Can't wait to see the photos! I wish I could give you some advice on posting the pics, but I'm definitely technologically challenged. We talked to the contractor that does work on our MH--he said he could do board and batten, but it will cost more because it's more labor intensive than the horizontal siding. Apparently, they have to be on a ladder for every piece that is installed so installation takes longer. I guess that makes sense, but I never would have thought that the contractors would charge extra for the amount of time spent on a ladder! I guess they like to charge extra for everything they can think of.

Since this looks like a one storey garage project, you would save on labor by putting up the wood siding yourself...two people, a saw and a few tools can do it. Why limit your paint choices to what will match the 'good' vinyl siding when you can use non-cedar wood and paint whatever color pleases you? In my opinion, there is no 'good' vinyl or aluminum siding with its highly visible overlap joints and give-away j-channel fastenings. By the way, the siding will also fade and look like crap, and you've wasted your money when you have to repaint the house a paler shade to match it AGAIN.

try these steps for either vinyl siding or decking (as I did) *latex paint - when paint is wet: start with 100% rubbing alcohol and dilute with tap water at max 50/50 on a white cotton rag and wipe surface when paint is dry: use 100% acetone (e.g., nail polish remover) and dilute with tap water at max 50/50, with same type rag vigorously wipe then - since paint will have been spread around (looking like a stain) - use Goo Gone (what I had) and finish the rest until clean, should be now nearly spotless *oil-based paint - for wet or dry oil-based paint, start with 100% acetone (e.g., nail polish remover) and dilute with tap water at max 50/50 on a white cotton rag, vigorously wipe surface if stain from paint is still apparent, use Goo Gone and finish the rest until clean, nearly spotless I tried a lot of different solutions, literally, except for those that research had informed would be ineffective for what I was doing or would damage the surface (powerwashing, abrasive scrubbing with fine steel / plastic type scrubbers) This post was edited by craig1721 on Sat, Oct 18, 14 at 16:05

Hi Ana, I'm still around! Though yes, I don't hang around this forum anymore. So in the time that I made my original post, I finished that old house renovation and then proceeded onto the next project (built a custom home from scratch!). Based on all my experiences, I can safely say that yes, you should absolutely strip off the old shingles/siding before putting up vinyl. For all the reasons stated by others above. In the case of my 100yr old house reno, I ended up NOT doing vinyl at all, instead I found a great Brazilian crew that stripped the old shingles, removed the old tar-paper on the house sheathing and re-wrapped it with Tyvek, and then installed new red cedar shingles. The economy was down then, and they got a deal on a supply of Grade-A real shingles. They were very skilled and did an amazing job matching the original detailed shingle patterns, particularly around the front porch arches - never would get that level of detail out of vinyl. We also replaced all the exterior window & door trim with PVC trim (and re-flashed everything). We definitely went more the restoration route on that project, both outside the house and inside where I re-did all the original natural woodwork. Was a lot of work but so worth it in the end. Also as the original outside shingles had been removed, I had the opportunity to blow-in insulation all around the house (from the outside). On my new build house, I also did shingles. And there again, I realized the importance of installing a good house wrap (in this case I installed one that allows better drainage behind the shingles/siding). You may have already started your project by now, but if not definitely strip the shingles if you can. I'm also happy to give you the contact info for the crew that re-shingled my old house. They don't do vinyl but if you were interested in sticking with wood siding they're great. We ended up painting the new shingles there with a top-shelf Benjamin Moore Aura paint. I've been by the house several times since selling it and the paint is not peeling yet. Here's some pics our house / siding job: 100yr old house renovation