Top End Vinyl Siding

brianosaur

I am a hardwood floor guy by trade but a dyi when it come to my own house. So I hope it cool to post here on a question thats not related to what I actually do for a living.

When I am about to tackle a job at home, I usually pick the brains of the other trade guys at the sites I'm on ......provided they are friendly enough and their jobs are going smoothly

Anyway, in the past few months I've got various feedback from different guys on "the best" vinyl siding. Not suprising at all, they all felt the brands they used were the best one

Most guys, but not all, said Certainteed was no good; and Crane, Heartland & Alcoa got mixed results.

They all said use metal starter strips.

?? .044, .046, .048 thick ??

?? Double rollover tops. ??

?? Various input on foam boards ??

?? Tyvek or no Tyvek ??

Very confusing. Hell, I thought various types of prefinished flooring was difficult to choose.

Any advice would be great, thanks!

GunnCon

Tyvek in my area is building code so it's best to call your inspector. As for Vinyl siding I don't have anything positive to say.

skylands

Metal starter strips----yes

.048 guage is thicker so better bridging accross indents.

foamboard is foamboard is foamboard. Use T&G.

double rollover tops---- I make my own J so I have no opinion.

tyvek---- I only use housewrap on new construction. On the remodels where I go over the old claps or shakes then I only use the foamboard.

Brands of vinyl---Go to the suppliers and touch and feel the products. Make your own decision. Study all the accs that come with each brand. Some brands have different size corner posts. I just did a job using Foundry shakes. Excellent product but pricey.

Good luck.

brianosaur

Should I do Tyvek & Foam??

One guy told me the house wont breath, another said it would be fine. Go figure, right?

I have hard asbestos 1960's-1970's siding now. I'm going to rip it down to the sheathing which is -- not sure what it's called -- 1/2" fiber board with a layer of tar on it. Some of it has to be renailed as it has pulled through.
I'll swap out any real bad sheets with 1/2" cdx.

skylands

First, check with the local building dept about using both tyvek and foam. I think it's not a good idea plus I have one inspector that wants both and one that doesn't.

Second, check with the local building dept about taking down the existing siding. There is not much wrong with it to start with. Perhaps you have some cracked pieces or some missing chunks. But generally speaking, the asbestos I put on back then is still as sound today.

Third. Are you replacing the windows with this new siding project? If it wasn't planned then now would be the time to add it in. First, it's just a good idea. Second, you can do the new windows with "new" windows instead of vinyl inserts that loose so much glass area. Third you can then replace all the Homosote sheathing with ply or OSB. I never thought that Homosote would last more then 10 or 15 years when I was putting houses on back then. Be very carefull to locate each and every stud when installing both the foamboard and the vinyl if you stay with the Homosote. You will notice that there are mice holes, bee's nests and "oops" holes in the Homosote. (opps holes are holes made by the sheeters of that era. They missed the nails a lot.)

Good luck

ContractorSon

Have to agree...

Like asking which is the "most luxurious" Yugo!

Grumpy

Tyvek is a must IMO because vinyl siding IS NOT WATERPROOF and no manufacturer or trade originizations claims it to be. Be sure to tape it around the windows and other penetrations.

Vinyl siding is Ok. Let's face it every house isn't worth the expense of brick verneer or cedar siding. I wouldn't install vinyl siding though, if all the houses in the neighborhood were cedar. You can tell the difference. But even though vinyl is the cheap way to go if done right there really isn't anything wrong with it.

.044 minimum... but compare other features as well. There is some .044 junk on the market then there is some .044 with sun fading protection and reinforcement that make it better than some .048... The point I am making is while the guage is important it isn't the only thing you should be concerned with.

Metal starter strips typically galvanized, however there are some good heavy guage aluminum. Some hacks will cut the nailing hem off a piece of siding and use that as a starter. Boo Hiss!

Foam board may or may not be necessary. Are you tearing off what is currently there? Are your walls well insulated? Sometimes installing foam board too thick requires you to build out your window and door frames so they don't look sucked in. Keep that in mind when determining thickness of foam board. T&G is best but I wouldn't go so far as to say that the stuff which isn't T&G is bad at all. If you've got tyvek it shouldn't matter.