Charlottesville Vinyl Siding & HardiPlank
Remember the days of the first aluminum siding? There's still quite a bit of it hanging on homes in the Charlottesville area. If not for the denting, chalking, oxidation, unsightly seams and its ability to attract dirt, it might still be a popular choice today! Contrary to what the buzz is, vinyl siding is not maintenance free. It is, however, as close to it as you can get to any material that withstands the elements and change in seasons that we see in the Charlottesville area. With a premium grade of vinyl, all that is needed is an ocassional washing. The more often you do it, the easier it will be to do. If you wait years between washing, you'll probably need to hire a powerwashing company to bring it back to life.
If you're thinking vinly, then you should be thinking insulation as well. It is critical to choose the right insulation however. The old method of installing Dow rigid foam boards (usually blue) and then installing siding over it are gone. Time has shown us that this practice was seriously flawed and should no longer be utilized. Today we have a new approach. EPS, or expanded polystyrene foam, that is contoured to match the contour of the siding. The contoured insulation also increases the rigidity of the siding and offers additional impact resistance to Johnny's baseball and soccerball!
Vinyl comes in a variet of colors and styles and there is sure to be one to achieve the look and feel you desire. There are even scallops, and several types of shakes and shingles designed to mimick the look of real cedar siding. This photo shows a cape cod style siding with a new copper gutter installed. Very nice!
A very popular alternative to vinyl siding is HardiPlank, a concrete composite material. HardiPlank is extremely durable and heavy, making a bit more difficult to work with, but the end result will justify the extra effort. While you can get HardiPlank pre-painted in just about an color, we prefer the primed HardiPlank and a fresh coat of Sherwin Williams Duration paint. When properly applied, you shouldn't have to paint your home for another 25 years! It's not cheap at around $45 per gallon, but few things of excellent quality are. If you work with HardiPlank, make sure you review the safety instructions carefully, and get the right tools to do the job. If you hire Frugal DIY, we have the tools you'll need, ready to go!
It is also very popular today to "wrap" the exterior trim and window frames in either aluminum or PVC coated aluminum. Most contractors present this as again, a "maintenance" free approach to avoid painting. We've been in the residential construction and remodeling industry for over 25 years. Our experience tells us not to wrap the wood and do a little painting once in a while! Aluminum trim is a waste of time. In as little as 5 years it will chalk and look terrible, defeating the purpose indeed! The PVC coated trim will last a bit longer, but it too fades in time and cannot be restored. In addition, we've done quite a few siding jobs where we replaced vinyl with vinyl, and when we removed the aluminum (PVC coated and non-coated alike) from the window frames, guess what we found? ROT, and lots of it! It seems under certain conditions that the aluminum locks in moisture and accelerates the growth of bacteria and mold that causes wood rot. We've seen so much of it that we'll only help you with using aluminum or vinyl clad aluminum if you sign a waiver acknowledging doing so against our advice! It's your call! There is no such thing as maintenance free. I'd much rather paint the window frames and trim boards every 5-10 years than replace rotted wood, or worse yet, not know the wood is rotted until it is too late!
Even if you don't hire us to coach you through the entire project, hire us for a bit of consulting to educated yourself on the different options in quality and manufacturer. We do not recommend buying the standard vinyl siding stocked by the big box stores. It's the cheapest stuff around, and that will reveal itself soon after you install it!
Give us a call at (434) 202-4198, or use the contact form to get started. Our initial consultation fee is only $88, and we credit that back to you in full when you hire us as your personal on-site deck building coach. When the siding is done, expect savings in the range of 55% to 70% off the prices you'll get from a contractor! Siding is a lot of labor, and since you're providing the labor, you'll save a bundle!