Great Vinyl Siding is all about the Details
Some people look at vinyl siding with skepticism but that’s because they may have never seen a great vinyl siding job. More especially, one where the installer pays attention to details. If you look at it from the side, a piece of J-channel is in the shape of the letter J. Quality and Accessories Quality: Vinyl siding can be an affordable luxury product or it can just be cheap. Prices can vary and more often than not, you get what you pay for. When I talk about details I’m …
House wrap should protect against Moisture
There are many house wrap products available and even why you would need house wrap. Moisture management, air barriers and wind reduction are some of the key benefits of a good house wrap. If you understand the benefits, you would never want to install siding without it. Some builders and remodelers will skip house wrap all together — that is a mistake. A good house wrap goes over the exterior sheathing of a house but below the siding. It creates a wa…
Does Temperature and Color Matter for Vinyl Siding Installs?
Yes. Vinyl siding, regardless of the quality, will expand and contract with temperatures. Darker colored siding will expand more, lighter colors will expand less. This is also why it is important to assess what time of year you are having your vinyl siding installed. Here’s some of the challenges that can occur in different seasons: Summer: Warm weather is really the best time to install your siding as the length of the panels are more likely to be at their maximum expansi…
Affordable Siding — Questions to ask
There are multiple options for siding on the market today, with vinyl siding being one of the most affordable. While traditional wood or some of the wood substitutes are costly, vinyl gives you multiple choices. The key to understanding how to do siding affordably, you have to first consider that your contractor has the fixed cost of installation, but materials offer some flexibility. That being said, you shouldn’t consider cutting too many corners. Gauge of vinyl siding va…
Buying from a House Flipper? Use Caution
As a professional remodeler I see the good, the bad and the ugly. Being an educated buyer is your best defense against inheriting someone else’s problem. Common problems that I see regularly are that low quality materials were used on house flipper projects and low quality installation practices were used. This is not to say that the person who passed along a problem to you intended to defraud you, however savvy home buyers need to understand that house flippers are in the …
Vinyl Siding Installed in the Wintertime? Installation can be tricky.
No, vinyl siding installation in the winter time is not a good idea if you live in a northern climate. As I write this, the temperature outside is 27 degrees here in Milwaukee. Vinyl siding needs to be cut when it’s installed on your house and when a saw hits a piece of frozen siding, it shatters. If your installers have a warm place to store and cut the siding, you can extend the season but keep in mind that you want to make sure you have an experienced installer. Here’s…