I own a house that was built in 1983 by my father and me. It was a pre-framed home from Miles Homes. I bought it from him 2 1/2 years ago for a good price and he holds the mortgage on it. It needs work and I am contemplating doing an extensive remodel on it in order to sell it and purchase other fixer-uppers. I have been in the trades for about 18 years and have the experience to do all of the work myself.
The house currently has masonite lap siding on it which has rotted along the bottom in some places. It also has a 1/2″ insulation board under the siding. I intend to strip it all down and replace it with 1/2″cdx plywood, house wrap and maybe lap siding again. The windows and doors will also be replaced at this time. The house is 1205 sq ft.
My question is what product would anyone recommend as a replacement?
I have to admit that I have worked with Hardi-Plank and don’t like it for many reasons including its thickness (Asthetic appearence) and its difficulty to work with solo (Too flexible). Vinyl siding is also just “tasteless” IMHO.
I should include that I live in Florida near the space coast and stucco is the most popular exterior on most homes. Perhaps someone can give me cost/benfits with going with stucco?
Any input or suggestions will be appreciated.
Replies
Two cents worth, you asked for it, so here it is: If I were going to reside my house, I would not use vinyl, it looks plastic. Fiber-cement would be my first choice, although it sounds like you've ruled it out. You have to admit, it wouldn't be affected by your climate or wood-eating critters.
Cedar siding is what I have now, and although I love the look, the maintenance on it is a lot.
So those would be my first and second choices. But it sounds like you're pretty sold on stucco, which, considering your location, is probably a good choice. I know nothing of stucco, other than it can skin a kid alive, as I found out growing up in Calif.
Ka-ching, your 2 cents worth is spent.
Good luck.
Thanks for the reply. I am really just trying to decide the best way to go right now. If I go lap siding, I can do it myself and save some money. If stucco is less expensive than lap siding than I may go that direction. Like I said, I intend to sell the place so I guess I should be looking at what a prospective buyer would want.
if it's for sale.. vinyl.. if it's to keep .. Fibercement....Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike's right. You build to your market. If you produce a home trhat is in the top fifteen percent of those around it in that neighborhood, you might be living there for awhile - quite a while.
best improvemnent would be to add foam and EIFS stucco, if you can do it right..
Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks for your input. I should add that I live in a rural area with 1 acre lot sizes. The home across from me has vinyl, the one to the east has clapboard siding, the one to the west is stucco. I guess I should also add that I paid 50K for the property and it is worth 117K according to the tax man =^O
I have no experience with eifs as it is mainly used on commercial buildings here and I am primarily a carpenter/cabinetmaker. I understand it and have worked on commercial jobs where I have seen it used but I think that would be overboard for this place.
Are you going to use real cement stucco, or eifs? My first choice would be hardieboard or hardieplank (whatever), and cement stucco second. Eifs would come after vinyl siding. There is a gadget that is supposed to help one person hang hardieplanks alone...there's an ad in FHB and a short discussion here.
Look at the discussion "vinyl siding single handed"
Do it right, or do it twice.
Edited 4/19/2003 6:48:27 PM ET by ELCID72
I have two work shops on the property also that have T-1-11 on them. The shops in fact have three times the square footage of the house so I wanted to break up the look a little. It would be easy however just to throw up 4x8 hardi-panels (40 of them)....hmmm
You can always get a little creative with the FC and work some FC shingles in. If you're going to sell, it might enhance the curb appeal.
FC IS a little more difficult when working alone, but I've done a fair amount of it solo...just had to be careful with it going up ladders. I try to use scaffolding where I can or a hyd. boom lift on areas over one story. When handling a narrow (delicate) cutout, like under or over a door or window, I try to keep them short and butt in the remainder.
Here in the PNW, in the winter, it's hard to keep the stuff from getting damp sometimes, especially individual pieces when working in a downpour...which results in REALLY limber material! I've still handled it solo without problems...it's just a PITA.