Suggestions on siding my home

[Por_sha911]

Two story victorian house, about 25 years old, and the fiber-board type material is rotting in places. I've put it off as long as I can but it has to be done.
Also have a lot of wood trim that we will want to have covered but retain the look of the wood being there as opposed to one big wall of siding.
So, what say the experts? Vinyl or Aluminum? Tear off old or install on top?

[Hugh R]

Nice looking house, hard to believe its only 25 y/o.

[azasadny]

We went the vinyl siding on our addition to our brick veneer home about 5 years ago and I now wish we could have used the Hardyboard stuff. Much sturdier and durable than vinyl. some of the vinyl is already showing wear and will have to be replaced soon. I don't think aluminum siding is even available any more. We used aluminum for the trim and the white gets stained pretty easily...

[cbush]

Beautiful home- I would hate to see either vinyl or aluminum siding on it. I have never seen them look anything other than cheap. Sorry that isn't the answer you were looking for. We have horrible aluminum siding on our ugly home--but it does hold up well, and you can paint it.

[MRM]

That's a beautiful house. You have to retain the look of wood lap siding. You will get a lot of recommendations to go with James Hardi brand cement-based Hardiboard lap siding. These are basically planks of cement-based siding that looks like wood when installed and can be painted or ordered in any color. It is marketed as being stucco, but with the advantages of wood lap siding construction. I am very suspicious of Hardiboard because it will rot (just like your current product) if any water gets to the unfinished edges. That means every end that gets cut or nail hole that gets pounded has to be covered with paint or caulk. It is asking too much for builders to get every joint completely sealed and if they don't the unsealed section will rot. Stucco siding used to be the preferred cladding for high end homes in my area, until mold and water infiltration litigation put a stop to that. The alternative was to use Hardiboard. We're just now starting to see Hardiboard houses suffer water infiltration damage and rotting siding. I think we're seeing the tip of the iceburg, and that Hardi might not prove to be able to hold up to snow, rain, ice, and heat.

Your house is too nice for vinyl. Steel is an option. It looks nice, will give the same feel as wood, is maintenence free and is a proven product. Aluminum is the same as steel. Cedar would be my recommendation, but you'll have to keep that painted. If you don't want steel, aluminum or cedar, there are other hard board fiberous sidings that are not cement based that won't deteriorate when exposed to water. One of those would be acceptable too.

Whatever you do, do not use the synthetic fiber board trim to replace your wood trim that they try to sell people instead of real wood. It rots off houses so fast you'd swear it was carboard.

Edit: If your fiber board siding is a Georgia-Pacific product, there was a huge class action over it being defective and rotting off people's houses. Your house is about the right age for it. Check with your builder and see if your siding is part of the recall. Fiberboard siding can be good but you want something that will not deteriorate when exposed to water. That's one reason I like cedar.

[RWebb]

don't ruin that gorgeous house with vinyl!

they use Hardiboard all over Oregon these days - not sure when it started, but if you can find info on good reliability from this rain forest, that will be fine for anywhere in Tenn.

I do not know how well it holds up.

[Por_sha911]

Thank you for the compliments. As many of you have said, we want to retain the original look so there will be a lot of trim work to be done. I have seen some vinyl that appears to have the same look but I haven't really gotten to deep into investigating the options. We are not willing to lose the look but finances are tight (so what else is new?). I have read complaints about hardiboard rotting after as little as 5 years! I think aluminum is still available but I don't want a product that must be painted every few years. As you can see, this isn't a straight up one side & down the other square box job.

Please keep the comments coming. I'm especially interested in opinions from builders or people that have first hand experience with one product versus another. Here's my fav shot from last Christmas:

[gr8fl4porsche]

Cementitious siding is considered the best these days. When installed correctly, it should last a very long time. I just did a house with Hardi-board lap siding. Every cut was painted. It really only takes a couple of extra seconds to slap on some paint when you are at the saw. Probably added a couple hundred $ to a $50,000 exterior remodel project to do it right. Every joint was backed by a piece of aluminum flashing, a 3/16 gap left open and caulked with the best caulk we could find. All trim that wasn't wrapped with aluminum like the gutter boards was 100% pvc. We applied 2 coats of SW Duration to the siding and pvc and it looks fantastic. From the street you would never know its not wood siding and wood trim.

Now a vinyl sided house with aluminum clad everything is noticeable from space

Can't stand plastic houses - especially the ones with side huge walls and not a window to be found.
And to dress them up they add a brick veneer on the front with vinyl on the sides - not sure who first started that strange
architectural design.

As mentioned above, white aluminum cladding chalks and mildews very quickly.

[A930Rocket]

Beautiful home.

I'll second or third the Hardi-board siding. Looks good and I've had no problems in the past 15+ years using it. The only problem with their 1x material is that it comes in 12' lengths (unless it's changed), which means on long runs, joints are more easily noticed. Their 1x material can be used smooth or textured, with the textured hiding nails easily.

Aluminum and vinyl cornice make for no maintenance.

Stay away from vinyl (chalky) and aluminum (dents) siding if you can.

[azasadny]

Originally Posted by MRM

That's a beautiful house. You have to retain the look of wood lap siding. You will get a lot of recommendations to go with James Hardi brand cement-based Hardiboard lap siding. These are basically planks of cement-based siding that looks like wood when installed and can be painted or ordered in any color. It is marketed as being stucco, but with the advantages of wood lap siding construction. I am very suspicious of Hardiboard because it will rot (just like your current product) if any water gets to the unfinished edges. That means every end that gets cut or nail hole that gets pounded has to be covered with paint or caulk. It is asking too much for builders to get every joint completely sealed and if they don't the unsealed section will rot. Stucco siding used to be the preferred cladding for high end homes in my area, until mold and water infiltration litigation put a stop to that. The alternative was to use Hardiboard. We're just now starting to see Hardiboard houses suffer water infiltration damage and rotting siding. I think we're seeing the tip of the iceburg, and that Hardi might not prove to be able to hold up to snow, rain, ice, and heat.

Your house is too nice for vinyl. Steel is an option. It looks nice, will give the same feel as wood, is maintenence free and is a proven product. Aluminum is the same as steel. Cedar would be my recommendation, but you'll have to keep that painted. If you don't want steel, aluminum or cedar, there are other hard board fiberous sidings that are not cement based that won't deteriorate when exposed to water. One of those would be acceptable too.

Whatever you do, do not use the synthetic fiber board trim to replace your wood trim that they try to sell people instead of real wood. It rots off houses so fast you'd swear it was carboard.

Edit: If your fiber board siding is a Georgia-Pacific product, there was a huge class action over it being defective and rotting off people's houses. Your house is about the right age for it. Check with your builder and see if your siding is part of the recall. Fiberboard siding can be good but you want something that will not deteriorate when exposed to water. That's one reason I like cedar.

Yep, this is the Hardiboard I was referring to in my earlier post. Very sturdy and attractive!

[rick-l]

Hardi-Plank and expanded PVC trim.

They were $5.75 last year and this year are about $6.50 per board at the big boxes. The trim (Azek) is big bucks.

I did it myself. Alum-a-pole, siding nail gun 7 1/4" - 4 tooth carbide blade saw and you are in business.

Mistake I made is one person cannot handle the long, brittle, 25 pound 8.25" x 12 foot board however. The wife did not like being 30 feet in the air on the scaffolding with me. Vinyl would be so simple, a light piece you can swing around with one hand.

Sounds like you have Masonite, a product popular in the 70's, like me. It fails and ther was a worthless class action lawsute against it. Even if you go with vinyl don't let them convince you to put it over it. Mine was full of bugs, moisture and rot.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by gr8fl4porsche

Cementitious siding is considered the best these days.

Yes, excellent stuff. doesn't expand crack or split.

Please be careful (we need all the Pelicans we have) with your handling of the old stuff as it may contain some asbestos. I don't know about your country, but here in New Zealand fibre cement board stuff like you have, from that era, contains some asbestos

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Please be careful (we need all the Pelicans we have) with your handling of the old stuff as it may contain some asbestos. I don't know about your country, but here in New Zealand fibre cement board stuff like you have, from that era, contains some asbestos

I think he has Masonite, guaranteed for 25 yeats. It's looks like cardboard and wax.

Masonite Siding Settlement Claims Assistance lot of trouble for $500 if you are even in the dates.

Hardi-plank is a 50 year product if I remember right.

You are supposed to wear a dust mask to avoid breathing the silica dust when you cut the hardi plank. It causes cancer if you live in California.

[Mr.Puff]

Originally Posted by rick-l

I think he has Masonite, guaranteed for 25 yeats. It's looks like cardboard and wax.

Masonite Siding Settlement Claims Assistance lot of trouble for $500 if you are even in the dates.

Hardi-plank is a 50 year product if I remember right.

You are supposed to wear a dust mask to avoid breathing the silica dust when you cut the hardi plank. It causes cancer if you live in California.

A lot of stuff in California causes cancer .

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by rick-l

I think he has Masonite, guaranteed for 25 yeats. It's looks like cardboard and wax.

Masonite Siding Settlement Claims Assistance lot of trouble for $500 if you are even in the dates.

Hardi-plank is a 50 year product if I remember right.

You are supposed to wear a dust mask to avoid breathing the silica dust when you cut the hardi plank. It causes cancer if you live in California.

Lol, so does Elmer's glue.

Another vote for cement siding. My father in law is a contractor and has used it for years, he can't say enough good things about it. He used it on his own house that he built, that pretty much says it all.

[JJ 911SC]

Joe

Took me 3 years to convince the wife to go this way to replace the vinyl siding but now she love it.

Motarless brick, easy do it yourself project. You can do it section, so it does not take time away from the car

When I get back home, I'll posts some before and after pics.

Good luck tonight; Go Habs Go

NOVABRIK -> Welcome


JJ

[pavulon]

Cedar with opaque stain (no scraping when it needs to be re-stained). It's only been working well for hundreds of years.

[Drdogface]

+1 on Hardi Plank. I also like it cuz the woodpeckers can't get into it. I have a huge problem with them on my Log Home...well duuuuhhhh. I used the hardi-plank on places where dimensional lumber was required and the birds used to destroy it...now they can't.

I concur....absolutely gorgeous home...I'm envious but happy for you. You should put that last photo on a Christmas Card

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by pavulon

Cedar with opaque stain (no scraping when it needs to be re-stained). It's only been working well for hundreds of years.

I agree, but it is very expensive now (even right here in the center of "cedar country"), mainly b/c we've been cutting it down for hundreds of years.

As usual, you are getting lots of people saying Hardi-board worked great for them - but without any accompanying details.

Be sure to re-read MRM's post and find out what's up with long time use in humid areas before jumping in.

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by RWebb

As usual, you are getting lots of people saying Hardi-board worked great for them - but without any accompanying details.

I've only had it on the house for two years but it looks like new.

When I put it up I put a strip of aluminum flashing at each joint and filled it with caulk so the joint disappeared.

You are supposed to keep it 2" from the horizontal intersecting roof line and a horizontal surface but I really don't think it would be that susceptible to moisture.

Edit: the nails are under the next course of siding, blind nailed. A roofing nailer won't work since the nails have to be 2 1/4" (??) ring shank galvanized.