Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ccr]

Got four contractors coming over to measure and give us quotes on residing our cedar house in vinyl.  Anyone here an expert can give us advice of what to look out for?  Appreciate your help.  

[SPIDERMAN]

Candy,
            References and check em out. Go look at some houses they've done and talk to the people that own the house(s)  If they are good and treat their customers well, the customers should be more than willing to talk to you. If the contractor balks at giving you names and addresses to check out tell him to take a hike. Call the Better Business Beaureau ( how the hell do you spell that word) and see if there are any complaints.

As to what to look for in the work, the major thing you want to look at when you go look at jobs the Ktrs have done is the seams. You want at least a 12" overlap for expansion and contraction. The siding should be hung and not nailed tight to the house but also not so loose it rattles. Check out how they siding fits in the corner moldings both inside and out, also around the windows. Check out how  they cut the moldings around doors and windows. Good Ktrs should 45 the joints and not do staight cuts. If you are going with full coverage and having all of the wood covered, you want to pay close attention to the soffit and facia as well as how they finish out the rakes up the roofline etc. My best advice would be to go to the library and get one of those Time/Life home improvement books on do it yourself siding and read up and then as I said References, references, references. Siding is one of those things you can really get shafted by fly by night Ktrs that are in it for many quick hits as they can and then they move to another state. Look for someone who's been in business for at least 5 years in your area. Don't be tempted by someone saying they don't have a license blah blah blah but they'll give you a deal. And whatever you do, don't watch the movie " Tin Men"  LOL

B B

[grc]

Candy,

Big B gave you some good advice.  Another thing to look at is the quality of the siding itself.  Stay away from the real thin stuff, it won't hold up to impacts, like hail storms, the way the good stuff will.  Another thing to ask about is built-in UV resistance / fade resistance.  

Jerry

[cigarmike]

Dont put vinyl siding on ur house period. That's my best advise. I make a lot of money removing Vinyl and adding stuco, and or finish coating the stucco under the vinyl...not to mention the dry rot repairs that get worse with time, cause Vinyl hides that there is anything wrong in the first place.

[110tHunDer]

Dont put vinyl siding on ur house period. That's my best advise. I make a lot of money removing Vinyl and adding stuco, and or finish coating the stucco under the vinyl...not to mention the dry rot repairs that get worse with time, cause Vinyl hides that there is anything wrong in the first place.

I cannot be worse than ceder, can it?  That's what we have, too, and I am thinking of doing vinyl as well.  I'm having a major mildew problem with the cedar and am tired of cleaning it and painting it when I should be riding.

[110tHunDer]

Candy,
            References and check em out. Go look at some houses they've done and talk to the people that own the house(s)  If they are good and treat their customers well, the customers should be more than willing to talk to you. If the contractor balks at giving you names and addresses to check out tell him to take a hike. Call the Better Business Beaureau ( how the hell do you spell that word) and see if there are any complaints.

As to what to look for in the work, the major thing you want to look at when you go look at jobs the [highlight]Ktrs[/highlight] have done is the seams. You want at least a 12" overlap for expansion and contraction. The siding should be hung and not nailed tight to the house but also not so loose it rattles. Check out how they siding fits in the corner moldings both inside and out, also around the windows. Check out how  they cut the moldings around doors and windows. Good [highlight]Ktrs[/highlight] should 45 the joints and not do staight cuts. If you are going with full coverage and having all of the wood covered, you want to pay close attention to the soffit and facia as well as how they finish out the rakes up the roofline etc. My best advice would be to go to the library and get one of those Time/Life home improvement books on do it yourself siding and read up and then as I said References, references, references. Siding is one of those things you can really get shafted by fly by night [highlight]Ktrs[/highlight] that are in it for many quick hits as they can and then they move to another state. Look for someone who's been in business for at least 5 years in your area. Don't be tempted by someone saying they don't have a license blah blah blah but they'll give you a deal. And whatever you do, don't watch the movie " Tin Men"  LOL

B B

"Ktrs" = contractors?

[SPIDERMAN]

"Ktrs" = contractors?

Brian Yes,
              Ktr is the Mil-standard abbreviation for Contractor.
              Ctr = center, so there you have it.  

B B

[hd-dude]

Dont put vinyl siding on ur house period. That's my best advise. I make a lot of money removing Vinyl and adding stuco, and or finish coating the stucco under the vinyl...not to mention the dry rot repairs that get worse with time, cause Vinyl hides that there is anything wrong in the first place.

You'll get lots of varying opinions on this based on personal experieinces and most importantly the environment and weather conditions in your area. There are some products that will work better in your environment that may not be suitable in others.

I removed all he siding from my house and had it the stucco redone. The siding looks ok when new but does not wear very well (at least what was on mine). Stucco with an Acrylic top coat looks great, does not absorb moisture at all and does not crack.

[ccr]

I cannot be worse than ceder, can it?  That's what we have, too, and I am thinking of doing vinyl as well.  I'm having a major mildew problem with the cedar and am tired of cleaning it and painting it when I should be riding.

Great tips all.  Thank you.

Brian, we have a cedar house and we love it.  However, 2 and 1/2 years after buying the 17 year old house, the cedar is showing that it is bowing, splitting and just needs help.  We can pay to get it painted - some idiot painted it to sell it instead of staining and so staining is no longer an option, or put vinyl over it.  In our part of the country we don't do stucco.  I see it in California and Southern Florida, but not here in VA.  

I did lots of homework.  Understand how it is supposed to be put up. Have a lot of reccomendations.  Got the Vinyl Institute Certification listing of installers, the BBB's listing of good contractors, have illimated all those that have had problems and have huge crews.  Am down to four that I like and have listings of the houses they have done.  Got two estimates so far, have felt and touched some samples.  Trying not to go for overkill here, this is not my final home, just want to change over to maintenance free and make the house able to be sold sometime down the road.  The one measurement so far is 3700 SQ FT of walls.  We have a detached garage with a lean two attached to it as well as the Two Story Colonial House to do.  Got two more contractors to talk to over the weekend and a decision to make by next weekend.  This is an expensive project.  I had no idea.  

[Gettinold]

Brian Yes,
              Ktr is the Mil-standard abbreviation for Contractor.
              Ctr = center, so there you have it.  

B B

B YOUR FUNNY [smiley=huepfenlol2.gif]