Cost of Replacement Siding

[DrRoy]

DW and I are considering an interior remodel and visited a home show last weekend. We have also thought about someday replacing our 40 year old vinyl siding, and she got snagged by a vendor and we agreed to get an estimate. He went through "the show" and gave us an eye watering number. We did not accept.

I have done some study online, but the estimators out there seem incomplete. We have a 4 bedroom colonial with brick lower and siding upper. There would be 2100 ft2 of siding, 320 ft of soffit, 380 ft of fascia, 150 ft of gutter and 140 ft of downspout, plus 3 wrapped posts, 3 door caps, 3 vent louvers, and 7 window shutters. The product is a genuinely premium vinyl siding with profile shaped insulation on the back. 30 year national company giving a 40 year transferable warranty. 5 day job for the crew.

Does any one have recent experience with what this should cost? Thanks.

 

[Jerry1]

I'm not sure but your story sounds like mine. We had wood siding (T-111, basically plywood) and wanted the house sided. We got "the show" and I laughed right in the face of the presenter when he mentioned the price. Then he continued on about why the cost was justified and I ultimately had to tell him how serious I was that he leave. I basically had to kick him out of the house. I think it was over $20K and we ended up getting it done for just under $15K. Still way more than I ever thought it would be.

My understanding is that the soffit/fascia/trim work is where all the time (money) is. So, there was no way around that. One thing I will say is that (and you may know this given that you already have vinyl siding) is that it was not very bug proof. I wondered if it had been installed better if it would have been less susceptible to various bugs getting behind it. The house was sealed well, so none got in the house, but many made their home behind the vinyl by getting in at the corners where apparently there needs to be a lot of room (between the siding and the corner trim or the J channel) for expansion/contraction of the vinyl.

I'd make sure I went and saw at least one of the installs from whoever I went with if I was ever to do it again. Thankfully, current house is brick trimmed in aluminum which is relatively new to the house.

 

[pb4uski]

When we built our house we paid a couple thousand extra for faux cedar shake vinyl siding rather than clapboard style and are very happy with that decision... not only does it look great... from 50' away you can't really tell the difference between vinyl and stained cedar shake... but it is MUCH thicker than clapboard style vinyl siding. Best thing... no painting... vinyl is final!

 

[happy2bretired]

I have vinyl siding. It can be damaged by hail. I had one hail hole that I had fixed by local company that fixes just about anything vinyl. Works very well for a $90 repair.

 

[Marita40]

I have 100 year old wood siding, still in great condition. But it needs a paint job, which I understand might cost $15,000 or so. A neighbor down the street with a similar house is currently having Hardi board siding put on. It looks great, but when I learned that you still need to paint it as regularly as wood siding, and that it might cost me something like $40,000, I nearly fell over.

 

[pb4uski]

A friend claims that his factory painted Hardiboard will last for 15 years before it needs its first paint job so if you paint every 5 years then the $40k is money well spent vs 3 paint jobs at $15k each plus inflation.

 

[RunningBum]

I put Hardie Plank siding on my new home 17 years ago. It could probably use painting but it isn't really bad. There's no way it needs as much paint as wood.

Back to the OP, I put vinyl siding on my previous house over 20 years ago. 1600 sq ft house, split level, brick basement level, so about the equivalent of a 1100 sq ft ranch but slightly more complicated. IIRC the cost was about $8000. I got 3 estimates. One was from one of those Sunday afternoon movie TV commercials, that I didn't plan to use except for a baseline price. I think they came in around $10K. Next was a local place that efficiently gave me an estimate, showed me color options, explained what they would do and extras I could choose but probably didn't need, gave me the addresses of some of their recent work, and said call us if interested. No pressure (which in itself is a sales tactic, I guess, but a nice one). I would up going with them. Last was a local place that had been in business for 50 years. Salesman was a Willy Loman type who talked my ear off for 2 evenings, one of those guys who "develops relationships" instead of just selling me the product. He came in at ~$10K. When I said no, he scrambled and showed how he could come in at the same price and drop some of those extras the other guy said I didn't need, and I pretty much had to kick him out.

That 20 year old price probably isn't meaningful, but talk to more than one, check references and work, and at most only pay for supplies up front.

 

[REWahoo]

A friend claims that his factory painted Hardiboard will last for 15 years before it needs its first paint job...

+1

We have Hardiplank on our house and the original paint still looked OK after 17 years.

 

[Pilot2013]

Never "replaced" vinyl siding, but if you wanted to upgrade what you currently have, and your facia's, etc are already wrapped, wouldn't they just need to replace the siding?

 

[Walt34]

Estimates can be all over the map, hence the importance if getting several. This goes back a bit over 20 years but we first asked for a siding estimate from Sears. This later proved to be an annoying error, they quoted $15k and like Jerry1 I almost had to throw the guy out. We later had new siding AND a new roof for $6k from the contractor that had done several for the SWAT team members, not exactly the guys one would pick to rip off.

And the phone calls from Sears continued until I threatened to apply for a criminal warrant charging them with making annoying phone calls.

 

[Brat]

+1

We have Hardiplank on our house and the original paint still looked OK after 17 years.

Hardiplank is the best!!! I suppose if vinyl siding is common in your community and you don't expect to stay in your home more than 10 years that would be acceptable but it would be a detriment in my community.

The weak spot in any siding replacement is window flashing. Specify that carefully and watch the installers like a hungry hawk.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Estimates can be all over the map, hence the importance if getting several.

This. The homes in our 'hood were built with cedar siding (most built in late 70's). Over the years, some have kept the original (with lots of patch work) and others have replaced...mostly with Hardiplank. We have the original cedar that's in decent shape, but we know that replacing it with cedar or cement board (Hardiplank) would run between 15-20K (per the many neighbors who have replaced in the last few years). It does need some repairs, but nothing that would require a complete re-do.

Our house in Texas was built new in 2004 with Hardiplank. When we sold it in 2012, the west facing side needed to be re-painted as the south Texas sun had put a beat down on it.

 

[Bamaman]

They don't call siding salesmen "Gutter Hustlers" for nothing.

I have a lake house with high quality vinyl siding. It is a very expensive siding to purchase and have installed. If I was replacing the siding, it would be with a Hardiplank or comparable siding.

Vinyl siding is falling out of favor in many places. And nicer neighborhood HOAs often prohibit vinyl siding. I am just glad our house is 100% brick with prepainted aluminum trim--no painting required.

 

[Hermit]

I had Hardi put on my house. One estimate was for $25k by a guy that was an "authorized" installer. He did't even bother coming out to do the estimate. He just did it off the plans. The guy who did teh job had done another in the area and did a great job. Total cost under $12k. I thought the first guy was too busy and jacked the price up.