: Starter strip, top view
bottom left: side view starter strip
bottom right: Back side of siding showing bottom that locks into starter strip.

Vinyl Siding
I know all kinds of people that say to me "I wish I could do that." I was that way myself. But after having a guy do my house in NY, I said I am going to do the next one myself. I had bought my mom's house after she passed away. Then, my Sons and myself and some friends ripped off a roof, raised it and they re roofed it. I then went out, looked at the vinyl siding I liked, talked to the local distributor, told him all of the dimensions and we put an order together.

After the delivery truck left, I thought, now what!! I can tell you this, if you can use a ruler and a sheet rock knife you are in business. There are other tools needed too. The one thing to remember, if you can use all of the everyday tools, you can do it too.

My brother Jack told me a long time ago, all you have to remember it that this stuff is hung, not hammered tight to the house. I will tell you that is the key thing to remember. If not, when you are finished and you look down the side of what you have finished, you will see where it was that you sent the nail home. There will be either a dimple or a wave.

Tools:
Snap Line
Tin snips and sheet rock knife
Level and square and a line level
Good hammer
I cheated and used a paper cutter. (you can't believe how nice this works)

First you have to get the measurements of what you are siding. Figure the square foot of each side, add all of these numbers together and that is how many squares you will need to side that job. (siding is sold in squares) If your home needs 2400 feet of coverage this comes out to be 24 square. Siding is sold in 100 square feet.
Now you have to look at the doors and windows. Measure all around the windows,
on the doors you measure the sides and the top of the door. This is where you need to put the J channel. This is what you see when you look at any job that is already done anywhere. This has a 2 fold job. It gives that area a finished look and a clean look. It
also serves as a rain gutter. This happens when the rain runs down the side, then it hits
the J channel, then it is directed away from the window and prevents water from
getting behind the siding, keeping it dry and rot free.

When you gets all these measurements, you bring them to the local dealer and he will help you figure it out. J channel is sold in 8ft strips. So for doors I always just get 3 pieces, with windows I like to use just one whole piece on the sides and top and on the bottom. You can butt them together. I would never butt them on the top or on the sides.
This would allow water behind the siding. Rule of thumb: if there is water going to run off of it then a solid piece is needed.
Then there are corners, they come in 2 types: inside corners and an outside corners.
I have seen guys use J channel butted together on the inside corners. I think it looks tackie, for a difference of under 100 bucks over all on a job. I think it is a no brainer.

These corners come in 10 ft lengths, so if your house is a rectangle that is 20 foot high, you would need eight outside corners of the same corner that you are doing. Now, let's say your home is in a L shape and 20 ft high you would need 8 outside corners and 2 inside corners
Now then, there is the starter strip. This is just what it says. ALSO the most important thing you will do. These are sold in 10 foot lengths. You measure all around the structure and that is what you will need. This is put all around the job all at the same height. This is where you use the snap line for the first time. You figure out right where you want to start, taking a measurement off of the ground. You place a nail there then you pull out the line and have a level on it from corner to corner pulled tight (2 man job), when the bubble is in the middle you snap the line, then you put the nail the adjoining corner at the same level and pull the line down to the opposite corner and repeat the process till you work your way all around the structure.
Next take these strips and nail them to the structure. Not too tight, just about loose or in other words not nailed home. Once you have the starter strip done you can start on the siding. If this is a new structure, you should either use tar paper to cover the walls or the other new coverage they use. This stops all the drafts, as well keeps the dampness off of the wood. Remember, now you have already done the corners and all of the J channel, except for where the sides come to a peak. That can be done when you get up that high. When you get to the top, you will use more J channel there. But anyway when you are ready to start the siding you pull the length up onto the starter strip you will feel it click in. That's why the bottom of the siding is curved in on the bottom and on the top of each piece has another strip on the top on the outside. That is how you will LOCK in each piece as you go along.

Once you have it locked in place you pull up on the piece not too hard but well enough to feel the slack pull out, that is when you take a roofing nail and nail it into the side of the house or structure. I always start in the middle and work my way to the ends. You nail it but you leave about 1/8 of a in or so of room . This is why I say hung not nailed. At both ends, you will leave at least1/4 of a inch of room between the corners or the J channel. This allows for expansion form the heat is the summer. But remember, in the winter these will contract or shrink. This is why you can't leave too much room at the ends

You will notice on the top of each of the siding the lock on the outside. But you will also noticethis dont go all the way to the end and it dont start right on the end either, This is where they will tuck under each other till these 2 strips butt.There is another thing I would like you to rember. when you are doing a side of a home you want to tuck all the pieces the same way. Lets say you start going from left to right. So the one on the roght will tuck under the one on the right. But the way I do it is I go from the street side of the home looking down to the rear of the home. This way when you look from the street you wont see the sideing that is laid in the top.I dont know if you understand but once you start and do about 3-4strips going up you will understand.
As a rule you will always want to overlap on the same side. The other thing you have to remember is to stagger the seams. You never want them to be one on top of the other or even close for that matter. So there will be times you will have to cut a piece in two when it could have been enough. But in that case, you will have 3 pieces, one short, then a full length, then the other half of a sheet. In my home in Brooklyn I used a hammer and nails. In Indiana, I used a nail gun. But if the nail gun is too high of a setting for the air pressure, you will find the nails will go straight to the wood and cause dimples to appear on the siding. I would rather use a hammer.