Posts: 3,035
Threads: 201
Joined: Aug 2006
In what seems to be our never ending quest to find a house I have seen several with vinyl siding. I would love to get some educated/experienced opinions about how well or badly this stuff works in Hawaii. I know that in the Midwest preservationists hate the stuff because condensation will get trapped behind it and the old siding and frames rot out, plus it just looks very weird on a pre1900 house. What I don't know is if this is another idea better left on the mainland, or is it not a problem in this climate.
Mahalo
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Posts: 183
Threads: 3
Joined: May 2006
Hi, Carol.
Our house has vinal siding. Seemed weird at first, but works really well. As we watch our friends re-painting their houses and replacing rotted wood, we just brush off our unconventional exterior.
The house is about seven years old. We've had it three years. No signs of any problems.
Robin
Posts: 2,980
Threads: 177
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 859
Threads: 10
Joined: May 2008
we are looking at Hardiboard for the lower part of our place, right now its actually cheaper than the same style siding. $27 for Hardiboard 4X8 vs $49 for t1-11 4x8
-----------------------------------------------------------
I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.
-----------------------------------------------------------
I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.
The Wilder Side Of Hawaii
Posts: 4,533
Threads: 241
Joined: Jan 2006
quote:
Originally posted by Glen
Hardiplank.
I'm with you. I also think the hardiplank looks better too but that is a personal choice not a opinion on durability.
Posts: 3,035
Threads: 201
Joined: Aug 2006
I'm not looking to build but to buy, even though I would love to design and build a house, it's one of those compromises for marital harmony. So I was wondering if vinyl siding causes problems here, and if so is it a problem when retrofitted only, or also when used originally?
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Posts: 8,470
Threads: 1,033
Joined: May 2003
As a builder and as a homeowner I continue to have misgivings about vinyl. My simple problem is that there is high quality vinly and low quality vinyl and it is nearly impossible to tell the difference.
Low quality vinyl will discolor and become brittle resulting in cracks and an ugly appearance. Once it becomes stained it is basically impossible to clean.
My simple experience was with vinyl outdoor chairs. I bought a cheap one from Walmart for about $5 and an expensive Rubbermaid chair for about $25.
Both of them looked awful within a year or so.
As for siding: You would be 100% dependant on the seller as to quality. I can only guess what qulaity one might get with a low bid job.
My siding preference would be for cementicious panel or lap sidings. With these the issue immediately becomes the quality of the exterior paint. Cheap paint molds and requires endless maintenance. Best exterior results in my opinion are cement type panels with mold resistant colored stucco coatings.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
Posts: 526
Threads: 11
Joined: Oct 2006
Our goal was to construct a house that is pretty much impervious to the Puna climate. Our house walls are single wall, contructed of ProTec SIP panels (distributed by Rob,
www.castleblock.com) which are cement board panels sandwiching about four inches of styrofoam. They are 3'x9' and set vertically and joined with galvalume splines. For finish we were able to work with them exactly like sheetrock which made it relatively easy for us amateurs on both the exterior and interior. On both sides the vertical panel's edges were bridged with webbing identically to regular sheetrocking. For the exterior the webbing was a strong plastic (from Honsador) about 4 1/2" wide attached to the cement board with a rubbery substance used to seal concrete shower pans. Then we applied Thinset rather than typical stucco (which does not stick well to the smooth cement board) directly to the panels. The sticky Thinset was trowelled on identically to wallboard compound with which we already had some experience. We used two coats, the first a relatively inexpensive, sandy type and the second layer a high end, very fine-grained and smooth product. In our climate we avoid texturing surfaces as much as possible to reduce dust capture and mold. Finally, at Home Depot, we found a one coat stucco paint with a very thick texture that we rolled and brushed on. It really turned out to be one coat. The exterior took the two of us several weeks of part time work, but a crew should be able to accomplish this in a few days.
