We want to put vinyl siding on our 1893 mostly uninsulated, clapboard sided colonial house. It has a stone foundation, and part of the basement has a dirt floor. We never get water in the basement but in the hot, humid New England summer it gets muggy enough that we use a dehumidifier. Our concern is that if we put vinyl on the house, moisture migrating out through the walls will condense on the back side if the foil faced insulation commonly used behind the siding. I know old houses are vinyl sided all the time, but is this an invitation for a mold fest? Should I specify any particular products or installation details? I know at least one housewrap manufacturer sells a “rainscreen” wrap that provides a channel for moisture to drain. I would appreciate any feedback.
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Why do you want to put vinyl on your nice old house? Scrape & paint - it will be cheaper, look better, & be the right thing to do...
I would argue against putting vinyl on your home. But it's your house....
I think you should address the moisture issue before you side the house. Everything you might be planning to do to the house is likely to aggravate the moisture issue.
Start by covering the dirt with plastic.
The rest of the basement has a concrete floor???
Take a piece of plastic about a foot square and tape it to the concrete (tape all the way around). Check it a day later and see how wet the plastic is.
Rich Beckman
You are here.
I echo the sentiment of the previous 2 replies: resist the urge to downgrade to vinyl.
Of course you can do what you want. More so, you can do like one of my light-headed neighbors did. Covered his house with vinyl a while back, now doesn't like the color and wants it painted. The worst of both worlds.
Did I mention he's a bit soft?
What the problem is with vinyl?
This cat has a moisture issue and you are telling him to repaint? Sounds like a recipe for painting every other year. Moisture coming through the clapboards is going to make the best paint fall off.
Not to mention the lead issue, this in itself is a huge PITA.
I gots betta stuff to do than paint my house. Like golf and buy tools.
You like to paint? Knock yourself out. Not me, vinyl would be my first choice.
>>> What the problem is with vinyl?
It looks like crap.
So does peeling paint.
I've built a bunch of vinyl houses so I feel vinyl has it's place. An 1893 house isn't it. - just my opinion. If he wants to modernize and upgrade the exterior I'd say go with cement board siding of the same exposure as the original and replicate as many of the original trim details as possible. It will need to be painted but not as often as wood, especially if a good quality paint is used.
Vinyl is a great product. I have used it on older homes and they turned out just as good as the alternatives.
As far as Fiber Cement is concerned I am not convinced that it's all that everyone is raving about.
I looked at a job this week that I have to strip the Fiber Cement off and redo it. Certainteed is footing the bill for it. The siding has started to take itself off the house after a few months. It looks terrible.
Butt joints in the field? Come on, think about it. How good can it be? The system's lifeblood is caulk. Caulk at the corners, caulk at the trim. Once that fails so does the rest of the siding. Not alot of HO's are willing to do the routine maintanence that FC and wood require.
I am going back to my corner now. I figured this might insight a riot of small proportions.
Why don't I like vinyl siding?
1. It's easily damaged and attracts dirt.
2. A year later, your brand and color are no longer available for repair or for your garage that you put off siding with the house.
3. Your contractor put the joints in the most wrong, most visible, places to avoid opening another box. He said, "Since we can't take it back, that new box will cost you another $150." You should have paid it and kept the excess for numbers 1 and 2.
4. They don't hire the most skilled labor for this.
5. The contractors don't like balancing the siding with your wooden moldings -- they want to cover it all, leaving a mobile home look.
6. Bugs get under it.
Why do I like vinyl siding?
1. I'll never have to paint it. That's a big plus at my age when I'd rather play golf.
2. It's cheaper than the FHB classic sidings (you guys must have a lot of time on your hands and requisite money).
3. She likes the look, as do passing walkers when she's out front weeding, and they compliment the house. nuff said.
4. Good for flippers who want to cheaply hide serious problems like dry rot or carpenter ants.
5. We aren't moving from here,so why do we value your opinion?
You won't go to heaven.
"Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade. It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit."
Abbie Hoffman
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We put vinyl siding on our bungalow. Original siding was cedar shakes and they were rotted. Cost to reshingle and paint was $38,000 (in 2004). Cost to use vinyl was $15,000. We found a good contractor with experience siding historic homes. Details of the house were replicated with vinyl or aluminum.
Does it look like siding? Yes. Do I care? Not really. The $23,000 savings renovated the kitchen, bathroom, repaved the driveway, upgraded the garage electrical for my workshop, and started college funds for my two kids.
If the next owner of our house wants to return it to cedar shingles, that is fine with me. Siding comes of pretty easily.
Jason
Like most of the others, resist the call of the vinyl goddess! Just took the asbestos siding off my newer home (1906) and removed the old paint and painted it. Now the neighbor is considering removing the aluminum siding that his parents put on in the early 60's. Buy a paint shaver pro, it will remove all of the paint to bare wood and you can have a beautiful wood sided home again!