Choosing Vinyl Siding For Your Home
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It's no secret why vinyl siding is the home exterior choice for millions of American's. Easy care and virtually maintenance free vinyl siding has come a long way since it first debuted in the 1950's, with the latest incarnation being insulated vinyl siding, also called solid core vinyl siding.
There are many different manufacturers of vinyl siding to choose from, Alcoa, Certainteed, Gentek, Heartland and LP SmartSide. What you will find between these manufacturers is a wide variety of choices, quality and cost.
Some companies, such as Certainteed are know for their superior quality vinyl siding products. Remember, you do get what you pay for. You don't need to buy the most expensive siding, but you don't want to buy the cheapest either. When you are buying vinyl siding for your home you are charged by the square foot. It's relatively easy to go online for instructions on how to measure your home for vinyl siding. You'll find that prices will range between $4.00 and $12.00 per square foot. The industry average is somewhere between $5.50 and $8.50. Home construction experts say any vinyl siding product priced over $9.00 a square foot is overpriced.
Of course the biggest component of cost is the cost of installation. Labor costs can exceed the cost of the material by three times. If you have the time, the equipment and a do-it-your self knowledge you can easily learn how to install vinyl siding and save yourself thousands of dollars.
If you are looking at vinyl siding for the first time you're sure to be overwhelmed by the choices available. Certainteed vinyl siding comes in over one hundred color choices. There are a variety of different sizes of shingle shakes available in dozens of different colors. There are also different widths of siding available, such as 4" and 7" Clapboards and 5" Dutchlap. Vertical vinyl siding is also very popular and comes in 8" width. You can choose from smooth vinyl siding and a variety of wood grains.
If the vinyl siding on your home is in good condition, but is faded you can choose to paint the vinyl siding. Painting vinyl siding can be easily done and can give you a very durable and long lasting finish. It takes a bit of elbow grease, but it's imperative that you follow instructions to make sure the siding is clean enough to paint. You'll want to use a paint that's a blend of urethane and acrylic resins and make sure you buy a quality paint.
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