Installing Vinyl Siding With Nail Gun

If you are installing vinyl siding manually with no power tools then nails are your only real option.

Installing vinyl siding with nail gun. If you are doing regular horizontal siding the trick really is to make sure you are holding the gun square to the siding and to the building. Simply go outside grab the lower edges of a siding course and try to slide it back and forth photo 1. Aluminum trim pieces require aluminum or stainless steel fasteners. Use aluminum galvanized steel or other corrosion resistant nails staples or screws when installing vinyl siding.

Vinyl siding tends to expand and contract considerably with temperature changes. Technique however is critical. For this reason manufacturers design it to hang loosely on the nails rather than to be tightly nailed like wood siding. Freeman pcn65 pneumatic 15 degree 2 1 2 coil siding nailer ergonomic and lightweight nail gun with tool free depth adjust and side load magazine black 4 3 out of 5 stars 536 158 75 158.

Because of this a pneumatic nail gun can make the job much easier. The gun should have adjustments so you can change the pressure used based on the type of siding you are nailing into. The problem should be easy to diagnose. Choose a nail gun that will accept siding nails.

You can use a hand powered staple gun but both nails and staples must penetrate the backing. You cannot use a brad gun for installing siding because the brads leave two holes for each brad and do not hold up as well as siding nails. For instance you will need a higher air pressure for nailing into fiber cement than you would into pine siding.