St Paul Mn Siding and Roofing Contractors

Vinyl Siding VS Wood Siding

Are new siding replacement products well suited for old and historic houses? Hardly. If you stop and think about how old houses are built and how they were intended to work it becomes clear, most replacement products don't cut the mustard.

The most common replacement siding today is polyvinyl chloride/pvc/vinyl, and it pales in comparison to wood. It's maximum life span is in the 15 to 20 year range before it becomes so brittle from ultra violate light that when bumped or touched,  it falls apart. The fading begins immediately and replacing pieces to match after the first 3 months is virtually impossible.

Vinyl is made from oil and chlorine and when overheated causes unneeded deaths from toxic off gassing in home fires. It's also hard, if not economically impossible, to recycle and never degrades in our landfills. If not washed twice a year it stains or gets moldy because vinyl is sticky and retains all the filthy air born pollution that comes in contact with it.

Vinyl siding is always installed over so-called "backer board". This is insulation board that must be installed over the original siding in order to create a flat surface for this flimsy plastic. Beware, the Federal Trade Commission declared years ago that any siding company claiming energy efficiency from this backer board is committing fraud. There is no energy efficient value whatsoever.

In fact, these extra layers over the original siding trap moisture from rain as well as water vapor trying to escape from the interior of old houses through plaster walls. I have removed vinyl and aluminum siding, installed over backer board, from hundreds of old houses only to find moisture damage all along the bottom 1/3 of the original wood siding courses. I usually find termites and carpenter ants munching on the soaking wet sill plates (a sill plate sits on top of the foundation and is the main thing holding up the walls of your house) as a result.

For More information and choices for your residing project

Contact

JandB Roofing
Saint Paul, MN
651-457-0391
Mn Siding and Roofing Professionals