Vinyl Siding

Al Carrell: Now it used to be that vinyl siding faded a lot, if you had a hail storm it'd get all beat up and it wasn't really the choice for a lot of people. But now, you can find siding that has a lifetime warranty. It really has been improved. To find out more about it, we've got Mark Shrode. Mark, it's good to see you.

Mark Shrode: Good to see you Al.

A.C.: And Mark is the executive of one of the leading siding companies in the country, and we want to find out a little bit more about vinyl siding.

M.S.: All right.

A.C.: Tell us about some of the advantages of vinyl siding.

M.S.: Well, the advantage Al, of course, is one you never have to paint your house again. You never have to....

A.C.: I like that.

M.S.: Okay, most people do. If you want to know about what we're looking at here, this is insulation that a home owner needs to look at when they're having siding put on their house, or if they're going to do it their self.

A.C.: Now that's quite a bit thicker than the insulation that I've seen in the past, which was like it was about 1/8 of an inch.

M.S.: That's correct. The old insulation used to be around 1/4 inch thick.

A.C.: Yeah.

M.S.: They come out now with 3/4 inch insulation, that's what we want to make sure they're putting on. And the reason you use insulation, for one - energy efficiency. This has an R factor of 4, and when you put your siding on there, it gives it a full five R factor. So we're going to increase the efficiency of this wall by 50%. Be a tremendous energy savings when you're doing the whole house.

A.C.: Absolutely. And I noticed that this also is shaped and formed so that when the siding fits against there you get a much more stable effect.

M.S.: That's exactly right. It's called contour sid...uh, insulation for the siding. Makes it a very hard surface. The other insulation is flat, which has a lot of give in it. If you've got a lot of air on windy days, you'll here it flap. This prevents that from happening.

A.C.: Now I've seen some people with insulation that has a foil backing on there.

M.S.: Okay.

A.C.: Wouldn't that create a problem?

M.S.: It does create a problem, 'cause what it will do is create condensation and you get water behind the insulation and wood and it will start rotting over time.

A.C.: Okay now, what kind of material do you have to have back there to put the siding on?

M.S.: On a house, if you've got like, this is wood, which is fine, or we do a lot of houses that have masonite, which is fine. But if we're doing a new construction home, we have to make sure they have some type of a wood backing. We can't use a felt board, but as long as we've got wood to go on to, there's no problem there.

A.C.: Now I talked a little bit about the fact that the quality of vinyl siding has changed quite a bit. What all has happened to it?

M.S.: Well the product, of course, is day and night from what it was 20, 30 years ago. The main thing is, the chemicals they put in vinyl siding is much better today. It used to, vinyl siding would just fade terribly. Nowadays it is going to fade, but it uniform fades, so you'll never notice that wall fading on you.

A.C.: Ah-huh.

M.S.: It's a lot stiffer. It's more rugged, so it prevents hail damage much, much better today than it used to.

A.C.: You imagine what would happen to aluminum siding if you did this?

M.S.: Exactly. It would bend all up.

A.C.: Yeah.

M.S.: And the vinyl doesn't do it.

A.C.: Yeah, this stuff just doesn't. You have to really go out of your way to damage this stuff.

M.S.: You sure do. You really do.

A.C.: Now I know that a lot of people are going to feel this and see well, it has some give to it. There's a reason for that, isn't there Mark?

M.S.: There's a reason for that Al. What you want to look for, uh, you'll see some contractors out there that use staples or they'll use air guns, with air nails in them. Stay away from that, 'cause what that will do, that makes the siding very tight, and what will happen, this material expands and contracts with the weather. It will cause this siding to buckle. So you want to make sure...this is all hand nailed on there, with about a 1/4 to 1/8 inch gap in here. So it has a give for expansion and contraction.

A.C.: How should you go about selecting a siding company?

M.S.: When you look at a siding company, Al, you want to make sure that the contractor is reliable. Check out the Better Business Bureau, for one. Get references. Look at the houses they have done. And if they give you a phone number, call the home owners. Make 'em show you the warranties. Have them pull out the warranty of the manufacturer they're using and have them read it to you.

A.C.: Mark, how does this compare cost wise, with other forms of siding?

M.S.: Well, what most people look at is painting, of course, and this isn't much more expensive than painting is, but the key is, when you're looking at painting, painting is like renting, you're always going to have to be painting your house every three to five years. With siding, you put it on one time. It's a more expensive cost, but you never do it again. So over time it will actually pay for itself with not having to paint and also the energy efficiency you're going to have, save on utility bills.

A.C.: If somebody spends money for siding on their house, is that going to be something they can recapture if they get ready to sell the house?

M.S.: Definitely Al and in '92 Readers Digest did a poll of houses in the United States. The average siding job cost around $6,500. They polled people that sold their house and the average they'll get is 110% back on the money they invested in siding.

A.C.: What about this area up here, the overhang?

M.S.: Overhang, Al, can be covered. You got a porch ceiling here that we're looking at here. Around the house and everybody's house you have overhang. That's called sofit in our business. The outside board, the trim board, is called faschia. Those areas we cover as well so you never have to get up on the ladder and paint those areas.

A.C.: So if you have a total brick house and you want to keep a total brick house, you'll do well to cover the sofit and the faschia with this stuff and never have to paint.

M.S.: Exactly.

Episode 011 1995 - 96 Season

| Vinyl Siding | Finding Studs | Stucco | Installing Storm Windows | Flooring (design) | One Time Close Mortgage | LIST |

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