Hardiplank or Vinyl Siding or Something Else? (1 Viewer)

[Citizen87645]

I'm getting the siding replaced on my home and have been looking at Hardiplank the whole time. I've always had a poor impression of vinyl siding, but don't really have legitimate reasons other than aesthetics. I think I heard it doesn't do much for the home's resale value...but don't have anything to back it up. Is there another material I should consider?

 

[Jon_Gregory]

Here's the thing. Look at other houses in the neighborhood. If many houses have vinyl siding, then it won't hurt the house's value. I just recently had my house built. I was thinking of having it done in brick, but it was a much bigger price tag than siding. So I saw that 95% of the older homes in my neighborhood were vinyl siding and the Brick and Vinyl Siding homes that were for sale were actually selling for about the same price.

So it did not make since for me to flip the extra bill for brick, because when it came time to sell, I would not get any benefit out of having a brick house for sale among all of these vinyl sided houses.

But if a house is in a neighborhood where most of the houses are something other than vinyl siding, then that can actually hurt the houses value. But if you are actually replacing wood siding, Vinyl should not hurt the value of the home.

I love the fact that I will never need to paint, and all I have to do is wash it off with a hose if it gets dirty. Some people may say it looks cheap. But next to brick I think it is the best.

I live here in Pensacola, FL. We just went through Hurricane IVAN. I had some friends that decided to go to their parent's house because it was brick. I told them they could come over and stay with me during the storm, but they stated that they said my house was Vinyl Siding and thought it was not safe. Well, not one piece of siding came off in 140 mph winds. And I had NO damage to my house what-so-ever. The brick house where my friends were, a whole outside brick wall caved in during the storm.

 

[Justin Lane]

I'm getting the siding replaced on my home and have been looking at Hardiplank the whole time. I've always had a poor impression of vinyl siding, but don't really have legitimate reasons other than aesthetics. I think I heard it doesn't do much for the home's resale value...but don't have anything to back it up. Is there another material I should consider?

Personally I like the cementboard siding, but the price can become quite prohibitive when compared to the price of vinyl. Look of wood without having to deal with cracking and drying.

In my area, most new construction has vinyl siding on homes ranging from 200,000 up to 500,000 (usually stone on front, siding on sides and back), so it is not tabu.

One thing to remember is not all vonyl siding is created equal. Choose a siding at or near the top of the manufacturer's lineup for better appearance and construction.

J

 

[Citizen87645]

I live here in Pensacola, FL. We just went through Hurricane IVAN. I had some friends that decided to go to their parent's house because it was brick. I told them they could come over and stay with me during the storm, but they stated that they said my house was Vinyl Siding and thought it was not safe. Well, not one piece of siding came off in 140 mph winds. And I had NO damage to my house what-so-ever. The brick house where my friends were, a whole outside brick wall caved in during the storm.

Sounds like a variation on the Three Pigs
Glad to hear your home survived the storm.
Your advice makes sense. Vinyl siding is not as common around here and Hardiplank is more popular (at least that's my impression).

 

[Brian Perry]

On a related topic, I was thinking about replacing my cedar siding with brick -- can this be done or did the foundation have to be poured a certain way when the house was built to accommodate brick?

 

[Patrick_S]

On a related topic, I was thinking about replacing my cedar siding with brick -- can this be done or did the foundation have to be poured a certain way when the house was built to accommodate brick?

Brian a good mason will be able to retro your house for you.

 

[Philip_G]

I would think the weight of the bricks in severe winds could be a problem
My new house has cement board, I figure you can't go wrong with a 50 year warranty, longer than the roof!

 

[Jim Sentry]

Hardiplank as well as several other siding mfgs have been sued for the quality of their products.

I think though the real problem has been with the installers. Make sure they are qualified to install your siding.

 

[DaveHo]

My house is mostly vinyl and I hate it. House was built in the late 80's, so maybe things have improved since, but here are some of the issues I have with it. They tell you it won't fade, crack, chalk. BS! Mine is faded terrible and there are numerous spots where the previous owner managed to crack it somehow. I creaks and groans like crazy when it's windy or when the sun first hits it for the day and it starts to expand. It gets so bad that you'd swear the house is about to blow over. Sometimes I need to wear ear plugs at night or it keeps me awake. I would never do vinyl again.

-Dave

 

[Philip_G]

We lived in a vinyl sided house we bought in about 1992, and I noticed the same things dave did.
My biggest complaint is trying to mount something to it, it's nearly impossible it seems

 

[Citizen87645]

I think though the real problem has been with the installers. Make sure they are qualified to install your siding.

The company I consulted made a good impression when they came out for the estimate. They were referred by a couple co-workers and the rep also provided a healthy list of previous customers who I could contact with questions.

 

[Eric_L]

I'm OK w my vinyl, though we lost a fair amount in Charley. I didn't want wood because I didn't want to be constantly painting. The price was also right.

I wasn't too worried about debris coming through my walls, I live far from any flying objects. My only enemy was the wind.

 

[Mark Fontana]

Have you considered seamless steel siding? With this product, the company brings a special machine out to your house and manufactures every single piece of siding on-site from a big roll of pre-painted steel coil. Because each piece is cut to the exact length required, there are no seams anywhere in the middle of a run. The effect is very impressive.
Two national companies who specialize in this kind of siding are ABC Seamless and United States Seamless. I had a local franchisee of USS reside my home in 2003. So far, I've been very happy with the decision.

 

[Philip Hamm]

My house is mostly vinyl and I hate it. House was built in the late 80's, so maybe things have improved since, but here are some of the issues I have with it. They tell you it won't fade, crack, chalk. BS! Mine is faded terrible and there are numerous spots where the previous owner managed to crack it somehow. I creaks and groans like crazy when it's windy or when the sun first hits it for the day and it starts to expand. It gets so bad that you'd swear the house is about to blow over. Sometimes I need to wear ear plugs at night or it keeps me awake. I would never do vinyl again.

Correct! If you have a choice opt away from vinyl, it sucks!

 

[Citizen87645]

Well the Hardiplank siding has been getting installed over the last couple days, but tomorrow it's going to rain. I'm wondering if I should be concerned but then I see homes getting built in rainy weather all the time. I do have Tyvek on most of the exposed areas, so should I be concerned at all?

 

[MarkMel]

Rain won't hurt anything. You'll be fine. Why did you go with the hardi board over cedar clap? Was it the maintenance factor?

When I remodeled my house I went with pre-primed cedar clap. When we did our addition (roof-raising on a cape), the contractor had a hell of a time finding a sider that would work with the real stuff and ended up using his own crew. I didn't want any plastic on my house. My house is filled with antiques and we felt it was contrary to our style. Plus as an ex-carpenter, I appreciate the real materials over engineered. However, if we didn't have to match the bottom of the house I may have looked a the cement products.

 

[Citizen87645]

Hardiplank seems a tad more popular here, though I think cedar would have been fine too. The house probably won't get painted for awhile. Rain looks like it's going to stick around for at least a week. Thanks for the reassurance. I also called the project manager and he said they're going to finish it up today too.

 

[joIng4257]

My vote will be on Hardiplank Siding since it is very durable. But you should also look at your neighborhood, if most of them uses vinyl siding and it is efficient, you might want to consider vinyl siding.

Siding the Woodlands

 

[Edwin-S]

How is that Hardiplank holding up? Need to repaint it yet?

 

[Adam Gregorich]

We went with CertainTeed fiber cement. Its a little more rigid than Hardi and has less pattern repeat. That was ten years ago so it may have changed. It came pre-primed and we put two coats of paint on it. I've had to touch up paint some parts of the wood trim pieces, but none of the fiber cement. We also had vented fiber cement panels put on our soffits and that still looks great! There have been lawsuits claiming problems with both CertainTeed and Hardiplank. We have had no problems. Not sure if it has to do with our climate or the fact that we had a great installer. Never was a fan of aluminum siding (it dents) or vinyl siding because it seems to sag over time and the seems are very obvious.