Building panel as a covering for building surfaces and method of applying

A covering for a building comprising a plurality of siding or roofing panels, each panel being applied to a building by fasteners and comprising:

• a sheet of panel having upper and lower edges and right and left edges, with an upper lip adjacent the upper edge;
• with the upper lip including a fastener zone means
• (a) adapted to receive fasteners therein for securing the panel to a building, and
• (b) to allow for panel expansion and contraction with variations in temperature;
• and
• with indicia means in addition to said fastener zone means, integral with and comprising part of the upper lip for providing a visual indication on the upper lip, for guiding the measurement of a distance along the panel.

A method of applying siding or roofing panels to a building structure comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a plurality of panels, each having upper and lower edges and right and left edges, with an upper lip adjacent to the upper edge with the upper lip including a fastener zone means adapted to receive fasteners therein for securing the panel to a building, and to allow for panel expansion and contraction with variations in temperature, wtih indicia means in addition to said fastener zone means, integral with and comprising part of the upper lip for providing a visual indication on the upper lip, for guiding the measurement of a distance along the panel;
• (b) fastening a first panel at one loction to the building, by driving one or more fasteners through the lip of the first panel and to the building;
• (c) continuing to fasten the first panel to the building, by driving fasteners through the lip of the first panel, and into the building;
• (d) covering the lip of the first panel, including the fasteners and indicia thereof by applying a second panel over the lip of the first panel and fastening the second panel to the building by driving fasteners through a lip thereof into the building;
• and
• (e) continuing to apply successive panels by driving fasteners through lips thereof, into the building, with each successively applied panel covering the lip, including fasteners and indicia means of a next-previously-applied panel.