Vinyl Siding: The Low Cost of High Style
Why Vinyl Siding?
Over the years, vinyl siding has quickly become one of the most common choices for residential exterior walls. Some of the most clear cut reasons to side your home with vinyl product boil down to variety, durability, and value.
Replacing your siding could increase the resale value of your home as much as 75% during resale.
Cost
Vinyl siding is one of the least expensive siding options available on the market for your home, while also providing a large variety of colors and styles.
Adding vinyl siding to your home can increase long term value. However, the area of the country in which you live makes a difference.
For example, vinyl siding may add more value on the East Coast, where it is more popular than other types of siding. In the South, where stucco is popular, replacing siding with vinyl may not provide the same return on investment.
Durability
PVC
Why so durable? Well, most vinyl siding is made from polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. This is one of the most commonly produced synthetic plastic polymers in the world. If you add plasticizer, some types of PVC are flexible, but the kind that’s used for siding is usually rigid and waterproof.
Rigid PVC is often used in construction for all sorts of applications, like doors and windows.
High-quality vinyl siding resists warping and melting in high temperatures. That’s important when you consider that the sun may shine on a specific wall of your home for several hours a day. Lighter colors absorb less heat than darker colors. Therefore, wrapping your home in a pale-hued vinyl may be preferable to covering it in deeper tones.
PVC-coated aluminum is another type of vinyl siding. This looks more like natural wood and hides imperfections better than regular vinyl siding. However, it’s a more expensive option.
The Look
Vinyl siding adds instant color to the house and provides a finished look. More convenient than most other types of siding, vinyl siding is relatively maintenance-free. With vinyl siding, you won’t have to worry about the cost of repainting your home for decades, as you might with a wood or wood-like product.
Vinyl siding comes in different textures, but typically it has a wood-grain texture, mimicking the appearance of natural wood. However, it does have visible seams once installed.
Choosing a shingle-style vinyl might reduce the visibility of the seams.
Vinyl Siding Benefits
• Highly customizable
• Smooth appearance
• Comes in a wide variety of colors
• Easy to clean
• Looks new for a long time
• Impact-resistant
• Quick for your siding contractor to install
• No sanding, priming or painting
• Requires fewer tools for installation
• Almost as energy-efficient as wood siding
• Lasts for a long time
• Less susceptible to pests than wood
• Not impacted by humidity
• Recyclable
Insulated Vinyl Siding
Vinyl siding can be hollow or supplied with insulation to help increase the r value of the home. Rigid-foam insulation is most commonly used and makes the material more rigid than traditional vinyl siding. The added insulation also provides protection against moisture and the elements, and is less prone to warping or shifting than standard vinyl.
The insulation material is expanded polystyrene, or EPS. The front of the EPS conforms to the stepped shape of the vinyl planks. The rear is flat and sits flush against the exterior wall.
The Cost Of Keeping Warm: Best Home Insulation Types
Insulated vinyl slightly improves the R-value, or insulation efficiency, of your home. But experts say that foam-backed vinyl won’t significantly improve your home’s energy efficiency. And it can also cost up to 50 percent more than conventional vinyl to install.
Maintenance Tips
Clean your vinyl siding at least once a year with a power washer to remove debris and mildew. You can also use a hose and soft cloth to wipe down the material.
Cleaning vinyl siding annually will refresh the material and keep it looking new.
Vinyl Siding Manufacturers
Georgia Pacific vinyl siding is manufactured by Ply Gem. The products are distributed by BlueLinx, one of the leading distributors of building materials in the U.S. The company has been around since 1954 and values continuous improvement, teamwork and integrity.
Georgia Pacific vinyl siding comes in a variety of styles, including:
• Insulated siding
• Board and batten vertical siding
• Shakes and shingles
• Traditional lap siding
Most Georgia Pacific vinyl siding products and accessories come with a limited lifetime warranty. The manufacturer will repair, replace or refinish defective products. The warranty covers the products as long as the original buyer continues to own and live in the home. Once the home is sold, the warranty will cover the products for 50 years from the date of installation.
Certainteed vinyl siding has built a stellar reputation for providing high-quality, reliable products. The company offers several styles, including:
• Insulated siding
• Shakes and shingles
• Authentic beaded design
• Classic architectural panels
• Natural cedar and other woodgrain textures
• Board and batten vertical siding
• Beveled-edge vertical siding
• Soffit vinyl planks
Certainteed offers the widest range of colors in the industry. The hues are designed to work together. You can mix and match colors to improve your property’s curb appeal.
Royal Building Products is another vinyl siding manufacturer that offers standard and insulated products. Like the other manufacturers, Royal Building Products offers a variety of styles, including:
• Board and batten
• Insulated siding
• Standard siding
• Wood-grain siding
• Shakes and shingles
Vinyl Siding Cost vs. Other Types of Siding Installed
• Vinyl - $3 to $8 per square foot
• Aluminum - $3 to $6 per square foot
• Brick - $7 to $12 per square foot
• Wood - $7 - $17 per square foot
• Engineered Wood - $6 - $17
• Fiber Cement (Hardie Board) - $5- $8 per square foot
• Stucco $6 - $11
• Steel $5 - $8
• Custom Stone $35-$60
2020's Most Popular Types of Vinyl Siding
There are many types of vinyl siding. You can customize the curb appeal of your home by choosing the kind of siding that suits your preferences and your house’s architecture.
The various styles differ in regard to the following aspects:
• Width
• Thickness
• Profile
• Texture
Vinyl Cedar Shake Siding
Vinyl cedar shake siding is designed to mimic the look of natural wood shingles. This style features wood-grain texture. Traditional shakes have straight edges at the bottom of each plank. Staggered, or hand-split, shakes are staggered at the bottom edge to add texture and depth.
Vinyl cedar shake siding is often used to create textural accents near the gables of the home. It may be separated from the rest of the siding using another decorative element, such as a few rows of rounded-edge, fish-scale vinyl siding.
Dutch Lap Vinyl Siding
There are several types of horizontal siding. Clapboard and traditional siding are shaped like wedges. The top edge is thinner than the bottom edge, and the panels appear to overlap, creating a shadow line where they do.
Dutch lap vinyl siding is similar. However, the panels aren’t shaped like wedges. Instead, they extend vertically from the bottom edge and have a 45-degree bevel at the top edge. This profile creates more contrast and interest because the shadow line is more pronounced than traditional or clapboard siding.
Dutch lap vinyl siding brings to mind the hand-carved siding that Europeans brought to the colonial United States. It’s especially popular on the East Coast.
Vertical Vinyl Siding
Vertical vinyl siding is often referred to as board and batten or barn siding. This is the widest style of vinyl siding. The planks typically measure up to 12 inches in width. While board and batten siding may be installed horizontally, it is usually used as vertical vinyl siding. It makes an excellent accent when paired with horizontal or cedar shake siding.
Vertical siding may look better on contemporary architecture than traditional or vintage homes. Many commercial buildings use vertical siding. However, many residential homes have vertical siding. If you want to upgrade your home with a unique look, following conventional design guidelines may help improve the resale value of your home when it’s time to move out.
Vertical siding may be easier to clean than horizontal siding. Water tends to drain better from vertical siding too.
But this style of siding is usually more expensive to install. Furring strips, narrow pieces of vinyl, are installed in the gaps between the planks, which increases the cost.
Vinyl Siding Tools
When high-quality vinyl siding is installed correctly, you shouldn’t have to worry about fading, yellowing or cracking. You need to use the right tools to ensure proper installation, though.
Tools and Descriptions
You don’t need a lot of specialty tools to install vinyl siding. However, you should be prepared with the following vinyl siding tools:
• Safety glasses – Safety glasses with polycarbonate lenses are recommended when cutting and nailing materials for exterior projects.
• Claw hammer – You’ll need a basic hammer to drive in the nails that you’ll use to attach the siding. You could use a power nailer, but you must attach the vinyl loosely. Leave 1/32 inch between the material and the nailhead to allow for expansion. If you don’t, the vinyl may buckle.
• Nails – Vinyl planks come with nail head slots into which you can drive the fasteners. Your siding contractor should use corrosion-resistant nails with a 3/8-inch head or larger. The nail should be long enough to secure the siding without pressing against the material too snugly.
• Staples – If you don’t want to use nails, you may use staples to hang vinyl siding. However, staplers don’t always insert the fasteners uniformly. If some are too tight and others are too loose, the vinyl may buckle. If your contractor chooses to use staples, select 16-gauge fasteners that penetrate into the framing or furring at least ¾ inch. Use an attachment that allows you to insert the staples more loosely.
• Saw – A fine-toothed hand saw is adequate for cutting lengths of vinyl. However, the job can go faster if you use a power saw. If you use a circular saw, consider installing a plywood blade backward for a cleaner cut.
• Utility knife – In a pinch, you can use a utility knife to score the edges of the vinyl. Then, you can simply snap the material to break it apart.
• Tape measure – You’ll need to measure your materials as you work. A heavy-duty tape measure can make the job go more smoothly.
• Square – Use a square to ensure that everything is straight.
• Tin snips – Cut through vinyl and shape the edges using a tin snip.
• Unlocking tool – If you’re removing old vinyl siding, use an unlocking, or zip lock, tool to disengage and replace the panels.
• Nail hole slot punch – You might have to lengthen the hole in which the nail goes. A nail hole slot punch makes easy work of this task.
• Snap lock punch – A snap lock punch creates dimples that secure the vinyl to the utility trim at the top of the wall or window edges.
• Chalk line – A chalk line will help you create a guideline for installing the vinyl panels.
• Level – Use a level to make sure the vinyl panels are perfectly horizontal.
• Carpenter’s pencil – Use a carpenter’s pencil to mark guidelines.
Additional Tips For Installing Vinyl Siding
When cutting through vinyl in cold weather, move slowly. If you move a saw quickly through the material, it could crack or chip.
You should never insert a nail directly through the vinyl. If you must drive in a rogue nail or two, use the nail hole slot punch to create an opening. Otherwise, the vinyl may warp or buckle.
You’ll need accessories, such as trim, J-channels, F-channels, utility trim and drip caps, to give your siding a finished look. Many vinyl siding manufacturers sell accessories to complement the primary siding material.