New siding advise

[WVBill]

SHF and others:

When I built my pole building I put T1-11 siding on it planning to paint/stain it. Well that was 2 years ago and I still haven't gotten around to it due to not having the time or $.

I'll be doing it myself so the logistics is one major kicker - having to rent a sprayer on exactly the weekend that is warm enough but not too windy... etc...

So now I' thinking of vinyl siding. I could buy enough for one side at a time (a budget plus), put it up at my own pace (time/schedule plus), and with my own tools (another budget plus). And finally, I'd only have to do it once for as long as I'm going to need to care about it.

Here's my question: Has anyone done a direct diy installation cost comparison between low - mid grade vinyl v.s. stain/paint?

[DFB]

Pat, yes a colorful websight indeed. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

Reading the fine print is certainly an important aspect for any purchase large or small.
I personally know of one modular home dealer that has a clause contained in his contract that says something to the effect "that they make no claims that the product can be used for its intended purpose" [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

Color fading to an extent is inevitable. Normally a gradual change, the area under a shutter can tell the story quite well, though I've actually witnessed one house have all the siding (not ALCOA) removed and replaced by the installing contracter under the manufacturer's warranty due to a fading problem. At no cost to the homeowner. It belonged to my wife's grandmother. Both installers I used were pretty confident with their product and company support.

I'm sure your's will be a very well informed decision when the time comes.

DFB

[Stoneheartfarm]

I haven't done any direct comparisons, but would expect the vinyl to be much more costly. The T-1-11 is already a siding system, so a large part of the cost is already installed. You would only be adding a layer of paint.

The vinyl would run about $40.00 per square (rough guess). Then you need the corner trim. J Channel, F channel, etc, etc.
The siding is relatively cheap, and is cheaper than the T-1-11.
It's all the channel and corners they are going to hit you on. Some of those trim pieces are $7.00 to $10.00 each. You can rapidly get as much in trim as you have in siding.

I have a similar problem on my pole barn. I went with T-1-11 again for the simple reason of time. When the T-1-11 is up, the barn is sided, sheathed and finished. Local code doesn't call for paint, just siding. I figured to let it naturally age to that nice gray color that old siding gets. I have a storage building that I put up about 12 years ago that way and it's been just fine. What I didn't count on is the weather in the middle of this hay field. One side turned gray over the first winter, and the other sides didn't. In fact, one side looks like I just put it up. [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

So, I'll be making the same decision you are in a short while.

SHF

[ljh2]

I would suggest that you go with the paint/stain route since you already have the T1-11 siding up. I'd also suggest that you get a roller attachment to go on on an airless sprayer unit. These roller units really speed up application over a regular roller, and you don't have the wind drifting problem that you have with a sprayer unit. Sprayers have their place, but I believe that a roller will give you a more even coat with better saturation -- especially since your siding has been exposed to the elements for a while with no protection.

Larry

[Bayrat]

What a great bunch of posts! I have 4" cedar clapboards above the garage roof as you can see from my picture. I have asked for an estimate to apply cedar on the whole house with vinyl on the garage, cedar on the front only and lastly all vinyl. The press-board [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] siding is original and I really don't want to spend the time to paint it, the back is not in good shape due to the prevailing wind exposure. I have yet to check out the links here, that is my next step. Thanks to everyone that has added to it.

[Bayrat]

Lets see if this works.

[Bayrat]

[img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] Sears gave me an estimate Thursday for the house and garage in their best vinyl siding. This does not include wrapping the windows or covering under the eves but will cover the fascia board. They have some nice features that they include with the job but I thought 15k [img]/forums/images/icons/ooo.gif[/img] was a bit much for white vinyl. Having another company stop by next week. They offer an insulating board that conforms to the shape of the siding to make it more durable. I questioned having the old clapboards taken off and the salesman told me they would go over the top of it using the 1/4 inch "pink" insulating board that "breathes". I would think for that price they would rip the old stuff off and use the 3/4 inch he had in his sample bag. There is actually not much cost difference between the "better" and "best" product. If I were willing to sign that night he would have given me another $500 or so off [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img] .

[Stoneheartfarm]

I've seen installations that left the old siding and others that removed it. I believe it depends on how uneven the original wall/siding is. Removing the old siding is time consuming/messy and a lot of contractors don't want to do it.

How many square of siding are they quoting you for?

Steve

[Bayrat]

I believe he mentioned thirteen and a quick estimate in my head comes close to that. Just seems like an awful lot of money to me.

[Argee]

The reason they don't quote the siding removal is because you really don't need to and the cost for removal would be prohibitive. I've sided over buildings that had old wood siding on them, we used fanfold insulation (4' x 50' folded every 2'), it did two things, it gave a thermal barrier behind the new siding and it smoothed out the walls we were siding. Besides with the old wood siding still on the house it gives every nail something to bite into.

The going rate for labor only around these parts is $100 to $125 per square for installation of vinyl siding. The price for a middle grade siding is in the area of $65 per square plus the required J-channel, corner posts, utility trim and starter strips. Plus the cost of soffit material, F-channel and fascia, whose installation is above and beyond the siding. Then there is the added cost of the insulation (fanfold) and its installation.

Figure out how many square you have on your house and how many LF of soffit you have and do the math to see if they're quoting you a fair price. A square is = to 100 SF.

I hope this helps.