When we remodeled the kitchen in our Cap-Cod, it required opening up the wall to install a door on the front of the house, removing aluminum siding. Much to my surprise, there was cedar siding underneath--in almost perfectly sound condition. My solution to a similar dilemma was to retain, repair and re-color-stain the cedar in the front, and paint the aluminum siding on the sides and back of the house to match the new color. I have partial stone on the front, so going around the corners doesn't require butting wood and aluminum together. We think it looks great--a good solution if you don't want to maintain wood on all sides of the house. Going vinyl was never considered and like you, we couldn't imagine spending such huge amounts on other siding upgrades.

Why change from the aluminum siding? Unless you go to insulated metal siding---which is what our house has. Minimal maintenance(no idea how old the siding is--at least 30 years if not more), but it looks quite good. And the insulation is great---muffles exterior sounds as well as the heat/cool advantage. My experience---from working with vinyl and Hardi products for 7 years on Habitat for Humanity houses: Vinyl: At least two different types. Main difference is the thickness of the material. The thinner material is less durable by far. Warps under intense sun(south exposure) and can degrade over time. The thicker material lasts longer and looks better. Both types subject to damage---weed eaters and thrown objects from lawn mowers. Repair is possible---simply remove siding (from top) to the damage and replace damaged piece, then replace the removed siding. Easy installation with minimal tools necessary. That means installation charges will be less. Has to be installed correctly or can come loose in harsh weather. That means over house wrap and at least an inch thick layer of foam board, with each locking joint securely joined. Composite cement siding(Hardi): Comes in several forms, sheet, lap siding(several exposure widths), and can be shaped(fish scale/etc.) for gable end techniques, or installed at angles or in patterns. Has to be painted and should be sealed with caulking(prevents water wicking into cut pieces and ends). Requires special tools, electric cutters, air nailers(unless the more labor intensive use of screws is done), and caulking. That means much more installation costs. I can go back and look at HfH houses I helped build 20 years ago, with vinyl and Hardi products. The main difference is how the home owners maintained the property. Occasional washing(vinyl) or repainting(Hardi) means the siding looks good still. Failure to maintain means the siding is degraded.

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

Would love to hear from anyone who used a white from the Hardie “dream collection”…I’m renovating a colonial and want a true white. The arctic white is very popular where I live and it definitely appears gray, especially next to white Azek trim and it’s not the e look I’m going for.