Warped/Buckled Vinyl Siding
Written by Todd Fratzel. 
Vinyl Siding – Causes of Warping and Buckling
We’ve received several emails recently asking why their vinyl siding is warping and buckling. Warped and buckled vinyl siding is one of the most common results of improper installation. If you’re vinyl siding looks like the sample photo then you need to read this article.
What Causes Warped or Buckled Vinyl Siding?
Vinyl Siding Should “Hang” From The Wall
Vinyl siding may look like wood lap siding but it definitely should not be installed the same way! Vinyl siding is actually designed to hang from the fasteners so that it can easily move from side to side as it expands and contracts due to thermal expansion. If the nails that support vinyl siding are driven “home” they prevent the siding from moving and the result is shown in the photo.
Is Your Vinyl Siding Nailed To Tight?
If you suspect your vinyl siding is having a problem you can easily test it to see if it’s been installed improperly. Without taking apart your siding you should be able to grab ahold of a siding panel and move it from side to side about 1/4 to 1/2 inch fairly easily. If you can’t move the panel then it was probably nailed to tightly. As you can see in the adjacent photo the nails should not be fully driven “home”. If you notice the head of the nail is not even touching the surface of the nailing hem.
Can Buckled / Warped Vinyl Siding Be Fixed?
Unfortunately most vinyl siding cannot be fixed once it buckles. Buckled or warped vinyl siding will hold the that shape forever in most cases. To fix the problem the damaged pieces must be removed and replaced. This is one reason that it’s a very good idea to save extra pieces of siding when you build a new home or have a new siding job done.
Final Thoughts
If you’re having new siding installed on your home take the time to inspect the nailing. Ask your contractor how they like to install the siding and be sure it move freely. It’s much easier to confront this problem while they are still on site instead a year down the road on a hot summers day with buckled siding!
Related posts:
- Installing Vinyl Siding During The Winter
- Vinyl Siding Leaks – Period!
- Install A Flag Pole Bracket On Vinyl Siding
- Certainteed Vinyl Siding
- Vinyl Beadboard Soffit for Porch Ceilings
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Great article about siding. Very informative. Thanks!
We had to get new siding once the house next door to ours burned down and the heat warped one side of our house. Our insurance paid for all new siding, we signed with a contractor who installed $16,000 worth of siding in May, then one year later in July, I noticed it was severely warping on the corners. The installer blamed the product and manufacturers rep came out and blamed it on “window glare” since we have several large windows out back and our house faces south west.
I’m at a loss of what to do. Our insurance people say that they can’t do anything as we picked the contractor. How in the world can I resolve this? Is there something to put on the windows so it doesn’t happen again, should we choose to patch that one side??!
Carrie – Obviously without seeing it I can’t tell you what happened. However, there’s no way in my opinion that window glare caused it. Vinyl siding buckles when it’s installed incorrectly…nothing more…nothing less. This is not a manufacturer issue..it’s INSTALLATION. I’d bet money that the nails are too tight. I would call a reputable siding company and ask them to come out and inspect the installation. Ask them to check how tight the nails are. If they tell you it’s too tight, get an estimate from them to fix it. Then call the old installer, show him what you’ve got and ask him how he wants to resolve it. If he’s a reputable contractor he’ll stand up for his work. If not…well…hate to say it but you know what your next action would be.
I had new vinyl siding installed on my home because of damage done by a tornado.
the siding was delivered and I felt it was not as good grade as the original and i told the contractor that.
I searched the intenet on grades of vinyl siding and with my limited ability i guess I just couldnt find anything to advise me and I let the man go ahead and install the siding tho i felt it was inferior to what I had.
the contractor convinced me, it took him a long time to do it but he beat me up with his words and his superior attitude and he swore to me with Gods name that it was the same quality as what i had.
I kept the old siding and I installed it on the sides of my back porch.
As I was installing the old siding to the porch, I ran short a bit and I found a peice of the new siding by my house. I used that one peice to finish up the side of the south side of my porch.
A few days later I was sitting on my porch in the morning and I was looking at the siding from the inside of the porch. The old siding totally blocked out the sun, but the one new peice of siding allowed me to even see the limbs of a tree as it swayed in the wind. I had my grandson go and hold up his hand over the new siding and i could see it plainly.
The old siding that was originally on the house totally blocked the sun. The new siding was hardly more than a gray bed sheet hung there and I know that this means loss of energy to the house, especially since my home is in an area where it gets direct sun to the south and west of the house.
I contaced the contractor and he wrote me a letter that would burn your skin to touch it.
Also the vinyl is warping in the sun, and he told me while using Gods name that if it did he would come back with a crew of men and take it down and put it up right.
I had none of this in writing and he denies any responsibility for this.
I intend to take him to court over this. Small claims. I need some type of vertification that the grade of vinyl is inferior to the old that I originally had and that he wrote on the estimate that he installed the same quality to the house.
No one in my area seems to understand what “totally blocks the sun” means, compared to opaque and what that involves.
Can you help me.?
Im a grandma who retired to this part of the county for my old age and it is eating me alive to know that this man made such a huge amount of money on this (insurance) job and that I have this inferior siding on my home.
pat gatley
1909 hwy 48 s
centerville tn 37033
931 7299437
please respond..
Pat – Sorry to hear your story. I recommend either speaking with another local contractor or local attorney. Most vinyl siding comes in a few standard “thicknesses” which typically associate with a good, better, best type of things for siding. Typically 0.040″ is a basic “contractor grade” siding or “GOOD”. 0.046″ is a really decent upgrade which performs very well or “BETTER” while some siding can be purchased up to 0.055″ which is a premium grade or “BEST” type. It would be very easy for you to have someone measure the thickness of the two types using calipers to determine the existing vs new siding thickness.
We installed new siding on our house a year ago. My husband and father did the installation. The north and east sides of our house are beautiful; however the south and west sides which get direct sun have warped. When my husband went to replace the siding on the west side the nails literally fell out when he lifted the siding. The nails were hardly nailed in anymore. Would the buckling and warping cause the nails to pull out? He did replace the siding using longer nails and making sure that the siding shifted appropriately and the warping happened again. Is this because of direct sunlight? We are so frustrated and don’t want to spend anymore money if it’s going to happen again. Any help would be appreciated. The siding was TimberCrest 4.5″. Thank you!
Amanda
ps-the grade of our siding is .046
Amanda – There are several issues that can cause siding warping. They include:
- Improper nailing (Basically nailing too tight or nails tight against one side of the slot).
- Siding too tight at trim and / or splices. Siding must have a gap at window and door trim and also at the splice so that it can move. Every time I’ve seen buckled siding it’s due to one of those reasons. There is VERY LITTLE forgiveness so it’s extremely important to look at each of those details and be certain the panel can slide from side to side easily.
What color is the siding?
if siding buckles and is starting to ripple will that effect the struture of house at all
Sparkle – No….it’s just a sign of poor siding installation in 99% of the cases.
Todd for a professional you should do more research. Let me provide you with some.
Not all siding buckling and warping is from poor installation. In 2008 new darker colors were introduced to the vinyl world and now two to three years laters these dark siding colors are buckling and warping due to heat attraction that they draw from direct sunlight. You can have the best installer in the world and it will buckle and warp. Do yourself a favor if you have walls that get direct sunlight for extended hours during the summertime and you get temps over 90 degrees then put a lighter color vinyl siding. You will be glad you did.
I actually disagree with you Shane. We have several homes with dark gray siding, good quality, 0.046″ thickness, with no buckling at all. While darker colors pose a challenge there are two issues to think about.
1. Choose a good quality siding product with a thickness of 0.046″ or greater.
2. Pay VERY close attention to the installation.
What research would you have me do? The fact is dark colors can be used if you know what you’re doing.
Sir, I have very limited income and the siding on my house buckles terribly and there was no house wrap installed under it– so I am planning to buy a yellow color siding from home depot for 167 per 22sqft and install it myself do you think it is good enough quality
Also, if my house living space is 1250sqft, does that mean I need 1250 sqft of siding
Chester – Sounds like the previous install job was done poorly. Installing a proper house wrap and installing the siding correctly will certainly make a big difference.
Siding quality is generally based on thickness. The thicker the siding the less it will buckle and the better it typically looks. Inexpensive siding is generally about 0.038 inch thick. Good quality siding is typically 0.046 inch thick.
The real key is installing it correctly. If you’ve never done it before it can be quite challenging to do it correctly without some guidance.
You’ll need to calculate the area of the exterior walls. A house that is 1250 sq ft living space will have a lot more siding than that.