Fixing your house’s exterior. Fill a small crack in clapboard with caulking compound. Wedge apart a larger split with two or three screwdrivers. Use a putty knife to work resorcinol glue along the split’s edges. Press the split shut and nail the board’s lower edge. Use galvanized or aluminum nails. Set them; fill the holes with putty.
Replacing damaged clapboard Mark the section to be replaced. If there is no sheathing below, mark along the centers of the studs. Drive wedges under the lower edge of the section to separate it from the board below. Cut the board with a hacksaw. Then split it out with a wood chisel and hammer. Be careful not to damage other boards or the building paper below.
Drive the wedges under the board above. Then slip a hacksaw blade under it and cut the nails holding the remaining overlapped part of the cut board. Chisel out the part. Replace damaged building paper or fix it with roofing cement. Caulk the cut edges of the opening. Drive in a new board, using a hammer and a protective wood block. Nail it along the bottom and through the board above.
Shingles and shakes
Nail down either side of a cracked shingle; slip building paper under a wide crack first. To replace a warped or badly damaged shingle, cut the nails by slipping a hacksaw blade under it and the shingles above. Split out the shingle with a wood chisel; pull out the cut nails. Slip in a matching new shingle. Trim the lower edge, if necessary. Nail it in place.