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I agree Vinyl Bad. That said, I also agree that if the wallet says vinyl must due, then go ALL vinyl. I once lived in an old greek revival style farmhouse that someone had vinyl sided. They thought they’d leave the original wide pine corner boards on the house to keep some of the charm. Hideous. I cringed every time I pulled in the driveway. The Wood wrapped in Aluuminum mentioned above might be best if you want a wider profile trim than readily available off the shelf.
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I agree with Stray, If you go mixing that vinyl siding with some nice substantial corner boards, whenever anyone gets within 20 ft , they'll
think "look he's trying to dress up that vinyl with some real wood".
As someone said earlier , if you are going to use vinyl, then use vinyl. If you go to a real lumber yard , you can look at brochure after brochure of vinyl accessories. And if you go with the more quality vinyl manufactures , you will have more choices to pick from.
I like the detail of older homes , especialy two stories, where they mix in a lot of details..big watertable...big corner boards...run the first floor of siding at 6 or 8 inch exposure..then at top of first floor put in another big band..then side the second floor at 4 or 6 inch exposure...then a big frieze board..in your case put down a big frieze board and parralel to it some type of corragated venting strip and cover it with another frieze board...oh heah at the windows band them with some nice wide trim.
I'd consider using fiber-cement board , personnaly I wouldn't worry about upkeep, it holds paint a lot better than wood. I don't know how old you are Jeff, but say your 30...with fiber-cement siding..
you might repaint when your 45...then again when your 60 ...then odds are you'll be dead before you need to repaint again... so you're only looking at two repaint jobs.... but look at all those years where your house will look so much nicer than those vinyl homes with J-channel everywhere you look.
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I am re-siding and changing the look of an existing home. I've taken off all the old faded and dented aluminum siding, taken off the 4/12 roof trusses and replaced with 8/12 trusses. I planned to use .060 6" vinyl siding. I'm ready to reside and I have a few questions about the exterior trim. First, from the current edition of FineHomebuilding is the article about the soffits, freize board and water table. I like the look but have some questions.
How will "J" track look beside the corner boards? I had thought of using 5/4 stock and cut a 3/4 rabbet for the siding to slide under. Is there a better way? How will the freize board still vent with the vinyl trim at the top of the wall? Should I punch slots in the top of the siding then nail the top of the siding close to keep the vent open or is there a better way. I also have 2 round top windows with a 60" radius is there a product or how do you cut "j" to fit around these windows? My initial trial with several releif cuts made the "j" twist and will allow water into the vulnerable window wall intersection.
What degree cut should I use on the water table to shed water at the bottom of the siding? What type of flashing should I use at the top of the watertable under the starter strip of the vinyl?
I called a local sawmill looking for pine, white pine, yellow pine or cedar all would have to be shipped in. All we have around here are hardwoods. He suggested that I use poplar which we have plenty of for the exterior trim. I've never had good luck with poplar outside, but he insisted that many barns are sided with poplar. I know poplar is easy to work with and the price because it's local is the same as pine. Is poplar a dumb idea for exterior trim?
*Jeff,Vinyl?....good grief. I have never been a fan of vinyl. Cheap cheap cheap chopped chicken! I'd sooner have the aluminum. It dents and fades after a decade or two but at least it doesn't shatter all to heck from a slip of the weed wacker. Vinyl BAD. That said, I should admit to having a section of it on my own house, but I DIDN'T PUT IT THERE! If plastic is the way you want to go, I would just use the trim pieces that come with the stuff i.e. inside and outside corners, J channel, soffit, ect....and form and flash special shapes with pre colored aluninum.Second, I wouldn't use poplar outside; new poplar that is. Those barns are old I bet and are sided with old poplar. Don't know what you know about lumber but the older poplar was cut from trees usually much larger than what we can wait and grow today. As a result they would get much more heart wood in a board which weathers much better than sapwood no matter what it is coated with today. If you want the look of solid wood trim and you are going to paint, I would whole heartedly recommend Georga Pacific's "primed trim." It's like thick masonite 1x and 5/4 material made with exterior glue. Great stuff. Little poochey around the nails, but it comes pre-primed all 4 sides, and will last forever if properly installed. I also think alot of the cementicious (sp?) (cement and fiber) wood grain plank siding. It too will last mucho longo. Very similar to the old asbestos wall shingles. Can't do much to hurt it.Anyway, that's my two cents. Sorry about the preaching and the spelling errors but I got nothing left in me. It's been a very long, very hot day here, and I'm starting loose focus big time. Help the world be a better place with better houses in it and please avoid vinyl if at all possible.Be Well, Phat Bastard
*Jeff,.060 & 6" huh. Is it the Carolina beaded or the equivalent or something else? J-channel would look OK if you are also putting it around the windows & doors. If there is not much other channel on the house, definitely do something else on the corners. Rabbeting the 5/4 would look the best, giving you the proper depth dimension. I don't understand your frieze and top of the wall situation so I can't comment on that.Certainteed/Wolverine makes a flexible J-channel for exactly the situation you need it for. I'm pretty sure it only comes in white.10 degrees should do it for the top of the barge board. Cover this with an aluminum Z-flashing on top.Stay away from poplar for your exterior trim. I've found it to be very unstable. I would use cedar if it were my house. To answer your question, yes, it would be dumb to use poplar.Just a thought. Since the body of the house will be vinyl, why not go with a vinyl outside corner treatment? There are some nice 4 piece corner systems. Red dog
*i Is poplar a dumb idea for exterior trim? Always, agreed. A most unhappy wood when wet.
*Vinyl Is bad... I like fiber cement for longivity But I still prefer cedar..Expensive though.
*Vinyl is good if done right. Not great, or even fantastic, just good. And sometimes that's what the bank balance wants. Jeff
*if you're going to use vinyl.. stick with vinyl trim and acessories too....make sure you have a good rain screen behind it.. and get a good installation manual.. for all the trim and flashing details...
*Agree vinyl does have a cheap look. Cedar looks great and probably is excellent in the north. Down here in the humid south it is not very good. You can make the tightest fitting joints ever and come back 2 months later and it will shrink open. I guess it has to do with the shipment from up north being dry then sitting in the lumber yard and absorbing moisture. Then drying out once installed. Whatever it is it is notorious for shrinkage down here. I have used it exposed and wrapped with aluminum coil down here. Redwood seems to do better for us. Pine is good but rots quickly. We use a lot of pine and wrap it with aluminum for vinyl siding jobs. As for your corners I recommend installing 2x4s or 2x6s and wrapping them with aluminum. Then let your j-mold butt this. This also looks good around windows and doors and is a common detail in the houses we do.
*I agree Vinyl Bad. That said, I also agree that if the wallet says vinyl must due, then go ALL vinyl. I once lived in an old greek revival style farmhouse that someone had vinyl sided. They thought they'd leave the original wide pine corner boards on the house to keep some of the charm. Hideous. I cringed every time I pulled in the driveway. The Wood wrapped in Aluuminum mentioned above might be best if you want a wider profile trim than readily available off the shelf.