Can you answer a question.. I'm planning to install Vinyl..will be installing it over existing white cedar shingles.. Will be using Fan Fold and House Wrap.. What should be applied first, House Wrap and tape...then Fan Fold.. Or Fan Fold ..then House Wrap and tape? Thanks
Preferably I’d take the shingles off that way you can get a good look at the underlayment and make any repairs. Either way you could insulate and put housewrap on top of the insulation as this will reduce the amount of penetrations through the housewrap…. I’m sure there’s arguments to be made for putting the insulation on top of housewrap, but it seems housewrap on top of insulation is Tyvek’s preferred method.
Folks, do yourself a huge favor and never install vinyl siding. I just spent nearly $100,000 to have the vinyl on my house put in a dumpster and replaced with HardiePlank. The result is gorgeous. Among its many drawbacks is the fact that supply is controlled to the point that a homeowner cannot purchase material to repair or remodel his home. The notion that vinyl is somehow superior because it does not need to be painted is a farce: the stuff must be pressure washed every couple years because it attracts dirt like nothing else. The need to loosely nail this crap gives the entire house a flimsy, creaky feel. My house came with vinyl; I wish I had ditched it years ago.
You right - I’ve definitely seen seams open up in hardi, I don’t think that is a big deal. They are supposed to be back-flashed and could easily be caulked in… although that is a maintenance job.
I had hardiplank on the back of a 3 side brick home and a front gable. I agree it does look better than vinyl. The problem with vinyl is cheap vinyl and crappy installs. I have seen 25year old vinyl that still looked good and 2 year old that looked terrible. It's definitely a price point product but has it's place. It's relatively inexpensive, fairly easy to install, low maintenance. I think it's good for certain smaller home remodels but i like hardiplank more. I plan on redoing vinyl on a home purchase I'm about to make. I would love to use hardiplank but the return on investment would not justify its use. Champagne taste in a beer budget neighborhood.
Do you think $100 an hour is too much for 2 men and equipment? It was me and a helper. I have overhead, tools, a truck, trailer, staging, workers comp (not on me, but on my helper), no health insurance, no paid days off, no 401k, no dental insurance, etc… Furthermore, the repairs I’ve done were on other people’s work.
I feel like a lot of people are price shoppers. People want the cheapest price and expect it to be done properly. I know I don't expect much when I buy cheap tools, why should the thinking be different for labor. I imagine coming to fix someone elses work and the damage it has caused can be labor intensive compared to the crew who just thew it up, collected a check and disappeared. A lot of money can be made in the trades for those who are organized, highly productive, and produce quality work or do cheap shoddy work at a lower price using the cheapest materials and labor. How often will the average consumer know the difference until after the fact?
They won’t know the difference until their windows and doors are leaking or the deck is falling off the house or the wall is rotting out behind all the siding…. Usually about 10-20 years.
While it isn’t “rocket science” there is serious overhead in running any business in the trades. Business, liability, and health insurance; tools(a professional pump jack scaffolding system runs between $15k and $20k, and you can’t be in the siding business without it. And that’s just one of about 10 expensive tools needed to do this job correctly), fuel, and ever increasing supply costs. These guys don’t just pick up their paycheck at the end of the week. Presumably he runs a business to make a profit, and he can’t be making much of one charging $100/Hr. for labor for two guys. This guy is making instructional videos to help those who are interested learn the trade.
