Re-siding an older two-story house
Siding · 6 min read ·
Re-siding a two-story house comes down to reach and order: get safe access to the upper wall, strip and wrap, side from the bottom up, and save the gables for last. Our June 2026 crews ran it exactly that way.
Reach comes first
A one-story house can be sided off a stepladder. A two-story house cannot, and how the crew reaches the top course shapes the whole schedule. On the gray two-story house we set staging along the long wall on June 9 so the crew had a steady place to stand at the upper courses.
Other houses call for other access. On the HomeGuard house that July, the crew worked off ladders and the porch roof to wrap and side around the second-floor windows.
Strip it and see what is underneath
Older houses tend to keep surprises under the siding. On the Tyvek-wrapped house in June 2026, the old siding came off and went into piles in the yard, and behind it was the original painted wood clapboard, weathered gray and peeling.
You usually do not know what you have until it is open. That is one reason we look at the house in person before pricing, and why the signs your siding is due are worth knowing before you call.
Wrap, then work from the foundation up
With the walls bare, the house gets wrapped. Both June houses went into Tyvek HomeWrap before any new siding; our house wrap note explains what that layer is for.
New siding then starts at the foundation and climbs. With most lap siding, each course hooks onto or laps over the one below, so starting straight at the bottom keeps the whole wall straight at the top. On the gray two-story house the siding had reached the second-floor windows by June 11.
Working around what is on the wall
Older houses collect things on their walls: the electric service, meters, lights, an air-conditioning unit at the base. On the gray two-story house we fitted the new siding around the electric service rather than leaving a patch of old wall behind it.
Porch roofs are the other common obstacle. The siding has to tuck in neatly where a lower roof meets the wall, which is slow, fussy work done from the roof itself.
Gable ends last
The gable ends are the triangles of wall under the roof peaks, and they are the highest siding on the house. On the gray two-story house they came last, sided all the way up under the soffit.
We had a trim brake set up in the yard for that stretch so trim could be bent on site to fit. More on that finish work is in our window and gable trim note.
Getting your house on the list
Schaub and Sons has worked out of Kittanning since 2019 and re-sides houses across the area, from Ford City about 3 miles south to New Kensington about 21 miles southwest. Tell us about your house through the siding quote form.
We call you back, come look at the walls and how high they go, and give a final price after the visit.
Questions
How do contractors reach the second story when re-siding a house?
Contractors reach the second story with staging, ladders, or by working off a lower roof. On a June 2026 two-story house, Schaub and Sons set staging along the long wall so the crew could reach the upper courses. On a July 2026 job, the crew worked from ladders and the porch roof to side around the second-floor windows.
What order is a two-story house re-sided in?
A two-story house is usually re-sided in this order: set staging or ladders for access, remove the old siding where needed, wrap the walls in house wrap, install new siding from the foundation up, trim the windows as the courses reach them, then side the gable ends last. Schaub and Sons followed that order on its June 2026 jobs.
Can new siding be installed around an electric meter and service?
Yes. New siding can be fitted around an electric service and meter so the whole wall gets covered. On a June 2026 two-story house, Schaub and Sons fitted the new gray siding around the electric service on the wall instead of leaving a patch of old siding behind it. Anything on the wall gets reviewed during the site visit.
What is a trim brake used for on a siding job?
A trim brake is a tool for bending flat trim material into shapes that fit a specific house, such as window surrounds, corners and gable edges. A trim brake lets a siding crew make trim on site to match the real measurements. Schaub and Sons had a trim brake set up in the yard during a June 2026 two-story re-side.
