Holly Moley Jerry,your post has remained dormant for three days. Let's see if we can at least stir up some counter-posting by giving an opinion from the standpoint of a potential buyer. Vinyl has always looked like vinyl and still does. Vinyl pretty much stick's you with a color for the life of siding unless extra efforts are made to repaint. Finding matching vinyl material can be difficult if any become's damaged. Despite what one contractor is telling you,few if any believe vinyl has improved to the extent it surpasses other choices overall. A buyer will likly have little problem even if they notice the partial replacement if it's well done.

To help with your decision,look around to see if custom homes under construction on large properties are useing vinyl.

I've seen a vinyl sided home after a hail storm - it's a cheap, inferior product.

it shocks me to hear the claims from insulated vinyl siding co.'s.

cut up pieces of foam inset into siding isn't a continuous or uniform

insulation install. it would be much better to put foam sheathing

on the walls first, tape all seams caulk it to seal & then put vinyl siding

or hardi plank on strip. use a reflective foam with foil facing out

& you'll reflect the heat out of the walls. ( furring strips

maintain the air gap necessary for radiant barrier to perform)

this is a uniform continuous install. that stops air infiltration

into the wall & provides an added R-value.

best of luck.

I'm concerned about this because insulated vinyl siding is not part of the overall design of the building envelope. Vinyl siding generally is outside the envelope, so I'd be concerned with moisture being trapped, via vapor, between the exterior wall and the insulated siding. It'd be like taking a heavy drape, and instead of having it on the inside of the house over a window, having it on the outside--a lot of nighttime moisture would collect on the exterior of the window. On a building, that'd be on the walls BETWEEN the wall plane and the exterior siding.

I don't like that idea. Does anyone have any science to think what I'm saying isn't true?

I made the post to learn which has been limited to speculation, not experience. For those of us in the East, what 150 million, traffic suggest more, vinyl is very popular and is used in new construction. One neighbor is considering replacing his 30 year old vinyl with Hardie, just for a change... . I've lived in NJ longer than that and have never experience hail damage... Colorado? hail is a concern, not here. Still I don't like the touch of vinyl and from what I have found in other searches is the insulation applied as part of the manufacturing process does indeed make the siding much firmer to the touch, straighter and flatter.

I have not yet gotten any quotes, but was told insulated vinyl is about 40% less, and due at least in part to requiring less than 1/2 the man hours to install Hardie an none of the hazardous to saw material (cement board) precautions. I am getting quotes on covering my trim with vinyl for either vinyl or Hardie siding. I'm also considering replacing my gutters and down spouts with the 6" size to mostly illuminate the the need to clean leaves out of the gutters. I've been doing that for over 25 years and am just too old to get the second story gutters, especially the one at right angle to a very steep garage roof, not a roof to walk around on. Again, I have a lot of still good cedar clapboard siding and estimate I need to do only two sides of the house in Hardie (say).. that cuts the cost more than in half as I also plan to do the 1 story garage walls myself. It is the vertical board and baton I believe it is called. I may just pull it all off and use Plywood with the same vertical pattern. .. absent all the joints and cracks.

Edit: I see another concern was raised while I was bloviating above.

The process that was described to me, I think both for cement board and vinyl, insulated or not: remove the existing siding, install a new vapor barrier. I believe both vinyl and and Hardie is then installed using a hanger type .. screwing to studs and the like. This says to me as far as vapor is concerned, neither protects against vapor from inside that gets through the interior vapor barrier and the vapor barrier installed over the sheathing - plywood in my case. As the insulation on the vinyle is nothing more than something filling the lap spaces, just as Hardie does because of its thickness and stiffness. However, the insulation has a much higher R value than does the Hardie, which I'll be is close to zero. Cement and even wood are poor insulators.

Exactly my understanding, but I have witnessed vapor barrier outside of sheathing every time I've seen a siding project underway. My house was constructed with a tar paper over the outside of the sheathing, I assume the new barrier is of more modern material.Both provide some vapor barrier.. think the purpose is more to block air leaks than to block vapor. But the subject which has troubled my mind brings me to the need to discuss with the contractor and do a little more research.

The R for the insulated vinyl was quoted at 2+, and happily covers all the studs which have no benefit from the wall fiberglass insulation between studs. I believe the R for the 3 1/2 stud is very low and thus a thermal image will show the studs as "hot" compared to the space between. With 16" on center we have 1 1/2 " in every 16" with very poor insulation, that adds up to about 9% of the wall. Sure, insulated sheathing would provide more, but I'm looking to extend the life of the exterior while looking nice.. not really working to improve insulation.. so that is just a bonus in my mind. Also, the firmer feel and assumed straighter and flatter vinyl is a big bonus of the insulation. As you said, roof35, the insulation is not a vapor barrier so the concern is the vapor build up and condensation inside the studded cavity.. right? The additional insulation (given I already have a tar paper barrier) should warm up the exterior siding and thus reduce condensation from moisture moving though the fiberglass vapor barrier and through the studs toward the outside.

jerry

What you are witnessing is not a vapor barrier. It is a moisture/air barrier such as Tyvek. The terminology is not interchangeable. Felt paper is a moisture barrier, not vapor barrier. On the East Coast the vapor barrier is on the inside of the insulation. Only certain areas in the United States have the vapor barrier on the outside of the insulation, NJ is not one of them.

If it were myself concerned about additional insulation with vinyl, I would go with a good product of vinyl, but have a fan fold type polystyrene installed before the siding. The fan fold comes in different R factors, still not huge, but would more than cover your concerns for additional insulation and about 2-3x more than an insulated vinyl panel.

Thanks, that's the key, I and others have incorrectly called that white with large letter printing on it (my well be Tyvek and I will look for that next time I drive by the house up the street still dressed in the "wrap". As for insulation, as I may have said, I am more interested in it providing for a more solid feel to the vinyl. I have not given up on using Hardie or similar for a repair rather than a complete replacement of siding.

I have operated with a Geothermal (Ground Source) Heat pump for about 24 years and my heating and cooling cost have been reasonable... my house isn't large, 2,000 sf" which also helps. I am also in the process of replacing 30 year old Andersen wood/vinyl windows with a much superior full vinyl window. This will change the inside appearance, for the better I think, by replacing my dark wood stained windows with same grids with all white and vinyl .. this more than the siding will reduce heating costs.

Siding is mostly for looks - windows are to lower energy loss both ways.

Good luck.

ahhh...someone who reads!

take a look at the following link to building science's perfect wall

construction.

while this covers more than you need...you'll see that

this wall works in all climates. putting the foam sheathing

on the exterior of the wall...in a continuous manner

with all seams taped/caulked, stops thermal bridging

of the studs. provides both air & vapor barrier to exterior.

with this construction the air & thermal transfer is stopped

at the exterior of the wall, allowing conventional insulation

to perform as designed. follow it up inside with making the

walls air tight...and you are golden.

kudos on properly sized geo system!

and the link:

http://buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-001-the-perfect-wall

and btw...you'll enjoy the article, Joe is a leading force

in building science & a down to earth kind of guy.

both come across in his articles.

best of luck

Perfect wall designs are great...just be prepared to pay for them. It isn't like your standard siding job. Window pack outs, roof to wall intersections, overhangs, etc.