How to Remove Aluminum Siding in One Day

Before starting, lay down some drop cloths or plastic. As you work and the siding comes off, so will paint chips and other debris collected throughout the decades. The drop cloths help protect your landscaping from these icky materials. While you are at it, make sure to wear thick work gloves. Aluminum siding pieces are extremely sharp and cause injury if mishandled. 

Next, take a peek under a few areas of the siding to see what’s going on. There’s no need for the pry bar yet. Just use your gloved hand and peel back a tiny portion of the corner in two or three spots. There’s a chance, for instance, you may have asbestos siding. If you encounter this type of siding underneath the aluminum, run, don’t walk, and grab a heavy-duty face mask. This will also alert you to any damage to the structure of your home, allowing you to plan later repairs accordingly. If you plan on reusing the siding, giving it away, or selling it, make sure you are gentle during this phase and only peel back a tiny bit at the corner. 

Keep those gloves on as aluminum siding is sharper than cheddar. Start removing the interlocking pieces of siding by finding a corner on the outermost edge near the top of the space. Use the siding removal tool and go in underneath the bottom to unhook these interlocking pieces. Once unhooked, gently pull each piece out with your hand if you want to preserve the integrity of the siding pieces. Otherwise, keep at it with the siding removal tool and a pair of pliers, bending at will. Aluminum nails that connect the siding to the original exterior should pull out as you work, but you won’t get all of them at this point. 

If you’re removing the entire siding, start from the top and work your way down. If you encounter nails that make removal difficult, get rid of them with the back of a hammer, a pry bar, or those same pliers. Generally speaking, siding pieces are nailed across the top of each piece and the bottom hooks into the piece below it, thus the term “interlocking.” 

You likely removed a handful of nails to get the siding pieces off, but there are more nails to remove. Find these nails in the corners resting in little channels that the aluminum slotted into. Pry them using your preferred method. Also, return to any nails that didn’t pull out with the siding. Once finished with this arduous task, run a magnet on the ground to pick up these nails so you don’t step on them later. 

In some cases, the exterior trim, soffits, and fascia is wrapped in the aluminum. Open eaves, in particular, are often covered during the original installation and turned into something resembling aluminum soffits. Each panel attaches to the J-channel via a few small nails. Use the claw side of a hammer and yank out these nails and pull the aluminum off. Do the same for any remaining aluminum wrapped around the trim and fascia. 

If your siding contractor did a good job back in the day, there should be some insulation nestled between the aluminum and the rest of the exterior. This is typically ½-inch thick styrofoam or another form of rigid insulation. It’s hard to miss and, thankfully, easy to remove. This type of insulation is inherently fragile, so just rip it off with a gloved hand. If the insulation was nailed in with, say, fat headed roofing nails, go over the area with pliers, a hammer, or a nail pry bar.