Vinyl siding to replace wood siding.

[ADD]

Hello:

My house has wood siding which has been there for at least 30 years. Needs some replacement of the shakes and a paint job. Would cost 5000. Vinyl siding, the one that looks like horizontal blinds is damned ugly. THe wood I have looks nice, but I would have to constantly maintain and repaint.

Vinyl siding is more energy efficient and would lower the insurance costs. Also just have to hose it down.

My question is whether there is vinyl siding that looks like wood? I went to the Garden State Brickface WIndows and Siding website and they state they have vinyl siding that looks like split cedar shakes. I think that is what I am looking for, althought nothing on my wood looks split. Anyway, they don't have photos of their proprietary wood looking vinyl siding. Any reliable companies in the suthern nY, northern NJ area that install vinyl siding that looks like wood?

The estimate I received for the owenscorning type vinyl siding that looks like blinds, was around 13,000. That was over a year ago, and at the time I did't ask if they had anything that was vinyl siding, but looked like wood.

Thanks

[Edwin Pawlowski]

You can do some basic reaserch about proudcts on the internet, but you really hoave to geet off your ass and go to a store or dealer to see what it is going to look like. The vinyl today looks much better than years ago.

I'm sure of it

You're welcome. Glad I could help.

[BocesLib]

I dont think the vinyl will EVER look just like wood.

What they DO have (or seen) is a siding that look sort of like shakes. Its more expensive than the regular stuff but so normally people just put it on the face of the house and the sides and back have the regular stuff.

If you are really worried about price, do it yourself. I resided the front of my house myself. Aside from time it only cost me about 350.00 in materials. (4 squares plus trim for windows and starter strips)

Tom

[c_kubie]

What appears popular now is doing stone/brick in front and siding the other three sides (assuming house is square/rectangle).

Not too many people like the appearance of siding (reguardless of what quality you get). But you get it because you don't have to paint every

4 years. However, it seems lighter color vinal is a better appearances (nothing will ever look like wood- in reguards to texture).

May want to post your location, you may be able to get referals for a lower price

c_kubie

[LB]

There are many companies installing the siding but only a few make it. Google will help. When you think you have something that you like get the possible installers to show you a house or two. Also get several bids and references.

With the population of north NJ there will be plenty of installers.

LB (from North Jersey)

[twfsa]

[twfsa]

Vinyl breaks with hail, if you go vinyl pick a color that won't be too hard to match if panels are replaced, or better yet theres a concrete composition siding thats does not break when there is a hail storm and it holds paint nothing like wood, it would not hurt to check into it.

Tom

[BocesLib]

Concrete fiber board??? Uggg, every try to cut those?? What a Pain in the *SS

Tom

[maradcliff]

Vinyl siding IS ugly, no matter what shape it is. If you like your wood siding, keep it. $5000 sounds very expensive for a paint job, but that depends on where you live and the size of your house. Why not paint it yourself, and use the best paint you can get, so it lasts long. Even at the prices you quoted ($5000 for painting and $13,000 for vinyl), you are at almost the cost of THREE paint jobs. If a paint job lasts 10 years, which it should with quality paint, properly applied, and maybe a few spots touched up in between. That would be

30 years, for almost the same amount of money. I highly doubt that any vinyl siding will last 30 years. That stuff bakes in the sun and cracks in the cold, and gets warped and uglier as it ages. If you insist on new siding, get steel or aluminum siding. It costs more, but lasts a very long time, and you end up with quality materials, not ugly vinyl.

I cant understand why your insurance will be lower with vinyl. Vinyl is flammable, and I have seen the results of fires with vinyl siding. Install steel siding and your insurance should really lower, unless they are total idiots (which most insureance people are).

Mark

[maradcliff]

I have a neighbor that had vinyl gutters put on his house about 5 years ago. One good hail storm and the gutters were all full of large holes, some as big as my fist. So, last year he had all the gutters replaced with steel. He ended up paying twice, instead of using quality materials the first time. I grabbed a few pieces of the old vinyl gutters that were not full of holes, and intended to put them on my garden shed. since they were free. That was until I tried to cut them, and found the sun had baked them so brittle that they shatterred. I tossed them in the trash and found myself some used steel gutters that were probably 30 years old, and aside from a little light rust on the inside, they were still solid. A few coats of spray paint on the rust, and I know they will be on my shed for many more years. Vinyl is crap, always has been, always will be....