Has anyone sided their house recently?

[jrhampt]

Any recommendations for picking a contractor/choosing a brand or type of siding? 

[Adam Zapple]

I just sided a portion of my own house, a new addition, with cedar shakes.  Would not recommend.  Very expensive and time consuming.  Are you thinking wood or vinyl?  What county of Connecticut are you in? 

I love the look of the cedar impression vinyl.  If I were going to do my whole house again, I'd do the front in cedar impression vinyl and the rest in standard clapboard vinyl.  Standard clapboard vinyl is probably the best bang for your buck since "vinyl is final" and you never have to paint it and its relatively cheap.  Just the occasional power-washing and you're good.  Another good option is cement board siding.  It is moulded to look like real wood and comes pre-painted.  Lots of developers are using this now.  The brand I'm familiar with is James Hardie.

[Gimesalot]

We just finished our house.  It is about 25 feet wide x 100 feet long x 25 feet high.  It costs $20k to have the old cedar siding removed, 1/2" plywood sheathing, and 8" hardiboard installed.  Paint will be extra.

We found our contractor on-line through google.  he had really good reviews.  We picked his quote because it was in the middle. 

We used hardiboard because our house gets a lot of sun, and the vinyl would not have held up as well over time.

[jrhampt]

I'm in central CT and was looking at vinyl.  Basically, we hired a national painting company to paint our home exterior last summer, and now it is all peeling off, even the old layers, down to the bare wood.  They won't refund our money or agree to repaint the house, but they have offered to do periodic "touch ups" until the warranty period expires.  I'm not happy with this solution, but can't get their national customer service people to respond or care about this, so I think it's what I'm stuck with.  My spouse doesn't want to shell out $20k to side the house, and I can't blame him.  Ugh. 

[Last Night]

Do not do vinyl siding if you plan on staying in this house long term.

I also did hardiboard, it's your best bet if you siding is the way you plan on going.

[Spork]

We built our house 4 years ago and went with Hardi.  It hasn't been on long enough to gauge if the life/paint life lives up to its reputation. 

We had a GC for the house build, so the siding was done by his framing crew.  We met with/interviewd 4 GCs to find that one.  We talked to some of the vendors each of them used.  (One GC regularly didn't pay his bills and was eliminated on that fact.)

I'd recommend against vinyl.  It just looks awful.  You're also likely to cover up a problem.  I.e, you may some day get moisture behind it and get rot and never know you've got it.

[Beriberi]

 We just had a house cited with Hardiboard and are very happy with how it looks. We did not do it ourselves.

Another bonus, which might not apply for you in Connecticut, but might apply for other people reading this thread: hardy board is very clean retardant. If you live in a high fire risk area (Mountain West for example)  Hardiboard is the preferred choice.

[Altons Bobs]

Hardiboard here too, and our trim is all hardiboard as well.  We have had 2 bad hail storms here this year, no problems at all.  Next town over, people with wood and vinyl siding all got hit really bad, you could see holes all over.

[Adam Zapple]

File a small claims suit against them.  That will get their attention.  1 year is not acceptable at all.  They did not do proper prep or the wood was too wet when they painted.  In the construction business for 8 years in southwestern CT.

[Duchess of Stratosphear]

Hardieboard has worked well for me. It was painted over ten years ago and still looks pretty good, whereas the wood trim around windows looks like hell. I would think the Hardieboard would be more desirable than vinyl if you tried to sell at some point, too.

[jrhampt]

File a small claims suit against them.  That will get their attention.  1 year is not acceptable at all.  They did not do proper prep or the wood was too wet when they painted.  In the construction business for 8 years in southwestern CT.

I've considered doing this, because I do agree with you that they screwed up.  I've heard, though, that even if you win in small claims court, it can be difficult to collect any money...I wonder if it is worth going through the process.

[bacchi]

File a small claims suit against them.  That will get their attention.  1 year is not acceptable at all.  They did not do proper prep or the wood was too wet when they painted.  In the construction business for 8 years in southwestern CT.

I've considered doing this, because I do agree with you that they screwed up.  I've heard, though, that even if you win in small claims court, it can be difficult to collect any money...I wonder if it is worth going through the process.

How much are the court costs? If it's $50-100 to file, it's well worth it.

My Hardiplank is also 10 years old and the paint still looks great. I'm removing clapboard from the old garage apartment right now and Hardi and metal will replace it.

[Goldielocks]

DH and I installed Hardie panel, with Hardie Trim in 2010.  We bought the factory finished panels that did not require painting, and used their colour matched caulk.  Nice is that the trim around the windows looks just like wood.  It blends with the other 1980's cedar siding (painted) homes around us.

After 5 years, we needed to paint it.  The factory colour (green) was fading, but the caulk colours weren't.

Otherwise, it holds up great.   It is very heavy to install, creates the "bad" dust, is hell on blades.   I recommend the hardie plank horizontal siding.  That is easier to install.  If you have  a partner, it is not an especially difficult skill.  This was my first job using the air nailer, for example.

[dude]

File a small claims suit against them.  That will get their attention.  1 year is not acceptable at all.  They did not do proper prep or the wood was too wet when they painted.  In the construction business for 8 years in southwestern CT.

I've considered doing this, because I do agree with you that they screwed up.  I've heard, though, that even if you win in small claims court, it can be difficult to collect any money...I wonder if it is worth going through the process.

File a mechanic's lien on them.

[Adam Zapple]

Filing is cheap, I forget how much but it is relatively easy and inexpensive.  The filing cost is covered by the defendant if you win.  Just get the paperwork and submit it.  Then you get your day in court.  The hope would be that the threat would be enough for them to refund you some or all of your money.  Collection can be hard if the company is fly-by-night and disappears or files bankruptcy at some point. 

I would call the painting company before you file and give them one last chance.  No way would I let someone walk away with thousands of dollars for a lousy job. 

[Midwest]

File a small claims suit against them.  That will get their attention.  1 year is not acceptable at all.  They did not do proper prep or the wood was too wet when they painted.  In the construction business for 8 years in southwestern CT.

I've considered doing this, because I do agree with you that they screwed up.  I've heard, though, that even if you win in small claims court, it can be difficult to collect any money...I wonder if it is worth going through the process.

File a mechanic's lien on them.

Aren't mechanic's liens filed by tradespeople against homeowners and not vice versa?

[jrhampt]

File a small claims suit against them.  That will get their attention.  1 year is not acceptable at all.  They did not do proper prep or the wood was too wet when they painted.  In the construction business for 8 years in southwestern CT.

I've considered doing this, because I do agree with you that they screwed up.  I've heard, though, that even if you win in small claims court, it can be difficult to collect any money...I wonder if it is worth going through the process.

File a mechanic's lien on them.

Aren't mechanic's liens filed by tradespeople against homeowners and not vice versa?

I believe that is correct - I would not be able to file a mechanic's lien.  To file in small claims court is $90 in my state with a max claim of $5k (the whole job including carpentry was $8400).  We may end up going this route, but I really am trying to give the company every chance to address this themselves first.  The general manager for the region was supposed to stop by yesterday but then canceled and wants to reschedule for about 2 weeks from now...I'm getting disheartened by the delay.

[PtboEliz]

Following...

[Midwest]

File a small claims suit against them.  That will get their attention.  1 year is not acceptable at all.  They did not do proper prep or the wood was too wet when they painted.  In the construction business for 8 years in southwestern CT.

I've considered doing this, because I do agree with you that they screwed up.  I've heard, though, that even if you win in small claims court, it can be difficult to collect any money...I wonder if it is worth going through the process.

File a mechanic's lien on them.

Aren't mechanic's liens filed by tradespeople against homeowners and not vice versa?

I believe that is correct - I would not be able to file a mechanic's lien.  To file in small claims court is $90 in my state with a max claim of $5k (the whole job including carpentry was $8400).  We may end up going this route, but I really am trying to give the company every chance to address this themselves first.  The general manager for the region was supposed to stop by yesterday but then canceled and wants to reschedule for about 2 weeks from now...I'm getting disheartened by the delay.

If they stall or don't address, a letter on legal stationary can work wonders in reaching a settlement.

[geekette]

Hardiplank is great.  We resided our house almost 10 years ago via Home Despot.  They said the paint would last a lifetime.  We scoffed, but it does still look new.  Before that, with the pressed cardboard they call masonite, we were repairing and painting every few years.  Hardi cost a small fortune, but was worth it. 

[sweetana3]

We resided our home in IN with Hardiplank.  Had to replace that Masonite planks that were seriously deteriorating after 10 years.  It looks great and the paint is also lasting beautifully.  Last side of house being done this year.

Our guy was the best contractor ever.  Has a multi page contract that lays out all the details of the whole job.  What, when, how, etc.  His crews were very careful and all was cleaned up each evening.  His business practices are great from a customer standpoint.  We did not choose the lowest bidder but went with the most professional presentation and contract.  (did the same thing with our mover and have used the family firm for years.)

We also used him for roofing and some windows and a big Pella door.

Note:  In Indiana, the wood siding and trim are not lasting.  Watched the townhouse trim across the street start to rot after 3 years.  They had our contractor redo it all.  A new subdivision is having the same problems.  I am not using anything but hardiplank and rot resistant trim here.   Wood now is just too soft for exterior applications here that get any water or sun at all.