# Why the bottom j-channel?



## bob22 (May 28, 2008)

I may be installing an entry door into a wall leading from patio into laundry room.
In picture below, the siding at bottom was installed into a j-channel from what I can see. The right side of pic is wall of adjoining kitchen and they didn't use a j-channel.







Since I may end up having to reside the side where the door will go (I'm sure to bust up some panels and since 20 years old, color will never match), does anyone think I would need to use j-channel to reinstall? 
Any idea why they might have used it there?
Thanks!


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Siding requires either a starter strip, or a J channel to be there, because how else are you going to attach the bottom?

It is anybody's guess why the crew would start two adjoining walls differently.

And if this is 20 years old there is very little chance to match colors, and very likely that you are going to break a lot of it taking it off.


ED


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## mako1 (Jan 7, 2014)

Don't see why they used J on that wall in place of starter strip but it's not needed from what I can see in the pic.Starter would have been fine.


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## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

bob22 said:


> Since I may end up having to reside the side where the door will go (I'm sure to bust up some panels and since 20 years old, color will never match), does anyone think I would need to use j-channel to reinstall?
> Any idea why they might have used it there?
> Thanks!


First of all, DO NOT bust up any panels, you're going to need them! 20 years old or not it's not that difficult to remove panels without destroying them if you just use a little TLC. :smile:

As far as why they used J-channel there...who knows, they might have just ran out of starter strip and cheaped out because they had plenty of J.


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## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

Looks like that panel is cut shorter as well.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Since it's white it's far more likely the old and new siding will match close enough no one but you will notice.
And Wash is right they cut that bottom piece to get the laps to match up in the inside corner.
J molding will act like a mini gutter and run the water into the corners, which is a bad thing.


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## craig11152 (Jun 20, 2015)

joecaption said:


> J molding will act like a mini gutter and run the water into the corners, which is a bad thing.


I never did much siding, just a lot-o-roofing but I did a few siding jobs over the years. I drilled a few holes in the bottom of J channel in my day to try and get some drainage in certain situations. Something like that would have been one of them.


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## carpdad (Oct 11, 2010)

It's possible the slab slopes up and the siding had to be cut to maintain the clearance (more for looks). You should clean and caulk the gap between the slab and the foundation. Keep water out of there.


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