Should I replace or repair my siding?
May 12, 2010 by
Filed under fiber cement siding
Okay now I have asked similar questions before but I am on a condensed budget. Overall the siding on my house is a fiber material (I don’t know if it is fiber cement but it was installed around 1975-1980) I willing to bet that it is a fiber compound that is more like hardboard and not fiber cement. The house looks fine except the south side which receives the most sun. There are areas that are peeling up and areas where my blasted dogs have chewed a little bit. Am I better off repairing the south end and repainting the entire house or placing vinyl siding up? I live in Wisconsin and there are some areas of the siding on the south end that have a little moisture built up. The pieces are not falling off of the house, and the caulking could be redone. Thank you!
Is it okay to go over the existing material? If there is some moisture behind this material already (I don’t know if there is) will it become worse if vinyl is placed over the top? Right now the sides of the house are plywood with tar paper (or like tar paper) then the fiber board. There should not be asbestos according to my original home inspection.
There was a class action law suit on that crap .GP I believe was the culpritgeogiapacific. If it can be covered up now I would it will eventually get where nothing can be done other than tear it off so if its good enough to cover up now it might be best.
You should consider the initial cost and repetitive maintenance involved. If you repair and paint, the initial outlay will be less and the labour will be substantially lower. However, repainting every 3 to 4 years is likely and moisture and sun bleaching will continue to be a problem.
If you side, the materials and labour will be more but there is virtually no maintenance (especially if you cap the window frames with aluminium). Vinyl is prone to cracking (when impacted) in very cold weather. Siding will also improve the resale value of the home and if sheet insulation (blue foam) is installed first, will help greatly with heating and cooling expenses. Good luck on your decision.
Personally, I would remove the cladding and the tar paper, install house wrap and insulboard and go from the flat surface.
If it is the stuff that im thinking about then good luck with it. putting siding over it sucks. it is very hard and brittle. It is very have to get the nail started and many times it breaks apart leave broken pieced behind the siding. I dont know how well paint will stick to it you definitely want to primer it first hopefully someone has so experience with painting. i just sided over it once. I was also told it might be asbestis so be carefull with it.
If the siding is Johns Manville pressed siding you probably want to replace it as the product had been found to be defective when manufactured and was the subject of numerous complaints.It retains moisture like a sponge and crumbles.