When it comes to siding installation, there are three main issues that homeowners should be concerned with. These include quality of product, overall cost and installer reputation. This article does not cover how to install vinyl siding, but instead focuses on finding the best product, cost and installer for your home.
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Siding Installation | Quality Of Product
Obviously, the grade and quality of the cladding product is a key component to insure that your home looks good and the siding lasts. While we don’t endorse specific products, we have provided many siding reviews for users to explore what past consumers and industry insiders thing of popular products. Popular types of siding include real wood, vinyl, insulated vinyl, fiber cement and engineered wood siding. Because many of the vinyl and fiber cement products install generically, it is difficult to say which product is better. This is one reason why thorough and proper installation becomes is so important. Homeowners should always insist on a house wrap like Tyvek or a comparable product.
One issue with vinyl has always been fading. Most siding manufacturers offer a color fast warranty as part of their broader siding warranty that warrants the product not to fade more than 4 Hunter Units over the warranted life of the product. Claims typically must be photographed and sent to the manufacturer who will then determine if it is due to a manufacturer defect. They should then replace the product. The bottom line is a color fast warranty can better insure that you put a quality product on that will good and maintain color for many many years to come.
Siding Installation Cost
While siding installation cost usually runs $1 – $2 psf, complex and intricate projects like those that involve aluminum siding can be as much as $6 a square foot. Estimates will be based on the home’s square footage and should always include soffits, fascia, trim and additional components.
— Light Materials Or Easy Installs: $1 to $2 psf —
— Heavier Materials Or Complex Installs: $3 to $6 psf —
Installer’s Reputation
High quality installer reputation is the best way to insure that you are happy with your project. It’s probably fair to say that 2 out of 3 botched siding jobs are due to poor installation. Make sure that the installer has worked with this particular product before and then ask for references from 1 to 2 homeowners who currently have the product on their home. Homeowners are urged to always get 3 written siding estimates to compare against one another in terms of project price and the scope of the project itself. Estimates should always be free so you risk nothing by receiving multiple bids. Getting references is always a good idea; one of them should be from at least 3 years ago in order to make sure that the work has held up.
Have questions about your vinyl siding project, send us an email and ask away!
