Durable Siding/Cladding Advice for Mid-Atlantic Coastal Home on Budget
3 years ago
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Advice for exterior siding
Comments (12)Hi Sandra, we appreciate your diligence in investigating issues in LP SmartSide. LP SmartSide has been around for 23 years performing in climates of all types. Being that it is an engineered wood product it is more durable and stable than real wood dimensional siding products. Since 1995 the product has and continues to undergo continual durability testing in Hilo, Hawaii, receiving over 120” of rain fall annually without rot or decay issues. As other postings have pointed out, the LP product produced in back in the late 1980’s experienced some issues. The reformulation in the mid 1990’s solved these problems and continues to perform today. The “mixed reviews” you mentioned are likely a result of product buckling during acclimation to the environment caused by improper installation from lack of proper spacing or correct fastening. We are always happy to educate on proper installation with your installer. SmartSide continues to gain popularity in coastal areas over vinyl and cement products for its ease of use and higher durability characteristics. We would like to continue to assist you with your project and are happy to share more information about LP SmartSide prefinished with Diamond Kote, all backed by a 30-Year No Fade Warranty. Please let us know if you would be open to having a conversation with a specialist in your area. Thank you!...See MoreOur late 1990s tract house windows: how to navigate renovation?
Comments (0)New poster here in this section of the forums. Long post too. I have enjoyed reading the forums and the advice given to other people on their windows. Thanks in advance for your opinions on our “window improvement” project. My questions What can be done to improve sealing when re-wrapping metal on a frame? Same question on installing the pocket replacement window (seems limited). Any recommendations on window installation services companies in the Northern Virginia area? I'd love to get 5 install quotes. Any decent mid-range window hardware companies you like? I have a low-end quote, and I have a Kolbe quote. I really liked the quality of the Kolbe operation. I'd like to get at least 2-3 more midrange quotes. What do you think of the DC area renovation average figures for 10 3x5 vinyl replacement windows installed of $17,462? Here’s the link to the general web site: https://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2020/south-atlantic/washington-dc/ What amount or range might I budget for the services in the DC area generally? (I looked at the 2020 cost vs. value report for their “10 window” project - but I’d like your opinion too.) Is $200-400 reasonable, depending on the wrapping needed? Anything else I’m missing? Maybe quite a lot :) General Background. We live in Fairfax Virginia. Our neighborhood is nice, but not “historic”; a “tract home”. Background details are here (http://levittownbeyond.com/Greenbriar.html ) We have the “Essex” model. Our siding is white vinyl, and is in decent shape. We carefully clean it every fall. Hopefully it will last our time in this house. Our attic is well and fully insulated. Our time horizon in this house is 10-15 years. The front of the house faces due south. There will be a lot of sun exposure in 1-2 years time when the two old Norway Maples (invasive, non-native) die back completely and turn into log compost. Maybe a solar project is in the future, but not now. There are a lot of windows. There are some fairly nice Andersen windows, and they will be part of a future phase to clean, restore, or renovate their hardware operation. Glass seems fine there. Project The focus now is on 16 windows on the house. Almost the entire neighborhood has double-hung pocket white vinyl inserts on what appear to be OK white frames. We have the same. The size of the windows is W 35.75” and H 49.75” . There are a couple smaller, and a couple need tempered glass for bathrooms. Current Frames: seem OK, possibly some extra sealing would be in order to improve air-tightness. The same window veteran recommended a refresh of the exterior metal wrapping “as needed” because our current wrapping is pock-marked with a few small holes. Current Windows: these current windows now seem somewhat compromised through old age and use. Our current windows are vinyl. The labels are very faded, and almost illegible. A few numbers are visible. They appear to have “HECH” as a recurring word. One windows veteran suggested this might mean the former hardware company Hechinger (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hechinger ) might have been the local distributor of these windows. That means the latest date of installation would be the late 1990’s; 20+ years of service from a vinyl window does not seem so bad. The weatherstripping is of the “fur pile” kind, as is fairly degraded or flattened. There is some warping of sashes. Some glass is degraded. Some example photos 1. Some degraded glass 2. A warp on a frame Assumptions Given our time horizon, the good condition of our siding, and the context of the wider neighborhood we are considering a pocket white insert window as the replacement. We don’t need to have the “fanciest windows in the neighborhood”, but we would like them to be good quality from a decent company, very well-installed by professionals who can help us with other projects in the future (doors, other windows, etc). I do like the idea of the windows being “nice” to operate for their lifespan, and with a good, simple, and efficient warranty. I liked the Kolbe windows for that. I do like the concepts of the “passive house” movement on sustainability end energy efficiency. What I have had quoted so far. Local contractor recommendation: Interstate windows combined with installation. This was very cost-efficient, but the services were rated extremely poorly on review sites. $11K. Kolbe ultra pocket. $15K before services. Weather Shield pocket replacement $12K before services...See MoreOrange/Yellow Brick and Exterior Paint Color Advice Please
Comments (18)i have a bunch of pics here, so use your imagination and try to vision what I think would look good on your place. Love you metal roof idea. I think you should update the home (the 60's were good, but it's time for a facelift) to more of a mid century modern vibe. there are a few ways. First, Paint. yes, paint the brick (With Romabio of course. it's meant for masonry and has almost zero upkeep. look it up. Not the lime wash one, the masonry paint. you can have it tinted to any color so, imagine if the siding was done in a dark charcoal, and the brick below painted a soft white or gray? Or you could reverse the colors another poster on here painted their brick and was looking for another color option for the siding. I'd do your window trim in a dark color. here's a before/after from another poster on here. looks good eh? painted brick, white siding, dark window trim, AND she added the wood slat on the porch area. Wood is necessary! so the other option, composite wood siding (Hardie) on the 2nd story, just like this. paint the brick oh, and more modern garage doors. that's a must I love this one. similar style home to yours. you could paint the brick white, do the composite wood siding, trim out the windows, new garage door, front door. (this is my fave) next comment i'll post more split level pics...See MoreVinyl Siding vs. Hardee Board Siding
Comments (13)In general I think Hardie board will be higher up front cost but I love the look. I almost used it on my last house but then decided to sell as- is. I was working with a company that used Hardie exclusively and they were pricey but did superb work, as we went to see houses they’d done. I think no other siding company in town were comfortable with installing, so, never recommended it. That also means you may be trying to align product and installer, so you aren’t getting a someone who grudgingly tried to install Hardie board , does a crappy job and installer saying, see, this is why I don’t like Hardie. So in some communities there would not be good competition from which to select and that effectively limits your options. If you get one of the factory painted ( Or however they do it) colors then there’s no initial painting cost of course. Supposedly the finish lasts something like 10-20 years- I’d have to re-check that. You wouldn’t want to use the painting advice from a vinyl salesman since vinyl , “ never needs painting “is their baby. Then of course Hardie co. may skew too optimistic. It comes down to some budget choices and priorities and maybe your home’s style and your “ environmental norm”. If you locate a Hardie specialist to talk with, see if you can get some reference addresses to drive by....See MoreRelated Professionals
Fort Smith Interior Designers & Decorators · Wallington General Contractors · Greensboro Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Palmetto Estates Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Highland Park Furniture & Accessories · Jeffersonville General Contractors · Mineral Wells General Contractors · Delaware County Siding & Exteriors · Five Forks Siding & Exteriors · Palos Verdes Estates Architects & Building Designers · Griffith Home Builders · Leominster Painters · Pensacola Painters · Ronkonkoma Painters · Janesville General Contractors- 3 years ago
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