Hanging your Siding
Yes thats right you are Hanging the siding not nailing it to the side of the home. All siding materials whether they be made of wood, vinyl or cement products like Hardy Siding have an expansion and contraction factor.
In wood siding this is cured by using a lap / joint when butting the pieces of siding together. Vinyl siding also has that built in Lap joint that you can see on the ends of each piece but because vinyl is a uniform material without a grain or growth pattern it will also expand and contract in vertical directions.
For this reason it is important to install the siding so it is secure but also slightly loose. When you hammer your nails into the slotted holes on the siding you want to be able to slide the siding left and right a small amount maybe a 1/4″ so you should always try to center the nails in the slots and you should not take that last swing with the hammer to drive the head of the nail into the wall. It should be loose and able to move but secure and not able to flap around. About a 1/16″ to 1/8th of an inch play between the head of the nail and the vinyl is probably good.
The best practice is to snug the bottom lip of the piece you are attaching into the top bead of the previous row of siding then double check level with a 2 foot carpenters level.
Nail the top tab strip once every other or every third hole. Nails should be about 8″ on center but no more then a foot apart. Around Doors, Windows and other items you may want to put a nail in every opening.
If you hammer the nails in too tight or too loose you will end up having buckles when the Sun hits the side of your home. I’m sure you can go into any development and notice at least a few homes that seem to get wavy walls in the summer or winter.