How to Install Black Paper Under Siding
- 1). Measure your exterior wall length. Add 2 or 3 inches to your measurements to allow for error. Excess felt paper is easy to trim off once it is installed but hard to replace if you are mere inches from the end of the wall.
- 2). Unroll your felt paper, which comes in a large roll like fabric, on a clean, flat surface. Keep track of the way each row of paper unwinds. The surface that faces down to the ground (which is the side that faces out on the roll) goes against the exterior wall sheathing, and the inside surface of the roll goes out toward the elements. This is important because moisture permeability must allow the wetness to travel out, not in. Flipping the wrong side out would result in water traveling into the wall instead.
- 3). Cut the felt paper using a straightedge and a utility knife. Make each successive piece of felt paper similarly.
- 4). Hold the felt paper up to the house, aligning the paper so the bottom of the first row extends a couple of inches onto the foundation and the beginning corner is totally covered. Any gap allows an opening for moisture, so it's better to have a slight overhang than not enough.
- 5). Secure the felt paper to the sheathing underneath using a staple gun or roofing nails. Attach every 12 to 18 inches along the length of felt paper with about 4 nails or staples vertically in each location.
- 6). Hang each additional row, working from the bottom to the top. Overlap rows vertically about 2 inches; felt paper typically has a line running the length of the paper which you can use to guide your overhang if you attach the paper with this line up.
- 7). Cut the paper when you come to doors and windows, leaving enough paper to slide the edges underneath the trim. Continue with a fresh sheet of builder's paper on the other side of the opening. Treat corner boards and trim at the top of the house similarly, slipping the paper underneath.
Source...