Need a price check... Vinyl siding.

[stfu&gbtw]

Hey guys... We decided to raise the bar on our summer project and rather than remodel the upstairs, we're going to replace the siding and soffits. We have a hell of a time finding decent contractors up here, but the company that built our deck has bid on the project. They do great work and have helped maintain the deck since it was installed at no extra cost. So, I'm figuring to go ahead and hire these guys, but I don't have another bid to compare it to. Three other contractors who came to look at the place decided they didn't want to get involved.

Anyway, the run down is that they will remove a the existing crap and haul it away, rewrap the house, do 165mph rated vinyl siding on the whole place (3 stories, 45'x35'), do all the soffits and facia board, trim, replace the landing (6x6, 3 stairs) on one side, replace two doors/frames with therma-true, Replace the gutters and downspouts, and add corner bracing where the house meets the main deck. The quote specs out the details for all the flashing, sealing, etc. Having hired these guys once before, I'm fairly confident of the level of work. They're prepared to do this for $25k, all in. That sounds more than reasonable to me. Do you guys agree?

Also, they put in a second bid to do the whole thing with hardie siding (without the exterior insulation boards). It'd be another $6k. That's a little beyond my budget, but I could swing it. Is it that important?

[iceman]

With how remote you are and the wind issues there's no way for me to tell if that's a reasonable number, but it sounds reasonable enough, especially if you trust their work. But let me be the first to ask….vinyl? Really? There's practical reasons to do it of course but man I hate that shit. Fucking ugly cheap-looking shit if you ask me. But each to his own, said the man who kissed the cow.

[systemoverblow'd]

Three other contractors in the sticks don't want to be involved with the project? Sounds like it will be a gigantic clusterfuck and you should be happy someone is willing to do it. I have no idea if it is reasonable cost, but from the sounds of it you should feel lucky $25k is all it is. Why might I ask did the other contractors completely bail? Usually I find they just make outrageous bids hoping not to get it and if they do it is at least worth it to them, at least that's how I bid shit projects. If they are willing to pay me astronomical amounts, I'll do the crap work. But I never say no, I'll at least give a figure. Sounds like a nightmare.

[stfu&gbtw]

With how remote you are and the wind issues there's no way for me to tell if that's a reasonable number, but it sounds reasonable enough, especially if you trust their work. But let me be the first to ask….vinyl? Really? There's practical reasons to do it of course but man I hate that shit. Fucking ugly cheap-looking shit if you ask me. But each to his own, said the man who kissed the cow.

Hey, hardie is on the table too, but it's a good bit more money and still looks pretty fake imo... This stuff is Mastic Liberty Elite, blah, blah, blah.... Looks okay. Looks a bazzillion times better than the crap that's there now. Love the way wood looks, but I can't be renting a lift every other year to paint or stain.

[PlayItLeo]

vinyl? Really? There's practical reasons to do it of course but man I hate that shit. Fucking ugly cheap-looking shit if you ask me.

Word up...

[stfu&gbtw]

Three other contractors in the sticks don't want to be involved with the project? Sounds like it will be a gigantic clusterfuck and you should be happy someone is willing to do it. I have no idea if it is reasonable cost, but from the sounds of it you should feel lucky $25k is all it is. Why might I ask did the other contractors completely bail? Usually I find they just make outrageous bids hoping not to get it and if they do it is at least worth it to them, at least that's how I bid shit projects. If they are willing to pay me astronomical amounts, I'll do the crap work. But I never say no, I'll at least give a figure. Sounds like a nightmare.

It's weird out here... We're only an hour from Denver. 15 mins to i70! It's a dirt road, but reasonably well maintained and no wierd corners or anything. But by CO standards, we might as well be on the moon. As soon as the one guy came up, he was immediately talking about all this extra money they were going to charge to drive aaaaaalllllll the way up here. Whatever... Another company came up and figured I'd built the deck myself with no permits... It's 12' off the ground, 1200 square feet. I told them the permit and engineering documents were filed with the county and he should pull them if he was concerned, but he didn't want to be bothered. The upshot is that construction is blowing up in Denver and these guys can make more money for less work elsewhere. In 3 years when the shit stops again, they'll be whining that no one wants to hire them after they decided they could act like tools while shit was hot. Anyway, I do feel lucky that there's a reputable company that wants to do it. Just sanity checking is all....

[::: :::]

let me be the first to ask….vinyl? Really?

how else is he going to pay for the tuned mass damper?
and sound insulation?

[SB]

Is there a sawmill nearby?

[::: :::]

normally, i'd avoid vinyl like the plague (it just looks cheap in material and detail), but even Hardie is going to need more maintenance, especially if you were to actually trim out the house with anything beyond flat square trim (ie wood, not fiber cement trim). But you are remote; you are on a budget; and you have a tall structure that's not easy to get around for upkeep/maintenance. So vinyl might be just fine.

but, as others have noted more sparingly, that's about all this has going for it: price & low maintenance

[stfu&gbtw]

Is there a sawmill nearby?

Sort of. There are two places that process beetle kill arounds here, but one is a super fancy log mansion type place and the other specializes in stove pellets...

[stfu&gbtw]

normally, i'd avoid vinyl like the plague (it just looks cheap in material and detail), but even Hardie is going to need more maintenance, especially if you were to actually trim out the house with anything beyond flat square trim (ie wood, not fiber cement trim). But you are remote; you are on a budget; and you have a tall structure that's not easy to get around for upkeep/maintenance. So vinyl might be just fine.

but, as others have noted more sparingly, that's about all this has going for it: price & low maintenance

Yep, we're on the same page there. But between the sun and the wind, the maintenance is a bitch. Going hardie for everything would be okay, but still wouldn't look very good. But it really just needs to work. I could wrap the house in brown paper and it would look better than it does now.

[iceman]

T1-11? At least it's honest.

[stfu&gbtw]

T1-11? At least it's honest.

Isn't t1-11 basically plywood? That's not it...

this stuff...

[::: :::]

T1-11? At least it's honest.

he needs the wind rating so maybe just paint 1" ply and call it good

[SB]

T1-11? At least it's honest.

Knew an old timer that did a house inside and out with T1-11, every 3-4 years he would buy clean motor oil and spray on the outside. It has the effect to repell bugs and water.

[stfu&gbtw]

he needs the wind rating so maybe just paint 1" ply and call it good

That's basically what the original owner did. 17 years later, it's a disaster.

[Tippster]

We used Hardiplank on our old house and were very happy with it. Looks far better than vinyl and is far lower maintenance than anything made of wood, including T1-11. It's also paintable which we liked and unless you were right next to it looked a lot like painted wood siding.

There's also the fire thing to think about in your area. http://homerenovations.about.com/od/...hardiplank.htm

Yes, fire resistant, but not fireproof. But no siding is ever truly fireproof. Even brick, when used as a veneer siding, does not completely protect a house from fire. And while a true masonry-built building would be fireproof, we do not include this as solid brick walls are not type of siding.

HardiPlank does not contribute combustibles towards a fire. Vinyl siding, being a petroleum product, significantly feeds the flames. Wood, obviously, is a highly combustible product. So, the best way to look at it is as a type of neutral building material, as far as fire resistance goes.

[SB]

Sort of. There are two places that process beetle kill arounds here, but one is a super fancy log mansion type place and the other specializes in stove pellets...

This is what I was thinking of, I have always like the look and function. Treat it b4 you put it up but that won't help later when it needs it again.

[char]

I thought this was going to be a thread about getting a quote to remove vinyl siding.

I had vinyl siding once. It was 15-20 years old, broke if it got touched by anything, brittle and faded. It is very difficult to paint ( I think I had to use acrylic). It was also impossible to replace panels because the particular style/dimensions was not manufactured anymore (or the local guys didn't know how to find it).

You'll be amazed how much it will shrink/swell between seasons.

It's garbage, don't do it.

[stfu&gbtw]

I thought this was going to be a thread about getting a quote to remove vinyl siding.

I had vinyl siding once. It was 15-20 years old, broke if it got touched by anything, brittle and faded. It is very difficult to paint ( I think I had to use acrylic). It was also impossible to replace panels because the particular style/dimensions was not manufactured anymore (or the local guys didn't know how to find it).

You'll be amazed how much it will shrink/swell between seasons.

It's garbage, don't do it.

I wasn't considering installing 30 yr old vinyl siding.

[::: :::]

This is what I was thinking of, I have always like the look and function. Treat it b4 you put it up but that won't help later when it needs it again.

looks great
not cheap

[stfu&gbtw]

This is what I was thinking of, I have always like the look and function. Treat it b4 you put it up but that won't help later when it needs it again.

One of my neighbors has something like that and it looks awesome. But he got sold on the idea that he'd maintain it every 8-10 years with some special oil based something or other. He actually has to do it every other year. There's no way...

[::: :::]

You'll be amazed how much it will shrink/swell between seasons.

^^^^another "pro" for Hardie -- more dimensionally stable to thermal changes & bonus points for helping the paint last as a result of limited expansion/contraction

[stfu&gbtw]

^^^^another "pro" for Hardie -- more dimensionally stable to thermal changes & bonus points for helping the paint last as a result of limited expansion/contraction

The vinyl isn't painted. It's just whatever color it is. Huge help here while the house is getting sandblasted in the fall.

[char]

I wasn't considering installing 30 yr old vinyl siding.

True, stuff still looks like shit.

On the plus side you could probably easily add rigid insulation under it. Mine had a layer.