Aluminum siding versus painting (1 Viewer)

[Grant B]

The exterior painting & minor carpentery bids on our Victorian have come in at ~$100k. We are one of 3 units so our part will be about $30k which is a crapload amount of money.
Labor is the big thing which is alot of scraping and paint removal.
We are a corner Victorian, One side butts up against another house with about a 3 ft clearence between the buildings.
I was thinking it might save some money by putting Aluminum siding on the side that's more or less hiden from view.
Anyone do comparsions and see that to be true? Labor costs are alot higher here, but the relative costs be similiar (I guess???)
Thanks in advance!
Grant

 

[BrianW]

Grant, for your situation, I'd consider vinyl siding instead of aluminum siding. Aluminum siding will still need to be painted, though not for at least a decade or so after installation. If you plan on living in your house longer than that, then vinyl siding will be lower-maintenance in the extra-long run.

 

[KyleS]

If you have the free time in the evenings you might also consider doing a good portion of the Labor yourself. Scrapping Paint is a rather easy thing to do if you have the right equipment. Probably the biggest obstacle would be ladders for you if you don't have them.

Unfortunately I don't know about the siding so hopefully others will step in and answer that question.

KyleS

 

[Dave Morton]

I'd go with the vinyl siding. I just had it put on my house and it looks great. But if you want to do it right and keep with the theme of the house, I'd get it painted. It will keep up the value of the home.

 

[Denward]

If you're in one of those beautiful "Painted Ladies", then future generations will heap scorn upon thee if you put siding on the house.

Old houses are a bitch to maintain, but you could think of it as in investment. While property values may not increase as quickly as they did in the 90s, as Dave said you would be preserving a lot more resale value if you painted.

 

[Grant B]

If you have the free time in the evenings you might also consider doing a good portion of the Labor yourself

Each floor is a seperate condo and your suggestion was my 1st choice. But the other two parties not only would never get off their ass to help, they would attack the job I was doing.
They have drove off other contracters with their micromanaging.

Thanks for the vinyl siding suggestion, I will look into it. The portion I was thinking about is not really visable because of the surrounding buildings