Cut Hole Through Wall With Aluminum Siding

Line the blade up with the drawn line.

Cut hole through wall with aluminum siding.

It s basically a smallish router and used all the time for cutting holes in drywall shower walls etc. Apply a thick bead of silicone adhesive. Assuming you ve got access from below to the joist space you can use tin snips also called aviation snips to cut the siding and a hole saw or reciprocating saw sabre saw or sawzall to cut. Position the pattern on the sheet metal where the hole needs to go and draw a line around it using a permanent marker.

5 cut along one of the vertical lines with the power sheers. Use a scrap of plywood as a backer for the hole saw s pilot bit and to protect your work surface. Open the power shears and slide the bottom blade under the metal siding. I have an ancient dewalt 660 with a circle cutting attachment.

6 pull the wall cap and duct out of the wall. Sometimes called a spiral saw or rotary cutting tool. Hold your drill firmly with two hands photo 4 and brace it against your leg if possible. If the drill tilts to one side it may bind and jerk.

Don t lock the trigger on. When using a hole saw to drill the hole in aluminum siding keep the saw slightly tilted to one side to reduce the chances that the hole saw will bind while cutting the hole. If you notice that the saw binds pull the hole saw away from the siding tilt the hole saw in a different direction and restart drilling the hole. Here s one that claims to come with a circle cutting attachment for 15.

A bimetal hole saw is easiest to use because it ll chew through an occasional nail without dulling and cut cleanly through vinyl or aluminum siding. Like twist bits hole saws chuck right into your drill and will cut through thin gauge sheet metals like aluminum and steel. Tons of companies make similar tools. Drill pilot holes through the screw holes on the wall cap and through the mounting block siding and wall.