Advice on house siding
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Our house is a one story ranch that was built in 1952. The siding is some kind of real wood and has been painted. The wood is still in very good shape.
Paint doesn't last forever. We are approaching needing to paint or put on new siding.
In this part of Kansas, the sun is intense, the winter is cold, and hailstorms can be frequent.
As we get older, I like the idea of putting on a siding that will never need to be painted in our lifetime.
Any experience or advice to share?
1952. I would remove the lapstrake which could be cedar which does not hold paint very well, pine or hem/fir. I would be most concerned about the insulation factor of which would be negligible if at all in 1952 . Remove it, properly insulate and attach siding material of your choice of which there are many options and price ranges.
The Rock
The house seems to be very well insulated. It is the easiest to heat and keep cool of any we have lived in. When it is zero out, we turn the heat off at night and it seldom gets below 55.
Henry: don't get lazy on us, it don't cost much to paint. :)
Siding
Siding
Dave, 22 years ago we were living in a big old two story 4X4 farm house that was built either in the 1890's or the late 19 teens (we got conflicting stories). It needed painting and I didn't have the equipment or inclination to do it my self.
A paint job just before we bought it only lasted about 4 years. For about the price of 2 paintings we put on vinyl siding. We were by there the other day and it still looks great.
I am not a handyman. Call me lazy if you want but I am not painting this house. I have learned through the years that I should listen to my wife. She tells me not to try it.
The current siding looks to be in good shape for approaching 70 years old, but the paint seems to be flaking off rather than wearing out.
The house was designed to breath properly with that siding in mind I would leave it. Sometimes you create more problems with the newer materials that were designed for new construction. The new synthetic or composite siding does not breath like the natural materials. They work on new construction as a system.
If you paint it make sure it is properly surfaced first. The new paint should last 20years or more done correctly.
Expansion, contraction and moisture in the wood cause it to peel. As Jackaroo stated above, a good paint job should last 20 years.
Do you have a dehumidifier is the house?
If you do decide on vinyl, and taking off your wood siding, see if you have black celotex on the house. If you do, i wood recommend taking off the celotex on both sides on all the corners, and put up the same thickness CDX plywood (1-4x8 sheet on each side of corners, vertically). It's what i do when i am residing a house for a customer. It helps give the house a little more stability. Your wood siding used to give it stability, but when you take it off, my opinion is, you lose some structure stability. Just a thought.
I do not like the idea of vinyl siding, was just using that as an example of siding lasting longer without maintenance.
Where do you guys get 20 years? I read that wood siding in Kansas will need to be painted every 3-7 years.
The “wind bracing” Jeff mentions is spot on. If it were me, and my money, I’d weigh the price of Cement board siding, and a complete professional paint job with a PREMIUM paint that comes with some type of warranty. All depends on how much you wanna spend and how long you plan to live there.
Right around 10-12 years ago, I did an entire home with Hardi Board siding (cement board). The owner told me she would have it painted when I was complete. She bought pre primed siding, I had her buy color matched caulk too, and to this day, it looks identical to when I put it up. BTW, she never had it painted. Now I only see the North elevation of the home as I drive by, but it still looks good. We did a ton of Country Clubs in SE Michigan with cement board siding and it all still looks phenomenal.
When I paint on the exterior of a home (lord do I hate to paint), I use Sherwin Williams Duration, or Emerald. Yes, you will have sticker shock, but buy once, cry once. Instead of redo the same job every couple years. It all comes down to proper prep work, and moisture content of what you are painting, along with how the sun hits it when it is drying. More to it than just throw some paint in the wall and call it done.
LP Smart Board has a 50 yr warranty, put it on a new house 9 yrs ago, no problems. I was going to put James Harding siding ,concrete, put back away, problems were popping up with crumbling. Prior home I had All-Side Steel siding, a very good friend that was in the siding business got it for me at cost and stood up against some severe weather, where I seen vinyl crack and color fading on neighbors homes, not all vinyl is created equal you get what you pay for, the color blue is the worst color for fading. Next home will be log with steel roof.
"Do you have a dehumidifier is the house?"
We practically live in a desert. We hate humidity and often use the AC just to make sure the air stays dry. Highest average dew point for any month is 61. If our dew point hits 70, we think we are croaking.
Added: Average annual dew point is 39 F.
If I ever build a house I think I’m going with metal. Just finished up a metal building and I like the “no maintenance” part. At least not in my lifetime. What about stucco?
If your paint is peeling badly and you have low humidity, I would guess the siding was wet/had moisture in it when it was painted sometime previously or it was painted when it was hot and the painted dried on the exterior surface quickly and did not bond to the siding. I have cement lap siding and doug fir t-1-11, both were primed with sherwin williams oil base before the top coat was put on 15 years ago and I have no peeling, but I did brush it on.
I bought a 1790 farmhouse that was 3 layers of siding thick. The outer layer was vinal, next was cedar shakes (likely covered with used motor oil) and finally, the original clapboard was still intact. I have seen it all.
My History: I had been in the restoration/painting and building business and I do all my projects hands on.
We get some serious weather here in the N/E as well, so please be aware this is my particular experience/location. The south side takes a beating with the sun here as I would guess is the same. The issue is not often the wood if it is good quality and dry. It is the preparation for original painting that starts the problems or makes for a long happy surface. On the next paint job, in time, it is the neglecting to clean and spot treatment (scraping, sanding and spot priming ) before repainting. A clean smooth and dry surface is the goal. With each new paint job, a Full prime after spot prep is best IMO
Your siding looks solid but the previous paint jobs were not done well. It should not have the blemishes shown. At this point to do it correctly, it needs to be stripped down to clean wood and properly primed, then painted. That is a big job. Or it may be easier to take the siding off and start with pre-primed siding. I have done both but it's your time or money. My 1790 farmhouse was resided with pre-primed cedar and painted under the best conditions. After 10 years it was still almost perfect and the next paint-job to change the color has been looking great for another 10 years. ( quality paint ! )
Good luck. I happen to love painting ...
FYI, on older homes the cedar was old growth and contains a high level of tannic acid (preservative) that young growth, which you see today , lacks.
Henry - I'm a coatings guy. If I can help you with some direction, don't hesitate to shoot me a PM.
I own a painting company. TT-Pi is exactly correct. After it's done correctly it will last a long time and repaints will be easy. Get four estimates. Make sure they write down the scope of work on the proposal. Pick the guy you have the best gut feeling about. Don't worry about who's the highest or lowest price. It's a big job but the wood under that paint is probably still in good shape. I'd be happy to give you a ballpark price of what you should expect it to cost if you pm me some pics of the house. SE WI prices won't be much different from yours so I should be able to provide you with a realistic number.
LP smartside. Holds paint well. With good primer and good exterior paint, paint should last 15 years at least.
I put lp smartside on my house 2 years ago. Pretty easy to install and you can buy it pre painted. It's a ppg paint and comes in various colors.
The house my wife and I currently own has vinyl siding. it's the 1st house I've ever had that had vinyl siding and I would not choose to go this route ever again. Once it's on you have very little options to change down the road.
I am very seriously considering selling this house and if I were to do so I would probably put a Hardy plank or cement board siding on it first to increase the value a bit
Michael
Those above recommending Cement composite board like Hardi are spot on. Also, spend your money on the best paint you can get. Most of the money is in the application anyway so your cost in use is less.
Quality Edge steel siding.....might be the best money I ever spent.
I have a 25 year old house.......a couple of years ago a hail storm came by and I got a whole new outside. Roof, siding, doors, gutters/downspouts, and all my windows. Cost me $500. The hailstorm from heaven......
We looked at a house in WY while visiting our kids this summer we looked at a home with steel siding.
Interesting discovery: steel siding is like living in a Faraday cage. The metal siding seemed to block wifi signals. My next door neighbor has aluminum siding and they cannot get a usable signal for their wireless phone in their garage or connect to their router. I provided a guest internet connection in her outside studio as she could not get a signal from their wireless router from my house next door.
Thanks everyone. Not sure what we will do. What I really want is something cheap that will look great for 20 or more years with no further maintenance.