1. There is no such thing as maintenance free. The closest you will ever come is masonry/stone. Anythig else and you WILL be painting it or maintaining it in some manner. Even vinyl.

2. Want to install one product that will cause your house to DEPRECIATE in value? Vinyl.

3. Want to install the only siding/fenseration product on the market that requires maintenance yearly (if you want it to look decent at all)? Vinyl. You have to wash it YEARLY. You dont HAVE to....but then again you dont HAVE to paint your lap siding either. Which I should also add that most people just jerk out their pressure washer and from ground level fire 3500 psi streams of water UPWARD at the vinyl siding. WOW IT LOOKS GREAT THEY SAY......little do they know they have just saturated their siding substrate with water. Water inside a wall assembly means MOLD. The only correct way to wash vinyl siding is by hand, or by a method where water or another chemical are applied from the top down. Lap siding (and vinyl) is lapped in such a way as to endure the flow of water coming from the sky....not a 6 foot man standing 10 feet beneath it.

4. Vinyl pops and cracks LOUDLY with changes in temperature. Personally I find it annoying.

You get what you pay for....IMO there is no substitute for the real thing. If you want the wood look, the install REAL wood. Suck it up and paint it. But the same goes with paint. If you cheapen out and paint it with low quality, cheap paint, you will be tending to it again in 2 years. Paint it with high quality paint and you will buy yourself 5-7 years.

I still prefer masonry.

And as always you have to really consider "first cost" versus long term cost. Pay more now ....or pay more later over the long run.

 

Vinyle siding cuts better with an angle grinder with a metal cut off blade.. also known as a zip blade. In a pinch I use the backwards saw blade, but it is hard to trim or shave a cut. The soffit may also fracture on the peforations where as the cut off blade is a smoother cut. I also use avation sheet metal side cutters, weiss is a good brand. hole saws for small openings. Put bevel cedar siding behind the vynle as a firm packer where you would be installing any surface mounted antenna, hose hanger etc..

I was going to redo my house with cedar siding but with the economy sucks so I painted the vinyle siding instead. Next year perhaps.

 

The Hardie product is great as far as fungal degradation goes, but in my opinion, it can look a tad "clinical" since it is a relatively thin product.

The LP SmartSide products (the OSB-based products, not the hardboard-based products) will give you a warmer, richer look, since they are typically thicker in dimension than the cementatious products, and have a more deeply embossed and realistic wood grain pattern.

Of these two products, go with Hardie if you want the longevity of a cementatious board, but go with the LP product if you want more curb appeal to the finished installation.

 

http://www.drawgate.com/images/MaterialSample/ROCK2.jpg

I personally like #11 or #13, if and only if the market goes to the good in the next 5 years and I get what I want outta my current project I will spend the monies wisely on the home I build.

Now this is just for funs

Get the place covered in some rock, or even brick. Knock out those railing on the front porch and build you some craftsmen style columns going on all down the front where the posts are now. Do some extensive landscaping in the front with mulch and a few nice plants

I like those style homes they look really good when put in craftsmen style.

 

The house is a little over 20 years old. When it was built t was painted with Coronado's best paint. It has been painted twice since, both times with Sherwin William's best grade paint, with the mildew blocker in it{TM2}. The mildew block works great, but the paint just don't hang around long enough for me. Painting this House gets pretty expensive, and I'm to gimped up to do it myself any more. I was thinking of doing the siding to get a longer lasting job, and I have someone to put it on for me.
I made my own washing rig, that I put water in and hook to the air compressor, and can stand on the ground,{it is a bladder lined tank, so I'm not worried about it rupturing.} and wash it all the way to the top with better volume than a pressure washer.
I only have one small bad spot in the rear where wood is rotting, and the hand rails are going quickly, I'm just trying to make the house lower in maintenance. Plus the change of appearance with the lapboard siding and columns, instead of handrails.

Thansk for the replies so far,keep'em coming.

 

They do those columns in PVC and Fiberglass you can get pretty cheap. If you are good with wood, you can build your own columns for cheap as well.

Me personally I just love the craftsmen style home, when I build I will keep a rustic look since im in the mountains but it will be craftsmen rustic/wood like. Either that or we will just move in a singlewide lol .

But im not the one going to school to be a PA so..

But looks like you have a pretty wide range of weather like we do here so probley the more expensive plan for the best product would be the smartest choice.

Either way heres a pic of a craftsmen style gitup just to gaze upon..

 

Does anyone do aluminum and steel siding anymore? We haven't had that mentioned here yet. I can imagine the cost would be astronomical.
The Rock face siding link above is pretty cool, but what about the repeating pattern over and over, I'm not sure that is the right ticket. I did a rock paneling wall inside a business I have, and built an indoor water feature in the room, but there is so much merchandise in there, the repeat isn't very noticeable.

 

Happy with my Hardi plank so far!

 

How about no siding at all?



Sorry, could not resist.

But yes, even with no siding, I still have to maintain it.

 

Tumba, strange you should mention Coronado. I can tell you first hand that their best paint is not good. Before Coronado bought the Negley Co, they were making exterior latex paints with Rohm and Haas 235 Acrylic Emulsions. It was the best paint on the market. But our lovely morons in Washington said that the dry film emulsion when subject to expansion and contraction gave off a gas that was considered an air pollutant. R&H took the product off of the market and almost all paint companies had to reformulate. There are zero 100% acrylic paints on the market anymore despite advertising. They are a blend using PVA (polyvinyl acetate)as the base and almost all will use a thicksotropic so you can get it off of the paint brush. While every company makes a good paint somewhere in their line, Coronado and SW don't make an exterior paint I would put on my house if the paint was free. Both do make some great interior paints in their professional lines. You could add Valspar, Pratt and Lambert, and Pittsburg to the paints I wouldn't have for free.

SSCULLY, do you know how to make exterior stains? It's incredibly easy. Just buy a gallon of exterior paint and thin it with 40% water- you now have exterior stain. Nope, that's not a lie. I made it for years and the process is still the same. Your number one problem is your siding is cedar. It's extremely pourous and if you looked at it under a microscope, you would see what appears to be fine hair. These "hairs" are the cellulose that make up cedar wood. They are subject to break off under temperature changes and the paint film has nothing to stick to. Peeling is always a major problem with any coatings over cedar. That's why they suggest a stain. It drys a very thin film and doesn't pull on the cellulose so bad. But multiple layers of it will start a peeling issue so be careful.
In regards to the Hardi warranty. The paint is nothing in the cost of repainting any siding. Labor, which they won't pay for, is the expensive part. Cost of materials for a job like his would be maybe $500.00-$700.00. Obviously I have no measurements to give an exact. While Hardi is a good product, none of the cementious products in the prefinished siding has a decent finish that will last like you would like. Actually, I've never seen one look fresh after 8 years.

How about this Tumba, paint the house with Rhinoliner! I'll bet you won't need to paint it again. Yeah, you have a problem that most everybody has. But the paints have come a long way in recent years. Too bad US Ply doesn't make their Rockshield anymore. It was a rock aggregate on a MDO base. It was warranted forever. It wasn't fun to work with but it looked great. Best of luck in yer search.

 

Do you have a budget on this project?

We use Hardi Board siding on some of our homes. New construction labor and material is running around 400 bucks a sq! Pretty pricey but descent material. I have had one major warranty problem with the baked on finish that is bleeding through the paint. It has taken us approx 7 months to have the Hardi Corp take responsibility and replace it.

No one has mentioned Norandex Polar Wall. It is a vinyl product with a .046 thickness with a foam backer board that is bonded to the siding. This provides excellent sound proofing and a has a R4 value. Impact resistant to 186mph. Fade resistant vinyl (it still will fade though). Can't remember the size choices but I think the largest panel is 8". They also come in 16' lengths. Approximately 235 a sq installed new construction.

Manufactured stone is nice but keep in mind that the man made stone absorbs water. Some are higher than others. Absorption rates should be described in the literature or you can find it on their web site. The prep work is the most important with stone. If the home is not properly prepped for stone then by the time you find out you have a problem the damage is already done. Drystack looks great but this stone/installation will allow for the most weather to penetrate. Stone install new construction runs us around 10.50 - 14.50 /sq ft

I would house wrap no manner what route you decide to go. Tyvek brand house wrap is a breathable wrap. Some people make their houses so tight that it causes problems with windows, hvac, doors, and so forth so don't get to carried away with it being "air" tight. Are you familiar with a blower door test? Check it out: http://www.energysavers.gov/your_hom.../mytopic=11190

We also use dryvit. Pretty expensive but check it out: http://www.dryvitisgreen.com/

Lots of choices out there. If your ultimate goal is comfort and efficiency and you don't want to break the bank then I think the Pollar Wall would be a excellent choice (BTW, we use this on the shores of Lake Erie and the stuff performs great). If esthetics are more the issue then whatever looks good to you.

 

Sorry, don't need to know how to make it, I just buy it considering it is widely available. Why would I need to make it ?

Nice to know why I need to re-stain every 5 years, but all the same it needs to be restained, it is not a 15 year finish as you stated above.

The one install I know of, after 7 years still looks great, and it is out in the open all, on all sides. Don't know what you are calling fresh, but 7 years of cold winters with drifting / blowing snow, freezing rain, and baking sun at 95+ in the summer with 80% + humidity it is doing fine, and no additional stain needed. The 1 warranty claim I know of, they supplied the stain, as it was not a product failure of any kind. They split the cost from a nit picky home owner. Nothing would have met that home owners expectation. The insistent washing would have required mortar joint repairs at that age.

Another post above confirms that they will replace product if it has a failure. Still nothing on what you claim the warranty won't cover.

 

is it possible to repaint aluminum siding?? i know it can be painted but... would that be a better solution than completely replacing it?

 

Yes you can paint it and it would most likely be the most economical route to go. However I believe the op is looking for a new look.

 

Let me add that even though they are doing a full replacement for this homeowner they were quit reluctant. They left us no choice but to pull out the big guns which was unfortunate but at the end of the day they made a wise choice and stepped up. I'm quit confident that their warranty policies will be changing soon.

Regardless of my experience, I still beleive that they have a good product.