Removing aluminum siding to expose original cedar siding?

[Nikki]

Chyna, I know you can chime in on this one ;)

Our house is covered in ugly aluminum siding. It actually looks decent except for a few dents on the front and the fact that it desperately needs paint. However, I know that there are cedar clapboards underneath. I have only peeked in a few areas and they look to be in OK condition. I know there are some spots that will need to be "patched"(?) but I'm wondering if I should even attempt to remove the aluminum & refinish the original. Has anyone tried this? I don't have a ton of money to spend, and we would rather do the work ourselves. I would imagine that patching the planks that need repair would still be cheaper than re-siding the house with something like Hardi-Plank?

The home was completely "modernized" in the 60s (ugh) so I think the aluminum was just put on because it was the cool new thing to do in that era. :mad:

[chyna]

Aluminum siding should be a curse word! :mad: Good question and about the only thing I can suggest is to do it in stages. Maybe one side at as time and finances permit. I know I was all gung-ho about ripping mine off until I got a better peek on the porch and now I'm thinking I'm going to have to do the area by area plan too. At least mine is just plain ol' wood boards and not cedar shakes. those can be reproduced but involve cutting down current cedar shakes being offered. :o

I was feeling all good about the relative condition of my siding until I was standing over at my neighbors house and looked over and OMH there are dents and pings all over the place you don't see close up. :(

Oh that reminds me, are you sure you know where the windows have always been? I only ask because I know one window was completely taken out of my livingroom and covered with I suppose plywood and the curse word siding and there also at least 3 windows that had been replaced at some point. That's the ugly I know is waiting for me.

[ChapterTwo]

Is vinyl siding any better than aluminum? I've got a whole big thought pattern going on in my head about a house I am thinking of buying...has old asbestos shingles that are in bad shape - some missing - and I don't know about the alternatives. My current house has cedar shakes, which I painted.

[rubyslippers]

Our new house has wood siding, but I love the cedar shingle siding. Has anyone priced this stuff in the current market?

Yoo-Hoo ... Cottages and Bungalows Magazine Staff ... I think this could make a great article. A lot of us live in homes with "siding" issues. Mine is in decent shape right now. However, the original house was "just plain wood" according to the previous owner. She couldn't afford to do cedar shingles, but now I am starting to see that look in my mind's eye.

I know to get a siding "cost" you have to multiply that square footage of all walls, but some ball park ideas regarding what is on the market now and rennovations in this area would be great feedback. If this is in a previous issue, I would love to know.

Thanks!

P.S. Do any of you have the old CL with the little house in the back that they gave a "face lift" by adding an "eye brow" / squiggly porch cover on the small front porch? Just curious. I loved that and don't know if the magazine survived the move.

[Nikki]

Yoo-Hoo ... Cottages and Bungalows Magazine Staff ... I think this could make a great article. A lot of us live in homes with "siding" issues. Mine is in decent shape right now. However, the original house was "just plain wood" according to the previous owner. She couldn't afford to do cedar shingles, but now I am starting to see that look in my mind's eye.



Yes yes YES!!! What a great idea! I have seen some before & after photos of historic homes that removed vinyl or aluminum in favor of the original wood....but of course no "how-tos" or anything.

Is vinyl siding any better than aluminum? I've got a whole big thought pattern going on in my head about a house I am thinking of buying...has old asbestos shingles that are in bad shape - some missing - and I don't know about the alternatives. My current house has cedar shakes, which I painted.

I think Hardi-Plank or some other fiber cement product would be preferable over vinyl. More realistic looking.
Oh that reminds me, are you sure you know where the windows have always been? I only ask because I know one window was completely taken out of my livingroom and covered with I suppose plywood and the curse word siding and there also at least 3 windows that had been replaced at some point. That's the ugly I know is waiting for me.

I'm pretty sure everything is still as it once was. It's a very small house, so I don't see any big vacant walls where there could have been a window. Now, if the windows were enlarged or made smaller, I don't know. I do know there is some cedar missing on the front, where the old covered porch used to be. I could see that by going up in the attic and looking at the exterior walls....I could see straight through to the aluminum. I have no idea what sort of work would be involved to try and fix that :eek:

[ChapterTwo]

Nikki - Thanks for the mention of Hardi Plank, which I've never heard of...I researched the product online. I'm not sure if that product is readily available around here (Northeast) - they mention Texas and also say that many installers don't do the job properly, for some reason. They also mention "higher cost", so that's making me back away a bit too. It looks wonderful, though, from what I saw online!

[chyna]

Hardi plank has to be available around there, This Old House uses it quite often. ;) I think there are some trade offs between vinyl and aluminum but in the long run I think it still looks "fake" but that could be my annoyance at my house covered in aluminum. :o Only reason I knew that the previous owners replaced windows with something smaller or bigger is that I have that fake paneling that they covered the damage with. Nothing better than pulling off paneling and finding a patched up mess or that the paneling is holding the plaster bits up. :mad: I can also see some "shadows" around one of the windows where the trim used to be. That is the part that really concerns me, if they covered the damage indoors with crappy paneling what did they use outside? :eek:

When we add or complete the second storey of our house I fully intend on using hte Hardiplank, it can duplicate the look of the old stuff below and it lasts forever. I can see how some contractors can mess up the installation though, it is heavier than say the wood would have been and it is very messy to cut plus they need a certain blade since it is concrete based. I have heard that it is worth it in the long run though since you don't have to repaint nearly as often if at all unless you want to change the color since they can come already colored/painted and are primed already so you save there.

[ChapterTwo]

Well, it doesn't seem that I have a chance at buying that house that I wanted, anyway. Family members can be STRANGE...:(

[chyna]

Would this be your family members or the family members of the old owners? Suppose it was part of a will dispute isn't it? After the disaster my dh's grandparents estate was handled I've declared myself to not get involved in another one of those. I can not stress more that instead of just going general in a will or estate planning and saying split so many ways you need to be very specific. My family in-law has not recovered from that yet and it has been years. :(

[ricaroofers]

In removing an aluminum siding, you need an expert to remove it for you if you want it to finish beautifully. It is a bit hard to remove so it is better to careful to ensure safety and avoid further damage if you want to do it yourself. The original cedar siding must not be damaged while removing the aluminum siding. Roofers (http://www.roofer911.com)

[ChapterTwo]

Would this be your family members or the family members of the old owners? Suppose it was part of a will dispute isn't it? After the disaster my dh's grandparents estate was handled I've declared myself to not get involved in another one of those. I can not stress more that instead of just going general in a will or estate planning and saying split so many ways you need to be very specific. My family in-law has not recovered from that yet and it has been years. :(

Chyna, I DID wind up buying the house after all. It was just that after I had expressed interest in the house, my family members went ahead and listed the house with an agent! Then they had a buyer, and my jaw dropped open when they told me that... but it ultimately fell through. It didn't have anything to do with a Will dispute, because there was only one child, my cousin, and we all get along well, so I don't know what the heck happened. I got no reduced price because I was family - I paid what the person who backed out had offered.

I'm sorry for what all went on with your hubby's family...

[chyna]

A friend of mine bought her dh's grandma's house and they stuck them with a mess. Sometimes buying from family is just not someplace you want to go.:eek: Glad it worked out for you though, must be really nice to live in a home that you have known for years and has many wonderful memories. I dream of owning my grandparents house, not going to happen but I dream of it. My only chance is to just recreate the feel and maybe a few of the things I loved most about it. :)

[Hillary Black]

Yoo-Hoo ... Cottages and Bungalows Magazine Staff ... I think this could make a great article. A lot of us live in homes with "siding" issues. Mine is in decent shape right now. However, the original house was "just plain wood" according to the previous owner. She couldn't afford to do cedar shingles, but now I am starting to see that look in my mind's eye.

I know to get a siding "cost" you have to multiply that square footage of all walls, but some ball park ideas regarding what is on the market now and renovations in this area would be great feedback. If this is in a previous issue, I would love to know.



That is a great idea; to share more specific details. We are featuring some of the siding discussion/results from this forum in the next issue (April) and some suggestions already! Great minds... :)

Paint is a fantastic preserver. It's always recommended to stay true to your home's history. So, if under the aluminum siding is clapboard, then preserve the clapboard, and so on. I will keep my eye out, too, as new products come our way that may be a better choice for some of you...

Thanks for your input always,
Hillary

[canadiyank]

Great idea about the "siding issues" issue. We have Hardi-board on our house and I really like it. Our builder pretty much uses it exclusively. It has "grain" and looks pretty realistic, I think. Their "shakes" can only be painted (not stained) but I wanted a cedar-look kind that were fiber cement so I bought a different brand of those, don't remember the brand but they were really expensive! I just used a few on the front of the house, instead of the side gables like I'd planned - there I used the Hardi-plank just painted a different colour.