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Mr.Ratbastard

Mr.Ratbastard

Well-known member
Joined
May 30, 2020
Member Number
1688
Messages
818
I have had a hard time finding a contractor to do Hardiboard and have only been able to get 2 quotes for vinyl, one insulated one not. Our house is 100 years old and insulation is pretty nonexistant so the insulated siding sounds appealing but I am not crazy about the looks of vinyl. I may just have to get over that.
does anyone use wood anymore? I like board and batton and there is a supplier an hour away. Hardie can be done in board and batton also but I may have to do it myself.
pro's and con's, opinions on wood vs hardie vs vinyl insulated or not? Opinions on diy? I am capable enough but doing a whole house I don't want it to end up taking too long.
Replacing windows, diy? Window World opinions? They are the only real in hand quote I have been able to get. 1700 sq ft house, 1.5 story with aspestos siding under steel siding. Both places said they would remove the steel and go over the aspestos. I would love to have it all removed but it looks like I would have to do it myself or $$$ both quotes 10 windows, siding with fascia and closing in the soffits 26k, 4 k is for fascia and soffit so may remove that from the deal.
 
Ugh I hate Vinyl. It still fades in the sun and hail will blow right through it. But then again the hail chewed up my hardboard siding as well. It didn't swiss cheese it but chipped the edges to crap. I know it's tough to get work done as everyone is slammed still around here.
 
I hate vinyl, but to my knowledge it is the only siding option with a real build in insulation option. If insulating the walls is not an option and insulation in the home sucks. Vinyl might just be your best bet for the best option.
 
If you want something other than vinyl, get the foam board insulation and side over the top of it. As for the asbestos, rent a roll off, soak the stuff and RIP it off. Wear a mask maybe
 
Hardie board is pretty awesome stuff but it's heavy and a PITA to work with so I'm not surprised if contractors are passing if they have other lower hanging fruit. I also hate vinyl. I just think it seems cheap and shitty.
 
east_beast said:
Hardie board is pretty awesome stuff but it's heavy and a PITA to work with so I'm not surprised if contractors are passing if they have other lower hanging fruit. I also hate vinyl. I just think it seems cheap and shitty.
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concrete siding is easy if you have the right tools. Either score and snap it or run old framing blades till you cook them. Gecko makes awesome clamps, buy the metal ones, they set your reveal and holds you board level for install, so its a 1 man gig if needed.
 
ConwayMuddy said:
If you want something other than vinyl, get the foam board insulation and side over the top of it. As for the asbestos, rent a roll off, soak the stuff and RIP it off. Wear a mask maybe
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This. Foam board and taped seams. I hate vinyl. We wanted no maintenance and a cool look so I did corten steel.
 
Just do it yourself. Buy your windows and siding. Tear off a section of existing sidings, insulate the wall cavity cover with house wrap. Install any window in that section then install siding. Next day move to next section, repeat until done. Have wife and kids follow behind cleaning up and painting.
 
If you're gonna do it yourself, do a side at a time.

Tear off the old shit, tear out the old insulation, put in new windows, spray foam that bitch, then hardiboard over it.

It's awesome. Airtight, better energy savings. Less heat/cool requirements.

If you're going to do it, do it right.
 
Our house in CO was board and batten. It was fine. But damn, that CO sun puts a beating on south facing paint. After only four years it was already showing some fading.
 
82toycrawler said:
Just do it yourself. Buy your windows and siding. Tear off a section of existing sidings, insulate the wall cavity cover with house wrap. Install any window in that section then install siding. Next day move to next section, repeat until done. Have wife and kids follow behind cleaning up and painting.
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This or conway's idea of insulation sheathing. Ignore his advice regarding asbestos "maybe wear a mask."
wear a fucking mask, soak the hell out of it. My dad is fucked from asbestosis, can't breath for shit, has to take a break every 50 or so yards.
Also I bet you can't just "rent a roll off" to get rid of it either. Fines for doing it the wrong way are usually enough to discourage morons from taking chances.
 
Our place is 202 years old and all wood siding, we were looking at Hardie board as well. After talking to several suppliers about it, you either need someone who does it every day, or plan on purchasing a lot more for breakage. They will not warranty it if it is not installed correctly, caulked joints, etc and it still has to be painted (I cant remember the length between coats). We had vinyl on our last place and hated it.
We will be redoing our place with wood clapboards and Azek trim. I already redid the garage door trim and built a barn door out of Azek. Wood siding is way cheaper even with more painting, easy to work with, and easy to repair if needed.
 
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Gotta get it down to framing to do it right IMO...
We had asphalt (asbestos) siding under vinyl... batts and bugs living under the vinyl!!!!
hide the asphalt under the vinyl siding when headed to the landfill.... truckload at a time!!!!!
 
Squamch said:
This or conway's idea of insulation sheathing. Ignore his advice regarding asbestos "maybe wear a mask."
wear a fucking mask, soak the hell out of it. My dad is fucked from asbestosis, can't breath for shit, has to take a break every 50 or so yards.
Also I bet you can't just "rent a roll off" to get rid of it either. Fines for doing it the wrong way are usually enough to discourage morons from taking chances.
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Disposal depends on country and state. Washington at least 10 ish years ago was double bagged, taped shut, labeled and taken to the right transfer station. I did a fair amount of “can you scrape this we dont want to test it”. I treated it as if it was asbestos and disposed of it properly. I was 18-20 at the time and didnt mind being completely encased in tyvek and a full face respirator at the time.
 
There is a landfill here that is able to take it. You can remove it yourself here from what I have read.
 
Squamch said:
This or conway's idea of insulation sheathing. Ignore his advice regarding asbestos "maybe wear a mask."
wear a fucking mask, soak the hell out of it. My dad is fucked from asbestosis, can't breath for shit, has to take a break every 50 or so yards.
Also I bet you can't just "rent a roll off" to get rid of it either. Fines for doing it the wrong way are usually enough to discourage morons from taking chances.
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I looked at buying a vacant property here and figured it would be full of asbestos. Talked to a dumpster company here, told me construction waste went somewhere other than regular trash and it wasn't an issue. The mask comment was sarcasm, sorry I hurt your feelers.
 
ConwayMuddy said:
I looked at buying a vacant property here and figured it would be full of asbestos. Talked to a dumpster company here, told me construction waste went somewhere other than regular trash and it wasn't an issue. The mask comment was sarcasm, sorry I hurt your feelers.
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Sorry, wasn't clear that it was sarcasm. There was a fair bit of "oh its not that bad" attitude on PBB, and it drives me nuts having personal experience with the effects of asbestos exposure. I'm surprised that's how they do it where you're at. Here it's got to be tested, and disposed of in double 6mil poly bags, and it's put in a specific area of the landfill.

Greg, I had the impression that you were a legit contractor.
 
Fuck Vinyl and anyone who installs that shit. Total shit siding in every possible fucked up way.
 
You guys have a hard on against vinyl and it doesn't make any fucking sense. The shit goes up fast, it looks good, it works well and once it's up there you don't touch it for 50 years except with some soapy water.

The asbestos rules depend on where you are. Here I'd have to abate and dispose of following all the rules but a homeowner working on their own stuff can tear it down and throw it on the curb with the rest of their trash. Wear your mask and don't make dust and you'll be fine removing it. If it starts coming up in pieces wet it down to be extra safe.

Vinyl is final. Won't rust, bust, or collect dust. Looks fine and lasts a long time.
 
D Nelly said:
You guys have a hard on against vinyl and it doesn't make any fucking sense. The shit goes up fast, it looks good, it works well and once it's up there you don't touch it for 50 years except with some soapy water.

The asbestos rules depend on where you are. Here I'd have to abate and dispose of following all the rules but a homeowner working on their own stuff can tear it down and throw it on the curb with the rest of their trash. Wear your mask and don't make dust and you'll be fine removing it. If it starts coming up in pieces wet it down to be extra safe.

Vinyl is final. Won't rust, bust, or collect dust. Looks fine and lasts a long time.
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Vinyl looks like ass. Sure, it is uniform, but it looks like cheap junk. It is touted as no maintenance, but that is because you CANT do anything to bring it back to life. You have ANY problem with it, you have to replace pieces or rip it all down.

And depending on your location, it will rot the wood behind it. In cold climates, it will snap if you look at it wrong.

No Thanks.
 
D Nelly said:
You guys have a hard on against vinyl and it doesn't make any fucking sense. The shit goes up fast, it looks good, it works well and once it's up there you don't touch it for 50 years except with some soapy water.

The asbestos rules depend on where you are. Here I'd have to abate and dispose of following all the rules but a homeowner working on their own stuff can tear it down and throw it on the curb with the rest of their trash. Wear your mask and don't make dust and you'll be fine removing it. If it starts coming up in pieces wet it down to be extra safe.

Vinyl is final. Won't rust, bust, or collect dust. Looks fine and lasts a long time.
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Until someone hits it with a basketball, or a rock thrown from the mower.

Let's not even talk about shit growing on it if it's in the shade. Vinyl siding is ass.
 
82toycrawler said:
Just do it yourself. Buy your windows and siding. Tear off a section of existing sidings, insulate the wall cavity cover with house wrap. Install any window in that section then install siding. Next day move to next section, repeat until done. Have wife and kids follow behind cleaning up and painting.
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This. I paid for siding when I bought my home because the lender wanted me to have someone under contract to do it. I've sided a house before (with cedar shakes no less). Paying someone was a complete fucking waste of money for the amount of work involved.

Take a week off from work and do that shit yourself. Use the money saved to pay for steel siding.
 
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We had vinyl on our old house. Had foam behind it. It was at least 4 or 5 years old when we moved in and we had it 5 years. I’d put it closer to 15 or 20 years old. I power washed it once a year and it held up fine. Yes it looks cheapish but it was zero maintenance. If it faded it did it evenly and I didn’t notice. Hit with small rocks and balls and it never broke. I pulled a few pieces off too and it was very pliable too. This is dfw facing west in the full sun too.

ymmv I hated the look but it worked.
 
don't tear off the sheeting
tear it down to the 1x boards they used to use as sheeting then toss your 2" polyiso foamboard over it. Do not use the foil wrapped stuff, go for the black fiberglass paper wrapped shit, as it is more permeable so that the house will dry out rather than holding water in bad places. Bam, better R-value than a conventional insulated 2x4 wall and no thermal bridging of the studs
I like metal siding.

the wall cavities are not to be accessed from the outside, you tear the sheeting off and you'll need to redo the drywall at the very least if the house doesn't just fall the fuck down. Just do the shit on the outside. If you end up doing shit to the inside later, you can then add a proper vapor barrier, insulate the walls and all that baloney
 
A lot of hate to vinyl siding. It's not all the same. My first house was all brick and we loved it. This one has a decent grade of vinyl siding. It gets power washed once a year or so or hose down with Wet and forget to control any algae, but that's really only an issue in the shadier parts of the house. All in all, we are happy with it. As someone else said earlier, vinyl is quick to put up, doesn't take much maintenance, and serves its purpose.
 
Don't get the vinyl hate.. Easy to work with and easy to maintain. Also easy to repair if it does get damaged. Use a $6 unlocking tool, pop out the damaged area and zip a new section in. That isn't happening with hardiboard. Just remember to store away a few pieces that match what you put up. Looks depend on the quality of the job, Like everything else there is the economy option and the premium option on materials and right and wrong ways to install it. I get the feeling most of the haters have had an improper installation to deal with.
 
I wonder about replacing sections of the steel siding(like mid wall)? I would say 75% of it is in goid condition other than paint. It's ok looking, goid enougn if I coild do it myself and save 15k or more.


edit: It doesn't look like a good idea. I was hoping you could remove a piece mid wall and replace.
 
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I don't like vinyl all that much, but some places it works out fine. If your insulating an old house, area's it's really wet, covering up crap on flip :D , it can be a good choice. Because of hail we don't use it anymore around here. hardie plank or LP are the most popular. I have cedar, but it's soft and gets fucked by hail pretty easily. I've owned a few houses that were rentals or flips that had vinyl siding, it held up well as long as it didn't take a hard shot of hail. It depend on your time frame and how much of an investment you want to make. It doesn't make sense to put $50k of siding on a $75k house.
 
I am not the biggest fan of vinyl, but F hardie. All my neighbors and friends with hardie have places where chunks have broken off because the lawnmower bumped it, they put a ladder against it, hail, etc. I keep thinking a better solution has to be coming along.
 
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