Vinyl siding is a very convenient material to use and has a range of advantages over other types of siding. Concrete or block is a common material used for walls, and other parts of a building. Vinyl siding is typically nailed into the surface below it but with concrete this is not possible, so in this article I will explain if you can install vinyl siding over concrete.
Overall, you can put vinyl siding on concrete. Vinyl siding planks need to be nailed to the wall every 16 inches (40.6 cm). Regular nails which are typically used require pilot holes. In general, construction contractors recommend installing wood framing first to save time.
Wood used to raise the level of a surface is known as furring. Each strip needs to be 1 inch thick by 3 inches wide. These are fastened to the wall using what are called tapcons. Below, I will cover step by step instructions for how to install this wooden framing, and then the vinyl siding on top of it.
Can You Put Vinyl Siding over Concrete? (How To)
Each plank of vinyl siding is nailed many times to attach it to a wall. However, it’s not possible to drive nails into concrete. So, here’s a rundown of whether it’s possible to put vinyl siding over concrete and how.
Vinyl siding can be installed over concrete. Vinyl siding requires a large amount of nails, however, it’s not possible to nail directly into concrete. There are two options, one is to install a wooden frame over the concrete first, or drill pilot holes for each of the nail holes, and use tapcons instead.
Generally, installing wooden framing is the best option because it requires far less time to install all of the nails required when installing vinyl siding. Each individual vinyl plank is quite thin, therefore, the total number of pilot holes and masonry screws you would need to install is very large.
After that you can simply drive nails into the wooden framing to attach the vinyl siding to the wall.
Should You Put Vinyl Siding over Concrete?
There are a range of materials that can be used as siding over a concrete wall. Vinyl siding is far lighter, and easier to work with than other types of siding. But, this is whether it’s a good idea to install vinyl siding over concrete.
In general, it’s a good idea to put vinyl siding over concrete. The main difference is that it’s best to install wooden framing first. Doing so provides a surface to nail the vinyl siding to. Otherwise, a much larger number of pilot holes are required to install the vinyl siding onto the concrete.
If you decide to install another type of siding you will have the same issues you have with vinyl siding. Which is, attaching it to the concrete.
Therefore, if you do want to install vinyl siding over concrete you should. As there are no drawbacks to installing vinyl concrete over vinyl siding compared to other types of siding.
What Tools Do You Need to Put Vinyl Siding Over Concrete?
There are a range of tools you will need to put vinyl siding over concrete. All of the tools required are common and easy to source. Here is what they are:
An electric drill, tape measure, spirit level (bubble level), tin snips, or a utility knife, masonry drill bit, pencil, and hammer, are required to put vinyl siding over concrete. These are required to install the wooden framing called furring and to attach the vinyl siding to the wooden framing.
Installing the wooden framing involves drilling pilot holes for each of the screws, and then screwing in what are called tapcons. These are special screws commonly used to attach wooden framing to concrete.
What Preparations Do You Need to Put Vinyl Siding over Concrete?
Before installing vinyl siding over concrete there are a few steps you need to do. While these aren’t strictly required, doing these first will mean it takes about half the time it normally would to install vinyl siding over concrete. Here is what you need to do to prepare a concrete wall before installing vinyl siding on to it.
In general, you first need to install wooden framing called furring. Each furring strip should be 1” thick by 2” wide (2.5cm by 5 cm), and attached using masonry screws or tapcons. Doing so, cuts down the work required to attach each vinyl plank to the wall considerably.
Here is a very good video that shows how to install furring onto a concrete or block wall. The metrics that you need to keep in mind are:
- Vinyl siding needs to be nailed to the wall every 16 inches (40.6 cm)
- The nails to attach vinyl siding to the wall need to penetrate ¾ of an inch (1.9 cm) deep.
Therefore, each piece of wooding furring needs to be over about 1 inch thick (2.5 cm), and need to be wide enough to allow a bit of room for error. About 2 inches (5 cm) wide or so is about right.
How to Put Vinyl Siding over Concrete
Installing vinyl siding is preferred because vinyl siding is light, easy to cut, and can easily be replaced if it gets damaged. The overall process itself is also relatively easy. Below, is a summary and full step by step instructions with videos that show how to put vinyl siding over concrete.
Overall, first install wooden framing made of what are called furring strips that are 1’ thick by 2’ wide (2.5 cm by 5 cm). After that vinyl siding can be installed into the wood frame the same way it’s installed into wooden walls.
Which is to nail each vinyl siding plank to the wooden framing every 16 inches (40.6 cm). When installing vinyl siding over concrete you have 2 options. One is to drill pilot holes and use masonry screws for each of the places where each individual plank of vinyl siding needs to be attached to the wall – every 16 inches (40.6 cm).
This is the same method used to attach vinyl siding to wood. And you don’t need to do anything different other than installing masonry screws instead of nailing it to the wood.
The other is to install a wooden framing first, which saves a lot of time. Below, I will cover the steps to attach the wooden framing and then install the vinyl siding onto the wooden framing.
1. Assemble the required materials
There are a few materials you will need to install vinyl siding over concrete. Here’s a list.
- Tapcons
- Wood for the framing
- Vinyl siding materials – F-channels, starter strip, and the vinyl siding planks
- Nails for attaching the vinyl siding to the wood framing
2. Mark out and attach the wooden framing to the concrete
Installing a wooden frame made of what are called furring strips onto concrete is a common practice. The main consideration with the wood frame is that it’s attached to the wall so that the masonry screws or tapcons penetrate deep enough into the concrete. Experienced construction contractors recommend the masonry screws or tapcons penetrate 1 to 1 ¾ of inch (2.5 cm to 4.4 cm) into the concrete.
Therefore, you need to allow this much plus the thickness of the wood. The other important thing is the strips of wood are spaced about 16 inches (40.6 cm) apart.
Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on December 24, 2022.
This is the distance along each vinyl plank where they should be nailed or screwed into the wooden framing underneath.
3. Install the vinyl F-channels and starter strip
As you may know, the F-channels are located along the sides of where the individual vinyl planks are installed. And are where the end pieces clip into place. These need to be installed before installing each vinyl siding plank.
There is also a starter strip which is different to the vinyl siding planks. It is installed on the bottom, and provides a place to put the first vinyl plank.
It’s best to see the entire process for installing vinyl siding so you can see how this is done. Here is a very in depth video from the Vinyl Siding Institute that shows how to install vinyl siding start to finish.
4. Attach each vinyl siding plank starting from the bottom
Finally, each vinyl siding plank is installed starting from the bottom. The end piece of an individual row of vinyl siding will need to be cut to fit using a utility knife, tin snips, or heavy duty scissors. Refer to the instructions shown in the video above that shows how to attach the vinyl siding planks to the wall.
In general, you install vinyl siding into concrete. However, construction contractors recommend first installing a wooden frame made of furring strips. Otherwise, it’s a lot more work to drill pilot holes where the vinyl planks need to be attached to the concrete using screws.
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ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on December 24, 2022.