I haven't priced anything out to compare, but I wanted to tell you to keep in mind ongoing maintenance. Properly installed, hardieplank will hold a paint job for far far longer than pine or cedar. Our eaves and roofline trim are pine and are in need of their 4th paint job on a 10 year old house. A paint job (properly done, with scraping sanding, and priming), only lasts about 3 years before it starts to crack and peel. Our Hardieplank is going on 3+ years now and looks like it was painted yesterday. We were told to expect at least 12-15 years out of the Hardie before it will need repainting. Considering it cost us $10K to paint the hardieplank and a couple grand every time we need the roof trim painted, be sure to keep in mind the long-term performance, and not just the upfront difference. The price difference between Hardie and pine clapboard will be more than made up after you've had to paint the pine a couple times. Good luck!

not to be too opinionated but.... 7" definitely unless you're doing a small house. I on my house which is around 2000sqft, we did the 7" on the front and clapboard vinyl on the sides, and it looks really sweet. I've seen 5" on houses, and it looks fine, but from the street you can hardly tell its shake as they more closely resemble the clapboard. for reference, we used Mastic building products 7" ceder discovery in deep granite.

"Not all that much work" !! You've just described a 90-100K remodel without breaking a sweat. And that is with some pretty serious bargain hunting and every single thing going correctly and you don't need to touch the contingency fund. :) You live in one of the most expensive labor markets in the country---and the most regulated. The permits alone are likely to cost you 3-5K and weeks of waiting . Some of your projects have a good potential for hidden issues. And you've gotten one estimate from a low ball contractor You need at least 2-4 more estimates here from other contractors. Not only will they bring fresh eyes to your projects, but their estimates are likely to be clustered around a close range, giving you greater confidence that you are getting realistic numbers from those neither too high nor too low. Things you've forgotten or didn't address in your outline. *Insulation for your basement project.2K+ Wiring needs for your basement project. 3K Flooring needs for your basement project. 5K HVAC for your basement now that it is to be living space. 2-15K The plumbing alone can run anywhere from 5-15K depending on a number of factors. *Removing a wall means that you will need to address the floor where that wall was located. That could be harvesting hardwood from a closet to blend in and then refinish the whole floor to complete replacement of the flooring on the first floor. 1K-10K You will also have to redo the drywall, and getting that level will be a challenge. Electrical will most certainly need to be addressed, and possibly plumbing and HVAC. $$$ A structural engineer's report will run $500 to $1500. If you need to have structural needs addressed, you're talking 5K to 10K. *New kitchens require a pretty good update to your electrical system and rewiring a lot of circuits. If you already have a 200 amp subpanel and the kitchen was done sometime since the 80's, you might only have a 3K electrical bill for the kitchen. If you have an old 60amp panel, then you're talking a whole new service and panel for the home. 7K You'll need to address lighting needs as well as the dedicated circuits that the fridge and MW will need. 1K You'll have to deal with the flooring. Sheet vinyl will be the least expensive choice at around $500. Even laminate counters will be more than 1K for most kitchens, and you can spend around 5K for bottom end cabinets. If you want something better, double to triple that. You still have the sink, faucet, lighting fixtures, ventilation system, paint and other details to pay for.1K for low end. You'll be opening the walls up for some of this, and there's no better time to address the insulation needed. * You're gonna get another sticker shock when it comes to the door issue. A plain jane interior door that's not hollow core will run you $150, plus another $100 for the install. Multiply by x number of doors. What about closet doors? You can't replace all the others and leave the old closet doors. Exterior doors can be $200 for a builder's grade steel to $5000 for a medium grade wood with sidelights. Don't forget the work your trim and drywall will now need as well as the paint. You'll be painting all of the trim for sure minimum. *Most appliances will need their own dedicated electrical circuits and will also need a plumber. Appliance prices vary wildly from a 3K first apartment type of package to a 30K+ one for the serious cook. *There is no point in replacing the soffits without replacing them with vented soffits. There just isn't any better way to vent your attic and there's no better time to do it. Vented soffits will need you to tweak your attic insulation for proper airflow, and I'll bet you don't have enough insulation. Hardly anyone does. Then you'll also need to install a ridge vent in the roof peak for the hot air to exit the home. Whirlybirds and power vents don't move enough air. 5K+++ *Cedar for siding is pretty pricey. Even more so if you're talking $hake$ instead of lap. There are plenty of cases with homes having their original 200 year old siding because the home was constructed and maintained correctly. Siding on homes doesn't just fail without some cause. Water infiltration is the primary suspect. I'll bet that the drainage plane behind the shingles is compromised or non existent and that the window flashing is also done incorrectly if at all. You have a lot of warning issues with damaged exterior systems here, and that means you'd better have a pretty good contingency fund before tackling those issues. You are very likely to have to increase the scope of the work due to hidden damage once you begin the project. This has the potential to quickly turn into a 70K project, especially if you're dealing with wood windows and no water barrier under the siding. This home has some pretty serious potential issues that can quickly run through a budget without completing your list. It's far better to tackle a few of those key "bones" projects that may have hidden issues like the siding and soffits and have a pro do them right while you live with the more cosmetic issues like a kitchen redo. A basement reno could be a DIY project for you where you learn enough skills to be able to also at least partially tackle the kitchen reno. And do some research on the Kitchen Forum here to see if you might tweak the utility of the kitchen while you are dealing with it's cosmetics, especially since you are removing walls.

I think the only negative review I read regarding Cedar Valley (CV) or Shakertown was from someone who didn't like the idea of plywood behind the cedar. CV has a fiberglass laminate built in, and the product seems pretty solid to me with added moisture protection. I think the price is almost $100 more per square than Ecoshel, though. My concern is when different materials are married at the factory. I feel the same for plumbing and windows. Different materials expand and contract differently, respond to water differently, etc. Thankfully CV is only mixing plywood with cedar, and a fiberglass laminate. The fiberglass must be their moisture barrier, but my concern is getting moisture out from between the two products. I'll look into how they weep moisture. Question: being that CV is thicker than traditional cedar shingles, did that cause any problems around window/door trim? In regards to cedar impressions: Don't be fooled by the photos, I drove by a lot and even knocked on some doors. I could tell from the car which houses were vinyl shingles. Customers said it was the best thing they did, no maintenance, 10 years old, still looks new, etc. But like you found out, after pricing, it ended up costing just as much as the real thing. I think you need to love the idea of less maintenance more than your love for the real thing. Or go with fiber cement and ignore any negative reviews. We have family in Nantucket and when I asked them what the life span of cedar was for them, they said at least 20 years. And that's with brutal salt air and no stains or paints (not allowed on the island). So with stain I could see maybe 30 years or more? I'm OK with that kind of ROI. I'm also in the home renovation business, so working on my house is a pleasure. I don't care so much for "maintenance free" (maybe I'll feel differently in 30 years), but I love the detail and warmth of real cedar, I'm familiar with it, it's forgiving, and natural, so won't sit in a land fill for 100 years. They say vinyl is recyclable, but I've never seen anyone recycle it. Let me know how your installation goes, it's cold up here, so siding will have to wait until spring. Blessings.