Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | May 28, 2000 07:01pm | #5

   *
   In a recent post, "Quality Cost Cutting", the issue of Vinyl siding and longevity of building materials came up. The sub-discussion asked whether there would be lots of homes requiring big repairs in the next 20 years due to some of the choices of building materials used in the last 20 years.

   That really got me thinking. I thought about what 'old' houses looked like when I was a kid (1960's) and what was failing on them then. Most old houses had pealing paint and rotted siding & trim. Some had sway-back roofs. Lots had witness marks where decorative porches or trim had been stripped off due to (probably) the high labor cost of keeping the fancy, intricate wooden trim painted and protected against rot. The old houses that are today covered with bland, white (or off color) asbestous shingles and aluminum siding (or the tar paper 'stick on brick' shingle-sort-of covering) look very plain but might have once been decorated with all kinds of wood-based mouldings.

   Those wooden decorations (and siding) did not last due to their shortcomings (the ones that did last were taken care of - part of that material's shortcomings). Remember that the decorative wood trim & siding used in North America was a cheap alternative to the "real" stone decoration and housing construction material used in Europe for centuries (I imagine European builders and designers scoffing at that 'crappy wood construction' that we old-house fans treasure so today, maybe in a similar way that posters on this site may scoff at vinyl siding!).

   Anyway, that there will be things done today that won't last should be taken as a given, I think, in light of what history teaches us and Vinyl siding (and its Aluminum, asbestous and asphault predecesors) may fall into that category. Some will last longer than others, but none is 'wood'. But, then, wood is not 'stone' either, is it? :-)

1. 
   Guest_ | May 26, 2000 08:36pm | #1

   *Decent points. We're still learning. Boy, has vinyl been debated to death here ... it's clearly not a cornerstone of 'fine homebuilding' ... perhaps 'cheaper homebuilding.' OK, so this isn't Fine Castlebuilding (e.g., Architectural Digest?). But cheaper homebuilding is a lower standard and would be another magazine also -- maybe called "(unat)Tract(ive) Home!" -- that I wouldn't be subscribing to.Hard to draw the line. Homeowners are so obsessed with how much things cost! (Well, most are outside the dot com world.)

1. 
   Guest_ | May 26, 2000 09:20pm | #2

   *If I had an unlimited amount to spend on my new home, vinyl siding would be there somewhere. I like clapboard more than I like brick or stone and I don't want to paint.Something will come along that will be superior to vinyl soon. It just won't be wood. (lets see how this fibercement thing works out)

1. 
   Guest_ | May 27, 2000 06:36am | #3

   *Just like most things, vinyl has a place in some structures and no place in others. Many people with summer cottages don't want to be bothered with major maintenance-they want to enjoy the weekend and go home. With vinyl the right exposure and installation is everything. A lot of different trim pieces makes a job look "busy". If you have your own brake you can bend your trim so as to avoid j channel all over the place, but you don't see this very much because it takes time and corners require more attention to detail. You can't do much about the overlapping seams-I have some older Wolverine literature mentioning the availability of panels up to 40 feet in length but could you imagine the expansion/contraction with such long lengths?I agree with Ryan-sooner or later something better will come along for those people who are put off by the painting of wood/cement or the "cheapness" of vinyl. Who knows-maybe a fiber cement siding with a pigmented base! Trouble is, vinyl is so popular there is no incentive for the manufacturers to try something radically different. To be honest though, although most people hate painting they sure fall in love with the looks of a freshly painted house-and it does allow the onwer much more flexibility with color schemes.

1. 
   Guest_ | May 28, 2000 05:08am | #4

   *First of all, I didn't intend to dump on vinyl siding. My point was more that, yes there are wood houses with problems but there are well-established ways of repairing them, both professionally and DIY. Wood replacement pieces can be made or duplicated. Epoxy repairs can be made, etc.What happens when you want to modify your house, need vinyl siding in a certain size/profile and it isn't made anymore? It happens to people all the time with older aluminum siding.My point was that there is going to be big business in the future in complete exterior envelope overhauls in certain types of housing because of the materials and methods being used.i ... then wood isn't 'stone' is it.Good point. Of course at Disney World, 'stone' and 'wood' are fiberglas!PS Norm - we've been paid good money in the past to design new houses with a 'sway-backed' look because it was what the client wanted.b Been there, done that, can't remember ...

2. 
   josh_miller | May 28, 2000 07:01pm | #6

   *i sorry but i refuse to even consider the existance of the material. i am die hard fan of wood. shame one the people who like vinyl siding. have you seen what happens when hail storms hit like they have in wisconsin. older siding that had already faded was hit and i had to replace the whole house because of the color difference. the insurance only covered part of the house. this is just one reason. this is just cheap, ugly, mass produced, bad for the envirment stuff. i want to cry when i see a great old house covered by it!!!!!