How much for T1-11, installed?

[aemeijers]

Okay, for the second year in a row, I went to the half-ass little home show here, and asked vendors for free estimates on various things. My faux-T1-11 7/16 OSB siding has seen better days, so I again requested an estimate from a company that specializes in siding. 1400 sq foot single story, 3 gable L-shape, maybe 30 panels or so of material, utterly vanilla. Last year I got an estimate for Hardi-Plank T1-11 (to deter the woodpeckers), and it came in at 16k, which is a non-starter on a house worth 120k if I am lucky. So this year I asked a different guy for real

5/8 plywood T1-11, same stuff I saw go up by the acre back in the day. The estimate came back at 22k. Is there some plausible reason for such a sky-high quote? And this wasn't even for a remove and replace, just a side-over. Not even a line on the bid for prime and paint, just naked wood. Does the guy just not want the job? They should be hungry- I think there were maybe a dozen new houses started in all of last year, in the metro area.

Seems like around here, just like everybody only wants to sell vinyl windows instead of real ones, they only want to sell vinyl siding (which I hate the look of).

I grew up in the business, and I have the skills to do the work. What I don't have is the time, unless I take a week or two off from my day job. I also don't have anyone available to help hoist panels into position until they can get pinned in place. (4x8 or 4x9 5/8 is not a safe one-man lift for that.) So unless I say the hell with it and leave it for the next owner to deal with, I pretty much have to hire it out. Am I just dreaming that I can get what USED to be the cheap alternative, at a decent price? Or am I doomed to hold my nose and have the place skinned in the same plastic as almost all the other houses in the neighborhood? Constructive suggestions welcomed.

[Ed Pawlowski]

"aemeijers" wrote

Have you priced the material? Given that you say you'd have to take a week or two off of work, I'm going to use two weeks as an estimate of time. Of course, a helper is needed. So you have one person at $50 an hour, the other at $30. If it is an 80 hour job that would be $6400 plus material.

I wonder if you'd do better asking for a price just for labor if you provide the material?

[willshak]

Ed Pawlowski wrote the following:

That'll be even better. Go down to the city and pick up some day laborers off the corner, or perhaps in the parking lot of the local HD, as some have mentioned them being there too.

[aemeijers]

Somewhere in the 6-10 grand range is what I was expecting, and could even live with, since I think fresh and crisp siding would make the house easier to sell in a couple of years. Last time I looked, 4x8 5/8 T1-11 was about $28 a sheet around here. That would have been last October or so. I'm old, fat, and out of shape, is why I said two weeks, assuming a young and strong, but inexpert, helper. I know that a good

2-3 man crew that could actually still work 8 hours in a row without collapsing, could do it a lot quicker. (especially if they had proper scaffolds and other staging, which I would have to rent or fabricate, to do the gables.)

(Googles) Local borg has .59 inch plain wood t1-11 for about $25 a panel. The (presumably thinner) hardie-panels for about 3 bucks more per sheet. If my memory is correct about 30 sheets (from when I walked around and counted last year), that puts the material at $750-840, plus any needed additional cedar trim (if the old stuff can't be reused), Z-flashing, nails, and primer and paint. Be generous, and say 2k for material, to allow for a layer of house wrap underneath. Even plus $6400 for labor, that still comes in WAY lower than they quoted me.

Guess I need to forget about the guys with yellow-pages ads, and start calling the ones from the weekly ad paper that say they are 'licensed, bonded, and insured'. If I could find a guy I could trust to actually finish the job, I wouldn't even care if he did one face of the house at a time, in between his other jobs that had hard deadlines.

[krw]

Obviously Hardi-Plank is a better deal. ;-) My guess is that he doesn't want the job. I'd tackle a job that size (no second floor) myself. I'm getting a little old and creaky but $22K!

You're not alone. I redid my last house in cedar, even knowing that I'd have to stain it every few years. I did one side a year and it wasn't too bad.

Yep, BTDT. I had a lot of vacation, though. Since I retired, I don't. ;-)

Maybe a tool to lift the panels. HF sells a panel lift, intended for sheetrock. At a couple of hundred bux it would be worth it even if you had to throw it in a landfill afterwards. I'm thinking about buying one to do the sheetrock in my (u)FROG.

...or you could hire a laborer, as someone up there suggested. Around here painters can be had for $12/hr, now. It takes a lot of hours to come close to $22K.

[Ed Pawlowski]

"aemeijers" wrote

With all of that, I'd agree that

[JIMMIE]

I didnt see any figures for tearing the old off and disposing of it.

Jimmie

[aemeijers]

They were gonna layer right over it. On the original footprint of house, it is over celotex. Not sure if it is over anything on the addition. It is, at most, 5/16 thick, so once the cedar trim is pulled off, the thickness of the existing siding is not an issue. Only places it needs to be pulled off is where it is trapped behind front porch step, and behind the deck- needs to be dug out and replaced with flashing in those spots. It is weathered, but other than in a few tiny spots, not rotten. It is solid enough to staple house wrap to.

[benick]

I agree the price quote is high..But what did you except JUST talking to those with the big Yellow Page ads and those at Home Shows...Do a little more work finding a small contractor...Usually by asking your neighbors or at the lumber yard..Word of mouth is how they get work...As a side note T-111 looks worse than vinyl , IMHO..If I were to spend that kinda money on siding I would use Cedar Shingles , Cedar Claps or even Hardi Claps and do it myself...You could lift those and do it when you had the time and still come out ahead money wise and have a MUCH better end product...FWIW..HTH..

[cshenk]

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote

Hey, did you have a driveway redone? I'm curious what that costs in general. Looking for simple cement sort where it comes in blocks. Currently a double wide.

Yeah, can get some real spread in costs. I generally go with the middle fellow.

[cshenk]

"benick" wrote

100% agreed. I've got a small contractor who dang near went under last 2 years. We've been good to him and he's good to us now. Hehehe he's now not even bothering to state a bid really as he always understates with us. He trusts us to do right by him. He wanted 600$ labor for a back fence job but we gave 600$ for the first half and are patient for the second half with the remaining 600$. He's fitting us in on the sides when he has no work.

He brought Jeremey with him last time (teaching him the trade, don't worry, insured apprentice). He's a hungry 19 year old so we sent him home with a loaf of breadmaker fresh bread and a quart of hamhock-bean soup. (Eric is paying him). Mostly it's just us and Eric doing the work.

I *love* cedar shingles! Our house had them but a termite problem finally had us have to remove them and replace with vinyl siding. Previous owners didn't know to keep them treated, sorry to say. Properly treated, they last almost forever. Takes only a regular spray hose with a preventive twice a year to keep them forever.

[Ed Pawlowski]

It was a driveway, parking lot, and part of a street. Can't really say how the prices are compared to a small residential job. Get a few quotes though, and ask about the reputation of the company. Some are sleazy, some are great. .

[krw]

Word of mouth is certainly the best way. Happy customers are very good advertisement. I'm not so sure a lumber yard (what are those?) would be the best source of information, though.

To each... I'm not all that thrilled with T-111, but some like it. I don't like the look of shingles. The siding is certainly dependant on the house style. As I said above, my previous house (a cape) pretty much had to have clapboard siding (I did cedar, rough side out for the looks). OTOH, clapboards certainly wouldn't go with my current house, more of a Mediteranian style.

[benick]

There is always Board and Baton(sp)...Use un-planed stock...Pine or Cedar Boards are easy to lift for a DIYer

[krw]

Yes, my house is B&B, sorta (B&B with a post and beam look). The B&B material is Hardi, though. I think it'll work out well here in the South.

[benick]

Nice...I like Post and Beam...You see it alot here as well...

[krw]

It's not P&B construction though. It's standard 2-by frame construction.

[benick]

Yea I got that...I still like the look though...Around here (Maine) there is ALOT of post and beam construction..I've done the drywall in many...There is quite a few that just have the look as well..Still nice...

[johnb]

I just had 270 sheets installed and it cost me along with cedar trim about 78000 for three buildings removal and replacement.

[Jerry]

replying to aemeijers, Jerry wrote: I would do it,you hire me,and helper by the hr.