I woke up to find a section of my vinyl siding blown off during the night. The largest piece is about 10 feet tall on the second story and stretches 30 feet long. From what I can tell, it was fastened with 2-inch galvanized roofing nails. Behind the siding, there's 3/4" xps foam insulation, and since my house was built in 1885, the sheathing is made of 1x6 boards instead of plywood. I'm wondering if using ring shanked nails to reattach the siding is a good idea since I want to prevent this from happening again. The siding was put up by a contractor in 2019, but their work was pretty subpar, as they nailed it too tightly. On sunny afternoons, the siding would get wavy and pop loose from the pieces above and below it.
2 Answers
Just stick with the 2" roofing nails, but use more of them than before. It seems like the original ones weren't enough to withstand the wind, which is why everything popped out.
You definitely shouldn't use ring shank nails. Vinyl siding needs to have room to move, especially with temperature changes, and since you have a dark color siding, it will expand and contract more. Try to align the new nails with the existing holes and leave about a 1/16" to 1/8" gap between the nail and the siding. This way, it can still shift a little without getting damaged. Also, make sure the pieces are properly locked into the piece below so you can shift them with minimal resistance.