what type of exterior for old house?

[Sigarms]

I've actually asked this question some time ago, apologies.

Been in the house for three years now. Did a lot of work around the place, but it's coming time where the exterior needs some work. Currently has always had T-11 wood siding. We think the previous owner did a "cheap" paint job since the house had been unoccupied for some time, and now I need to make a decision on which way I want to go as far as the exterior.

Honestly, wife and I work regular jobs (and even if the wife didn't, no way I'd try to tackle this on my own), so painting it ourselves is out of the question.

Last year got two quotes for vynal (sp?) siding, and all I can say is "ouch"! (there is a lot of surface area and a lot of windows). Now, if I'm going to spend that kind of money, would like to know what other options are out there.

Would like to look at the best "maintence free" exterior there is (and I realize that some care MUST be taken over some time, just don't feel like peel and painting).

Anyone ever use fiber cement board?

How about a special coating that I've come across for paint, but I forgot the name?

Would like the house to look like it is, and honestly, if I went with siding, not sure how much it would change the appearance of the house.

Been saving, and if done right, don't mind spending the money (since I can't do it myself) however, would like the "best bang for the buck" so to speak and the best way to keep the house's apprearance as well.

Any and all suggestions welcome. Looking for ideas now.

1st pic is of the front of the house

2nd pic is from the back corner looking at the back of the house.

3rd pic is looking at the t-11 board by a window.

4th is by the wood under the shingles

5th is a close up where some of the paint is peeling pretty bad (this is the worst spot on the house by the way, however, I'm thinking some areas are not that far behind).

From far away, the house still looks good, but when you get close and do a "eye over close" you can see where it's starting to wear and tear, and something will need to be done.

Thanks

 

[Diesel-ME]

Sigarms,

I'll start off by stating that I'm a self-proclaimed anti-vinylite. I would not allow it on any of my properties if you installed it for free. It's wonderfully "maintenance free" until such a time as you have to tear it off and replace it - kinda like how paint is maintenance free until you re-paint

Up here in the north vinyl is easily cracked during the cold months (seems like most of the year falls until that status that way this "Spring" is going....

Vinyl fades and warps. It is often installed too tightly which leads to buckling as it expands and contracts. OK - enough about that.

To answer your question - I am a huge fan of fiber cement products. I find that it holds paint remarkably well. I particularly recommend it for use on older less tight houses because when water vapor goes through exterior walls on a wood sided house it can bubble the paint as it looks to escape. With fiber cement this does not happens as it is impervious to water vapor.

Get it factory primed them paint it with two coats of a good quality latex paint after it is installed. You can get many different styles of horizontal and vertical products. In New England we mostly go for traditional looking clapboards with a 4" exposure if it's a traditional cape style house. You could get away with a larger exposure clapboard and have to look good on your house.

I use double hot-dipped galvanized (usually ring shank) nails to installed fiber cement - air-nailed (blind). I cut the product with power shears made for this task and/or diamond blades. I prefer the shears as you don't have the silica dust issues, but blades are great when you want to cut multiple sticks to the same length all at once.

Pricing will be about the same as a pine clapboard and WAY less than cedar.

Another alternative to fiber that works well and last way better than vinyl is factory primed and finger-jointed cedar. It costs significantly less than cedar and paint/stain adheres to it way better than raw cedar.

The only issue with fiber cement may be finding a local contractor that is comfortable with it. If you don't install it yourself, be sure to select a contractor who has several installations under their belt, else they tend to charge extra for fear of the unknowns.

Oh, and you can get fiber cement products at any lumber yard or the big Orange.

See Fiber cement siding from James Hardie for more info.

Hope that helps.

~paul

 

[MikePA]

We've had vinyl siding on our house for years, almost the same color as your house Sigarms. No fading, no cracking, no maintenance and if it's installed right (which is not hard, just don't drive the nails home) no warping. We also had rigid foam insulation installed under the siding plus all the window frames done in a different color.

I can't think of any other product that's maintenance free. Unless you want to change the color, you won't be removing vinyl siding for maintenance nor will you have to paint it.

I'd get a couple quotes. I don't know if you'll be able to do vertical vinyl siding. Going horizontal would change the look of the house, IMO.

 

[Sigarms]

Thanks Mike, agreed if vinyl is done properly, should have no issues. Got two quotes at the end of last year for vinyl, and honestly, had sticker shock. Both would only run it horizontally and assured me it wouldn't chage the appearence of the house (honestly, I think they just wanted the sale and would tell me anything I wanted to hear, because the appearance is subjective to the observer, and I wouldn't want to charge what they quoted and have a unhappy customer.

Paul, I think you're correct in some areas people not being familiar with fiber cement. I would like to explore all other options though. Wood is the last choice, and depending on cost, would probably like anything else but vinyl (wife has her opinions as well ) How easy is fiber cement for a "do it your selfer", keeping in mind, on the other side of the house, it's a good 30' high? I'm figuring with little help, it's something I don't want to mess with. By the way, although I live in N.C now, use to live outside of Limestone (if you know where that is). Being a yankee, I don't miss the snow

 

[Bird]

If I were building a new building (without making it brick veneer, as is common in our area), I'd go with the fiber cement board. However, in a case such as yours with an existing house, I'd either have a good paint job done (with plans to do it again in 5 years) or I'd go with vinyl siding.

 

[MikePA]

The cement boards I've seen are just like clapboards, i.e., they'd run horizontally.

I'd be surprised if cement boards are cheaper than the vinyl siding quotes you got. You'd still have to trim out the windows. They used aluminum on our place.

Attached are two pictures (combined into one) that show the front of our house (lower picture) and one side (upper picture) that shows the vinyl siding.

We had to remove a layer of white, aluminum siding which was covering white wooden clapboards which was covering the logs. We saved the logs on the front and back of the house, but the ends were too far gone to repair. We did the front and back and had someone else install the siding.

 

[MossRoad]

All wood siding needs to be painted every so often. That is a fact. So if you like the way your house looks now and don't want the exterior appearance to change, why don't you get some quotes to have it painted?

If you side it with vinyl, the house will look shorter and fatter due to the lines running horizontally VS the current vertical lines of the T-11. As for yinyl's durability, etc.... the current vinyl products will last decades if you spring for the thicker, better quality stuff. The color runs all the way through so it doesn't fade or change very much at all. A car wash brush, some soap and water and a hose are all that's needed to clean it if it gets dirty. For that matter, it is pretty much self cleaned by heavy rain, except for areas under the eaves where rain can't hit it. As Mike mentioned, it needs to be installed right and not nailed down tight. There are slots for the nails so that it can expand and contract without warping. We had our house sided about 8-9 years ago. It was originally wood shingle siding and wood casement windows. The crew clad our 17 windows in aluminum, attached foam insulation over the wood shingles, then attached the siding. Two guys spent about 200 man hours on the house over a two week period. The total was 8 or 9 thousand dollars, which also included a new floor and door in our porch and new 5 step concrete steps. I haven't had to touch it since and won't have to for the forseeable future. But, yes, it did change the appearance of the house dramatically, for the better.

Another benefit is the house is considerably quieter now, with the extra foam insulation and layer of vinyl. We also had wooden storm windows. The crew bent the aluminum casining for the wood casement windows with a step to accept new, aluminum triple track storm windows. I just had to measure the openings, order the correct size, wait 6 weeks, lay a bead of caulk on the step, press the storm window in place and screw in a few self tapping screws. That was way easier than repairing the wooden storm windows that were cracked, dried putty, etc...

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Joe,
Nice looking home BTW ! I can see where painting that home would be a job, lots of ladder work and uneven ground ! Both of my homes are stained, the same color , must like barn red . The Vt home is
T-111 and the Ct home is cedar clapboard. I kind of have a system , I do one side on each house once a year ! It makes it much easier to swallow doing it that way. The Ct home is a 3 bedroom Saltbox colonial and it really looks good with natural siding IMO. There is somerthing that just doesnt look right about a saltbox that has vinyl siding The Vt house has the T-111 and it takes the stain well. The other reason I have held off on the urge to put vinyl on either residence is that I obviously like barn red and I have yet to find that color siding that wont fade down the road !

Getting back to your problem, I have seen firms that will come in and spray a very durable finish over your existing siding, supposedly lasts many years, that may be another option other than replacing your existing siding !

 

[Podunkadunk]

Hardi plank is awesome stuff. In Florida, it's on about every other new home being built it seems.

I had some on my home in Jacksonville. It's pretty much maint. free except painting. You do have to paint it, but the board is somewhat porous, so it soaks up the paint and holds it well.

It's guaranteed for 50 years, is waterproof, bugproof and relatively cheap in comparison to brick, cypress or cedar.


Vinly siding seems like awesome stuff too. It doesn't get cold enough down in the south to crack it. Washing is a snap too.

I don't think you can go wrong with either product.

If you go with vinyl siding, spend the extra and get the "seamless" type. That way you won't have the interconnection lines running horizontally on your house. They'll cut the piece to run the entire length of that particular side of your home. Looks a lot better than with the seams.

Podunk

 

[Diesel-ME]

Paul, I think you're correct in some areas people not being familiar with fiber cement. I would like to explore all other options though. Wood is the last choice, and depending on cost, would probably like anything else but vinyl (wife has her opinions as well ) How easy is fiber cement for a "do it your selfer", keeping in mind, on the other side of the house, it's a good 30' high? I'm figuring with little help, it's something I don't want to mess with. By the way, although I live in N.C now, use to live outside of Limestone (if you know where that is). Being a yankee, I don't miss the snow

You would probably want to rent staging and use two ladders in other places. Any kind of siding is easiest to install with two people working together. For fiber cement they make some nifty gadgets that allow you to work alone - check out this for example: Amazon.com: fiber cement tool: Home Improvement .

For any siding product the installation technique trim details are critical. it's easy to poorly install siding and have it leak or fail before it should (be it vinyl, wood or fiber cement). Part of the trick for any type of siding is in the figuring. For example, with a clapboard product you want to have the bottom edge of a course fall right on top of your windows, so on the way up if you need to you can vary the exposure by a 1/4" or so here and there to make it come out right by the time to get to the window tops.

Regardless of what product you choose, if you hire this job out be sure to check references. I have a home inspecting business and from time to time I provide expert witness testimony for folks who have been ripped off by shady contractors. In every case that I have done the client has failed to check references. They are all nice guys during the pre-sales pitch....

Limestone huh? I can drive to New York city in about the same time it would take to drive from Augusta to Limestone

It's funny how the farther up in "the county" you get, the farther south you tend to want to move.... heck if you had lived in Fort Kent ME you'd surely be in Dade County FLA.....hehe

~paul