Vinyl Siding on Your Home

Vinyl siding is a fascinating building material. . As happens with many other building products, vinyl siding pushed and bullied aluminum siding out of the spotlight. I clearly remember my childhood home getting aluminum siding on it. The cost, in 1958, was $400 for labor and material.

If you've seen how fast vinyl siding can be installed, you may be easily tempted to read a vinyl-siding how-to booklet or guide. If you've been hypnotized by a home-improvement television show that tempts you into thinking you can tackle installing vinyl siding yourself, wake up. It's not as easy as it appears. It takes considerable skill to get professional results. What's more, you need help in most cases as well as an assortment of ladders and hand tools.

Vinyl-siding colors usually are muted, lighter tones. There's a reason for that. Deep colors absorb and retain the sun's heat. Vinyl siding reacts violently to heat, and expands significantly. If you don't install vinyl siding correctly, it can buckle, warp and distort from the sun's rays. Deep colors would simply make the situation worse. Some paints can be applied to this siding to create different vinyl-siding colors, but beware painting vinyl siding a dark color.

When you obtain a vinyl-siding cost estimate, don't panic. Rest assured that there is a significant cost for the material, especially for all of the trim pieces that are necessary when the siding abuts windows and doors as well as inside and outside corners. Vinyl siding is a product made primarily from crude oil. If the price of oil is high, vinyl-siding material costs will also go up accordingly.

Then there is the labor involved. Don't underestimate the amount of time and effort required for a typical vinyl-siding installation. There is a considerable amount of time spent in setup, trimming, dealing with utility penetrations in walls and even fighting insects. Dealing with wasp and bee nests is common, especially in warmer months. If you watch siding installers, you'll quickly discover that they spend little time installing the siding. The trim work, caulking and fitting take up a majority of time on the average job.