How the Weather Can Affect Your Siding Replacement Project

New siding on your home is an undertaking, to say the least. Removing all the old siding and checking the insulation prior to installing new siding is just part of the process. Moreover, it is necessary to wait for the right weather conditions before installing siding. Different weather conditions can negatively affect the installation of siding.

No Extremely Windy Days

Imagine trying to control a long piece of siding while the wind is just whipping around you and flapping that siding back and forth. Trying to cut that on a table saw or with a circular saw is dangerous. Trying to keep it from snapping in half in the wind is futile. A light breeze is fine, but gusts of thirty miles per hour or more is not the time to install siding.

No Rain

Rain is almost the worst kind of weather to have when trying to put on new siding. Your house is exposed to the rain, and the insulation and walls could become water damaged. There’s no real way for a siding contractor to keep insulation and wood dry while installing siding in the rain. Hence, you cannot install in rain. It has to be a very dry couple of days to get your entire home done. 

No Snow or Ice

Snow has a similar effect as rain, but ice is even worse. Sheets of ice over exposed insulation and wood cannot be covered by siding or these issues melt and head into the walls. Considering that most contractors will stop any and all projects by the first frost, this really isn’t a problem, but you should be aware as to why they won’t do your siding when it’s snowing or freezing rain.

No Extreme Cold

Again, it’s unlikely that a contractor would be working in the cold. However, vinyl siding has a way of becoming quite rigid in extreme cold. Since the siding has to have a little give to bend and fit into place on the house, you don’t want to attempt that with rigid pieces of siding. It has to warm up a little. If you have an “Indian summer” in late fall, there’s a chance you might get your siding in during those few days, but that’s difficult for any contractor to predict and plan for. 

Additionally, poor installation in this type of weather causes the siding to buckle. Buckled siding can and will blow off with the first major blizzard or extreme windstorm. Then the contractor has to come back and fix that.

No Extreme Heat Either

Extreme heat is anything close to or above one hundred degrees. Modern vinyl siding is made to be quite durable, but extreme heat can make the siding like rubber or make it snap. Most contractors will not risk the health and safety of their crews to install in extreme weather, but it must be said that this isn’t a good option for siding installation either.

When It’s Not Affecting the Siding, It’s Affecting the Crew

Any weather condition that can make it insufferable for the installation crew to do the project is not the right kind of weather. If the weather is any of the above conditions, or worse, you can count on no work being done. The contractor will let you know when the project can move ahead and give you dates for it. 

Issues With Fillers

Some contractors use an expanding foam filler for tiny little gaps that couldn’t be covered with siding regardless of how the siding was cut. You won’t see these fillers, but the fillers are fussy when it comes to temperature. Caulk around windows is a possibility as well, and caulk is definitely temperamental when it comes to temperature. Most contractors will do everything possible to avoid using these fillers, but if they can’t, the weather has to be just right. 

So, What Is the Perfect Weather for Siding Installation?

Generally, the best weather is between fifty and eighty degrees, little to no wind, and zero precipitation. As such, a contractor might do your siding in late spring to early summer, or early to late fall. Delays may still occur if the weather decides suddenly that it will not cooperate, but the delays are much shorter lived during these particular periods of the year. It’s a good idea to book a contractor several months ahead to avoid delays.