need some quick info

[Pat]

As there are widely varying qualities of paint with vastly different "lasting" power, there is a wide range of vinyl siding product. Some is quite resistant to fade and has good cold weather flex without shattering. Thicknesses vary considerably and some are fiber reinforced. My vinyl guy recommended not getting the fiber reinforced but investing is good quality material that is thicker. Ask me again in 15 years.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Bird]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
Some is quite resistant to fade and has good cold weather flex without shattering.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's what I thought, too, but couldn't say for sure. I recall one of my brothers telling me about his first experience with installing vinyl siding (don't remember whether it was while he was still in Anchorage, AK, or when he was in Ellensburg, WA), and he said he tried hitting a piece of it with a hammer when it was way below freezing (can't remember, either, just how cold he said it was), and it amazed him at the time that it didn't break.

So when he built his own home in Texas, he used white vinyl siding. And right now, I'm living in a 1997 mobile home with cream colored or beige vinyl siding and see no signs of deterioration or fading yet. Of course, if I had to replace a piece of it, I might find that it's faded, but uniformly so.

[Pat]

Bird, Another good idea is the styrofoam insulation that is molded to fit behind vinyl siding. It is not of uniform thickness because it form fits the particular patern of your siding but gives an average R-5. This, of course benefits your heating and cooling efforts but wait... There is more! It supports the vinyl so that when the wall is leaned on or hit it cushions the vinyl and supports it from the back and reduces the flex. This greatly reduces cracking of the vinyl.

I didn't really need the R-value but wanted the increased mechanical toughness so I used it wherever the vinyl came down where a person would hit it. For example: on our back porch the vinyl comes down to the slab in between the windows where it would have been a nightnare to do brick (and have it flex and crack maybe). Here it is likely that chairs, people, etc. will hit the vinyl. Boy oh boy, how you can really feel the difference.

When you press in on the vinyl, backed with the form fitting styrofoam insulation, it feels really solid, especially when compared to the vinyl without backing.

Something not mentioned previously: Some vinyl manufacturers include additives to retard the effects of UV radiation to a greater extent than others.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Bird]

Pat, I agree that the styrofoam is a very good idea. If I'm not mistaken, it serves another purpose as well. I've been told that one of the mistakes novices make when putting vinyl siding on a solid surface is that they drive the nails in too tight. As with many materials, the vinyl expands and contracts a little bit with temperture changes and you want it to slide in the slots under the nail heads instead of buckling. I've heard (no personal experience) that the styrofoam helps in that regard as well as providing insulation and a solid feel.

[Pat]

Bird, I can attest to the solid feel, and am confident of the insulation factor, but I don't get the part about making the fasteners looser for unskilled installers.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[LarryRB]

vinyl siding is "hung" and not nailed tight like a board. The vinyl siding moves a lot as it expands and contracts throughout the different weather patterns..

[Bird]

I think LarryRB explained it maybe better than I did. If you drive the nails all the way in tight, as you would with a board, you'll have buckling of the vinyl siding. So you drive the nails almost all the way in, but not so tight that the vinyl siding cannot slip back and forth under the nail head. At one time, we considered buying a new home in Port Aransas, and since everything rust so bad on Mustang Island, the builder used all stainless steel nails for the vinyl siding. I think with the strofoam behind the siding, you still don't want to overdo it driving the nails in, but I think you can get them fairly snug and the styrofoam will still let the vinyl slip a bit when necessary.

[LarryRB]

best way to explain is drive the nail through the slot in the vinyl siding until a credit card can fit between siding and back of nail head, At this point, it is done correctly

[Pat]

LarryRB, Tis true. Vinyl has a fairly large coeficient of linear expansion with changes in temp. My siding came with color coded spacers marked with different temperatures. The spacers give the correct spacing for the temp indicated on them. Takes the guess work out of an installation.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Bird]

I think we're all on the same page now. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]