How Far Should Soil Be From Siding

I ve never owned a house.

How far should soil be from siding. Leave a 1 2 gap from the top of the edging to keep mulch from touching the siding. The further the better. Measure the distance from the soil line to the bottom of the siding on the exterior of the house. For years literally i ve had it in my head that the soil level should be 4 inches below the brick on a slab on grade home and if there is wood siding the soil should be 6 inches.

I m interested in this one but i noticed some of the siding is soft near the bottom. Any clearance is better than none. Use commercial grade metal edging for drip edges. The wood is not sitting in a moist or wet condition so it is not wicking moisture.

Also do not allow mulch wood or stone or vegetation to come in contact with any siding product. When it is higher from the ground splashing water onto the wood is minimized. Wood products need to be able to dry thoroughly after rain and the extra space aids that process. If the adjacent ground is concrete such as part of a patio or a sidewalk it still requires the same clearance as bare earth.

The recommended clearance of masonry siding products brick stone etc is 6 inches. Wood siding should be 4 or so from the ground whether that be soil or solid surface. I removed mulch touching the siding before installing the drip edge. As i am want to do today my brain said why do think believe this to be true.

Wood siding stucco vinyl brick all siding should ideally have at least 6 to 8 inches clearance above the ground. You can see where the mulch touching the siding blocked the painters. This needs to be at least 6 inches to prevent any chance of termite invasion or mold problems in. That would vary with the installation but siding should pretty much never finish at the patio surface there should always be a gap and that will vary from 2 6 depending on the type of patio materials.

Wood siding clearance is recommended to be 8 inches from soil. Soil distance from masonry veneer and wood siding.