I am building a new house with a ICF basement and a 2X4 wall 1 st floor. The 1st floor walls will have cellulose insulation on the inside and 1 1/2" rigid foam and 1/2" sheating on the outside. What would be the best fastener for the vinyl siding?

Either 2-1/2" galvanized roofing nails or ring shank nails should work fine. Do not drive the nails tight against the siding - the siding should hang from the nails but still allow lateral movement for thermal expansion and contraction.

Here is link discussing fasteners and installation:

http://www.vinylsiding.org/INSTALLATION/faqs/index.asp

I lived in a new house that had vinyl siding.  Twice daily popping noises that I think were caused by the nails being too tight.  Another problem was that yard crews weed eated through the lowest piece of siding.  Moral of this story.  Follow installation instructions and keep the vinyl siding up away from the ground or do not allow grass to be up next the the walls.

Thank You for your replies. We will not have grass. We had the trees cleared for our house chipped and will use the wood chips as a ground cover.

Posted By truchanj on 19 Sep 2011 05:18 PM
Thank You for your replies. We will not have grass. We had the trees cleared for our house chipped and will use the wood chips as a ground cover.

Not a good idea to use wood chips next to the foundation of a new house. The dirt next to the house is going to settle and the wood chips will disguse the problem. When I look at a home I pull back the wood chips or rocks and find a drainage issue on many homes.