Vinyl Siding

Jagmandave · Jun 30, 2006

What about residing with Stucco? Never needs to be painted and would look good alongside all your brick facings.......

Bird · Jun 30, 2006

Stucco is not completely foreign to this area, but it's relatively rare; much more popular in some other parts of the country. And from what I've seen of it, it's not something I think I would want. I may be wrong, but I think in this area, covering what little isn't brick with vinyl will enhance the value of the house, but stucco would probably actually reduce its value and make it harder to sell if we, or our heirs, ever wanted to sell it.

Jeffintheburg · Jun 30, 2006

My previous house was all T-11 siding. I had Vinyl Siding installed by an independent contractor. Some contractors will install foam insulation prior to installing the siding. Guess it depends on the climate where you live. He covered the house with Tyvek before installing the siding. I lived in that house for thirteen years without any problems.

The older vinyl siding would become brittle during freezing weather and would crack if struck hard by an object. The newer types of siding are not supposed to be prone to freezing and cracking.

When I had it installed I checked the contractors previous jobs to see their workmanship. You can look at some contractors jobs and the siding looks flat some of the contractors jobs look wavy.

Bird · Jun 30, 2006

Jeff, I can't claim to know a lot about vinyl siding, but I do know a little bit, such as why some look wavy, and of course that's the result of a poor installation job instead of a problem with the material. And the foam (or Tyvek) "insulation" serves multiple purposes, I guess. It adds insulation to the building, but more importantly, it gives the installer a smooth uniform surface to mount the vinyl and maybe you know that you don't nail the vinyl on tight. It has to be able to slide back and forth a bit due to expansion and contraction with temperature changes. I have appointments for two contractors and I'll see what they recommend. Sears normally uses 3/4" styrofoam, but they'll do with 1/4" styrofoam cheaper. I don't think I need the additional insulation, so the thinner stuff is OK with me. As to whether Tyvek is better than the styrofoam, I'm not sure, but suspect it is.

riptides · Jun 30, 2006

Bird said:
Mike, pictures would certainly be nice, but some the questions I would have can't be answered with a picture. What brand of vinyl was used? What thickness? Which type or quality? Virgin vinyl, aluminum backed, virgin vinyl exterior side and recycled back side? Cost per square foot?

Understood, I can get you everything in the AM but the cost per square foot.

In the AM.

-Mike Z.

riptides · Jul 1, 2006

We ended up using a product from Camden Pointe, looks to be .040 thick, ten foot lengths.

Underlayment is Tyvek and a Green Board foam product. We are using the foam sheets to get the wrinkles to a minimum. Of course the new parts of the house don't have that issue.

-Mike Z.

Bird · Jul 1, 2006

Thanks, Mike. Like I said, I knew a little bit about vinyl siding, but I'm sure learning more. The local guy that was here this morning says he uses Tyvek and can then put the foam over that if I want, or he had samples of vinyl siding with the foam bonded to it already; same price either way and about half of Sears' price to do the partial job I thought I might have Sears do, and about a third of Sears' price to do the whole house.

So I've still got one more guy who is supposed to be here Monday evening to give me an estimate.

ronjhall · Jul 1, 2006

I installed my own vertical siding on a small project. It was the Certainteed Ironmax Double 5". We have a local distributer close to my house. When I checked on the price they gave me a list of installers that they recommend. Did not use any of them because the job was small. My youngest son help with the project. He owns the break.
Looks like the Alcoa siding is very similar to the Certainteed. Alcoa is not as popular around here.
Attached is a picture of how it was used to do our porch ceiling.

Bird · Jul 1, 2006

Ron, that ceiling and wall looks almost identical to the ceiling in our 12' x 22' breezeway except I don't have a ceiling fan out there. I like Certainteed products but don't really see much difference in them and Alcoa. Sears is now using Alcoa (at least that's what the salesman said) and Alcoa's website listed two contractors very close to where we live. Certainteed's website only lists contractors quite a ways farther off. So that's the reason I expect to go with Alcoa. And the stuff with the foam bonded to it can be seen at this site. It "looks" pretty good to me, but what do I know?