How to Repair Wood Siding in 7 Steps

Before repairing holes or cracks in your wood siding, use a paint scraper or putty knife to remove loose paint and any debris that’s accumulated on the siding around the damaged area. Sand down the wood to give yourself a smooth surface to work with.

If you have woodpecker holes in your siding, cracks in the wood siding boards, or other holes, use paintable or stainable wood filler, latex caulk, or wood epoxy applied with a putty knife to fill the hole or crack.

If the siding has a large hole two to four inches in diameter that needs to be filled, use a hole saw to remove around the hole on the damaged board and cut a corresponding piece from a replacement board. Use wood filler to put the replacement section into the damaged board and apply a thin layer of filler over the patch.

If the damage is more extensive than a hole or crack and you need to replace larger sections of siding, use an oscillating saw to make vertical cuts on either side of the damaged area. Using a pry bar, gently pry the siding away from the exterior wall, taking care not to damage the surface underneath the siding. Carefully remove any nails with a claw hammer or the pry bar. Repeat this process for any additional damaged boards.

If the damage is extensive, the sheathing underneath the siding may also be damaged. Inspect the area under the removed boards to see if the sheathing is intact. If you need to replace the rotted wood under the siding, you may need to call a qualified siding professional, since a larger section of siding may need to be removed to make the necessary repairs. 

Using the removed pieces of siding as a guide, use a circular saw to cut the correct size replacement boards. Install the new wood siding using ring shank nails, hammering them into the existing nail holes on the sheathing. Use wood filler or caulk to fill in the nail holes and seal the edges of the replacement board.

Whether you’ve filled in holes or cracks or replaced a section of siding, you’ll need to sand the surface to smooth out the filler and create an even surface to paint or stain. Be sure to check the manufacturer’s instructions to give the filler or caulk enough time to fully cure before sanding and staining or painting—this may take up to 12 hours or more before you can move on to this step. 

Using a paint brush or roller, paint or stain the repaired section of siding to match the rest. This is also a good time to touch up any chipped or faded paint elsewhere on your siding.