TrueLine Siding Works · Biswell Flats, Tarkio Gap & the dryland edge · Gauge-sheet installers since 2011
Every board on the line. Every line on the sheet.
TrueLine hangs siding the way the manufacturer drew it in the manual: 5/16″ fiber cement blind-nailed to a checked gauge, engineered wood primed and sprayed in two site coats, wrap lapped and cap-nailed, a 10 mm rain-screen gap so the wall dries from both faces. The gauge sheet is taped to the wall of every job we run — because a warranty audit measures to it, and so do we.
780 dryland hangs since 2011 · 130 mph wind rating standard · five-year labor warranty in writing on every quote
Measured, not marketed
The spec sheet
Straight rates
The rate sheet, printed
Rates off last season’s closed jobs across the flats — walls measured flat, openings counted, and the only way the number moves is if you change the board.
Hardie lap, ColorPlus installed$8.95–11.40 / sq ft
5/16″ fiber cement, 6.25″ or 7.25″ exposure, blind-nailed, 30-year factory finish
LP SmartSide, painted on site$7.20–8.60 / sq ft
Treated strand core, primed, two sprayed coats, cuts like lumber
Vertical board & battenfrom $8.75 / sq ft
Panel field with batten seams, vented gable panels, cement corners
Trim & casing package$9–13 / lin ft
4/4 and 5/4 cement boards, joints left at 3/16″ and sealed
Soffit & fascia runs$10–15 / lin ft
Ventilated cement or aluminum soffit, wrapped fascia, wasp-blocked
Wrap, flash & rain-screen$1.85 / sq ft
House-wrap lapped and taped, integrated flashings, 10 mm battens
01
The gauge, explained
Blind-nailed means the fastener enters the nail hem and disappears under the course above — set flush, never through the face, spaced to the maker’s table for a 130 mph wind rating. Ours are checked with a spacing block every course, not every wall.
02
The gap that dries the wall
Ten millimetres of air between wrap and siding, held by vertical battens and screened at the weeps. Water that beats the face drains out the bottom; the wall dries from both sides. Half the crews on the flats skip it — walk a TrueLine job and put a finger in it.
03
The joint that does not crack
Butt joints are cut clean, left open at 3/16″ and sealed with a permanently flexible caulk, the width the manual draws. Butted tight, the joint cannot move — and a dryland season moves everything.
The method
Four stations, one crew
Measure, twice
Walls measured flat, openings counted, the order cut to your ColorPlus or paint code. The fixed quote is issued before anything is ordered.
Close it in
Tear-off wall by wall, sheathing repaired, wrap lapped, taped, cap-nailed, flashed. Watertight by nightfall, every night.
Hang the line
Starter to a laser, blind-nailed on gauge, the gauge sheet taped to the job wall. Corners, casing and soffit follow the walls up.
Walk it once
Magnet sweep, touch-up kit, both warranties registered the same week. The gauge sheet goes home with you, signed.
2025 — 2026
The proof wall
The gauge-sheet guarantee
If any course we hang fails a gauge check inside five years — fastening, flashing, sealing or caulk — we re-hang the course free. The sheet we taped to the job wall is the standard we answer to, with your signature on it and ours.
Why it reads like a spec
Manual-correct, on purpose
Every siding maker publishes an install manual, and half of what fails at year eight is in it: the overlay someone talked themselves into, the tight butt joint, the missing gap. TrueLine installs to the manual because the manual is the warranty’s fine print — and we would rather be boring than creative at your expense.
They taped the gauge sheet to my garage wall and left it there. Six weeks later my brother-in-law the builder measured three courses out of curiosity and found them dead on. He asked who hung it — that is the whole review.
The neighbors watched them check every course with that little spacing block, and now two more houses on the street have followed. The quote was the quote, to the dollar, and the gauge sheet is still in my filing cabinet.
Hail total in August, TrueLine on the ladder by Thursday with the scope in the adjuster’s format. Full south elevation in the original profile before the first frost — no supplements, no surprise invoice.
I asked them to side over the old Masonite and they refused — politely, twice, with the manual open to the page. Tear-off found rot I am glad is gone. That refusal was the best thing about the whole job.
Read before you call
Why won’t you side over my existing siding?
Because the manual forbids it for a reason: overlays trap moisture against the sheathing and void the fastener schedule. We tear off to bare sheathing, repair what we find, and wrap — the only wall we will put our name and warranty behind.
Hardie or LP on the dryland edge?
Full sun and wind argue for cement: no swelling, no termites, a 30-year factory finish. Sheltered streets can run engineered wood honestly — it cuts like lumber, paints beautifully and costs less. We quote both and hang both; the wall decides, not the margin.
What do you check with the gauge?
Exposure — how much of each board shows, 6.25″ or 7.25″ as ordered; fastener placement and count per the wind table; and joint width, 3/16″ and sealed. It takes thirty seconds a course, and it is the difference between a warranty claim that pays and one that is declined.
Do you paint, or is it pre-finished?
Both, honestly priced. ColorPlus is baked on at the factory and carries thirty years against chalking and fading. Site paint is two sprayed coats over primed board in any color you can mix. On the west face we lean factory; in the shelter of the street, the deck.
How long, and what if it rains?
Two to three weeks for a whole house, weather permitting. The wrap goes on before the boards, so rain meets the tape, not the sheathing — and the calendar prints storm days in as buffer, so a delay is a phone call, not a surprise.
Gauge sheets archived seven years · spring calendar opens in March · (555) 032-6690 · shop@truelineworks.example
Get the sheet on your wall
Town, wall age, and what the weather has been doing to it. The measure is free, the quote is fixed, and the gauge sheet comes with the job. shop@truelineworks.example