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There is a nor'Easter coming today. What's a quick fix? My first home and just closed a few days ago! Help please.

The hole is 8 inches in diameter or so.

isherwood
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DIYgal
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    Just shove an old towel in the holes.. Helps stop the wind getting under... – Solar Mike Oct 10 '19 at 10:58
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    I like the towel idea mike has, but I would put it inside a trash bag to prevent water absorbing. Or get foam sealer – UnhandledExcepSean Oct 10 '19 at 11:01
  • The hole is big -8 inches in diameter or so. What type of foam sealer is easy to use and remove once I'm ready to call over a repair guy? I'm afraid I'll cause more damage than already is. How urgent is it to cover this hole? I might need to get off from work to do this. I'm surprised previous owners haven't done anything about it. – DIYgal Oct 10 '19 at 11:09
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    Just duct tape it over... – JACK Oct 10 '19 at 12:09
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    If you can find a bucket the right size, or similar (yogurt or sour cream container for the smaller ones, perhaps) you can jam those into the hole for a quick patch. – Ecnerwal Oct 10 '19 at 15:50
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    Old towels and duct tape seem like an invitation to a mid-storm party in the rain when your tape sloughs off and the towel becomes saturated, wicking water into your house. – isherwood Oct 10 '19 at 16:42
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    why are the holes there? And are they really **8 inches** (that's a really big hole to just have in the side of the house... never mind 3 of them)??? If they really are that big, have you made sure there are no squirrels/raccoons/yellow jackets or other assorted critters living in the wall cavity? – Z4-tier Oct 12 '19 at 05:49
  • Just a note: the holes look 8 **centimeters** in diameter, not inches – Astrogator Oct 15 '19 at 15:38

9 Answers9

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I would procure a sheet of aluminum or steel (available at home improvement and hardware stores), fold a suitable hem at the bottom, and slide it up behind both courses of siding (above and below the holes). Friction will probably keep it in place for the short term, but you could dab some silicone behind to lock it in.

|  |<-- upper siding course
|  |  __
|  |||  |
|__|||  |<-- lower siding course
    ||  |
    ||x |
    ||x | <-- hole location
    ||x |
    ||  |
    ||__||
    |____|<-- hemmed sheet

If you fit this well and paint it it could actually be a finished repair. Insulate behind first. Keep in mind that the top edge of the sheet will be exposed in the siding gap above, so you might seal that with caulk or lap another sheet all the way up to and behind the course above.

isherwood
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    Best answer. The simplified version is forget the hem and just nail it to hold the sheet in place. Not even sure why you suggest the hem - looks like a water trap. – Fresh Codemonger Oct 10 '19 at 16:28
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    The hem secures the bottom edge against wind and bending in the case of a permanent repair situation (and looks much better than a cut edge). Weep holes could be provided. Note that this siding (fibercement, maybe) has no exposed nails. Using them may violate the terms of the warranty. – isherwood Oct 10 '19 at 16:35
  • The width of the shingles appears too irregular for fiber cement and one near the disconnect appears to have a vertical crack that follows grain. Also quite difficult to drill a round hole in fiber cement without being crazy careful - the holes look too good. If fiber cement these could easily be high in asbestos content. If you can't nail the piece of flashing in then I'd just PL premium it. I can't see the wind pulling the nailed or glued flashing out. – Fresh Codemonger Oct 10 '19 at 16:50
  • I agree this would be a permanent fix, I was going for a quick patch job since the op needed it done right away.+ – Ed Beal Oct 10 '19 at 19:17
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    I wouldn't fold the metal flashing to a "J" shape -- a simple "L" shape would provide enough stiffness for the bottom edge. – Dave Tweed Oct 11 '19 at 15:25
  • The J at the bottom holds the patch securely to the wall, just like almost any maintenance-free siding panel does. Without that you have to nail or adhere the sheet to the siding and you're left with a cut edge at the bottom. – isherwood Oct 11 '19 at 20:13
  • I understand the fix that @isherwood provided and did upvote it. He has a more permanent fix than I suggested and have used similar to fix asbestos shingles with thin sheet metal so I did not have to drill , nail or otherwise damage asbestos shingles that could be a health hazard. A few dabs of calking and no nails would work but may take longer to set up than the op asked for!!! Just saying it is a good long term plan! – Ed Beal Oct 12 '19 at 22:04
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I would use a pice of plastic like from a binder and slip it up under the upper shingle and tape it for a temporary quick fix. I would not use a towel as any moisture that gets on the towel will be wicked inside. If you don’t have a binder or a thin piece of plastic , cover a piece of card board with a trash bag and slip it under the upper shingle. These are both quick fixes that should act like a shingle until you can replace that one. Not trying to scare you but is that asbestos shingles? If a newer home mid 70’s or newer it may be a cement type product it did not look like wood to me.

Ed Beal
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  • Rain has probably been getting in there already... but stopping the wind ripping all the tiles off is probaly a good idea... – Solar Mike Oct 10 '19 at 15:31
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I would buy the similar 8 inch vents that were removed, insulate them properly to match wall insulation, and install as dummy vents.

Daniel Griscom
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Ken Potts
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  • Hello, and welcome to Home Improvement. Thanks for the answer; I edited it a bit to make it clearer. And, you should probably [take our tour](//diy.stackexchange.com/tour) so you'll know how best to contribute here. – Daniel Griscom Oct 12 '19 at 11:07
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For the smaller holes you could buy a piece of PVC and stick it in there and then glue a cap to it. Then exterior caulk and you're done. This way, if you need the holes afterward, you just cut the caulk back and pull the pipe out. They look small enough you might be able to make do with one of the 2' sections they sell at your local hardware store.

The larger hole could be temporarily covered with 6 mil plastic. I wouldn't try a trash bag against strong winds. 6 mil plastic sheeting is fairly easy to find in most areas.

Machavity
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I would clean the surface and just use enough powertape (the silver one that's 5cm/2in wide) to cover the holes. That should withstand the wind and percipation if you get a quality one. At the same time, insulate from heat losses from the inside by any clothy material (if heat sinking could be an issue e.g. because of beds or office desks close to the hole on the inside.

yo'
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Lol, get shingles from a lumber yard, match the paint

Oh, noreaster today. Yeah, slide a sheet of plastic under the upper shingle, duct tape it down

user107966
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    Hello, and welcome to Home Improvement. Thanks for the answer; keep 'em coming. And, you should probably [take our tour](//diy.stackexchange.com/tour) so you'll know how best to contribute here. – Daniel Griscom Oct 11 '19 at 00:17
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    That's shingle (style) siding, there @isherwood, I'd ass-u-me he's talking about wooden shingles. Of course, one never knows... – FreeMan Oct 11 '19 at 20:11
  • Freeman did you look at the pics? They look like asbestos or possibly cement based shingles , just saying there are possible issues and easy short term fixes. – Ed Beal Oct 12 '19 at 22:10
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Spray foam hole piece of aluminum for outside and a piece of drywall on the inside or repair patch Home Depot sells it all.

Don
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    Hello, and welcome to Home Improvement. It's a bit hard to understand what you mean; would you clarify by editing your answer? And, you should probably [take our tour](//diy.stackexchange.com/tour) so you'll know how best to contribute here. – Daniel Griscom Oct 11 '19 at 19:42
  • Spray foam takes hours to set up but a piece of metal under the upper shingle is similar to what I suggested. – Ed Beal Oct 12 '19 at 22:08
  • Spray foam from a can sets under an hour in most cases, but it's in no way waterproof. You'd want to caulk the metal cover. – isherwood Oct 14 '19 at 13:08
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I would stuff a kitchen towel in the hole, then take a flat piece of plastic, like a gallon size zip-lock bag and duct tape it around the hole. The duct tape will leave a residue when you remove it, so if you can use a lower strength that would be idea.

raterus
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    I can't put that much reliance on "lower strength" duct tape in a rain storm. I'd say you have a 50/50 chance it'll still be there when the sun comes out even if you use the heavy duty stuff. Water tends to release it fairly effectively. – isherwood Oct 10 '19 at 15:52
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step one in fill the hole with insulation. step 2 in fill with plywood. step 3 use ziptape sctrech to complete the seal. step 4 replace piece of siding. the correct way to repair and exterior opening.

kenneth santos
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