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It's your house. But instead of paying thousands every few years, you could spend a hundred or two every year, and do one side a year. It's not that tough or time consuming. On the other hand, I can understand not wanting to do it at all.
Not sure where you're coming up with a hundred two. Doing one side would take weeks. We have full time jobs. Sand and scraping would take weeks. Most of our house is 3 stories due to a basement and additions. Please feel free to come scrap, sand, and paint 25+ feet in the air. And do this every year. No thanks! Vinyl is much easier. Pressure wash once a year. Done.
If you want to ruin all aesthetic and resale value to your now likely handsome 1923 house to those who appreciate vintage houses, install plastic siding on it and plastic windows in it. If you don’t give crap, go for it.
Not sure where you're coming up with a hundred two. Doing one side would take weeks. We have full time jobs. Sand and scraping would take weeks. Most of our house is 3 stories due to a basement and additions. Please feel free to come scrap, sand, and paint 25+ feet in the air. And do this every year. No thanks! Vinyl is much easier. Pressure wash once a year. Done.
OK, when you said you lived in a 1942 Cape I imagined you lived in a 1942 Cape (one and a half stories, about 800 sq. ft. per story).
My in-laws had a very old farmhouse from around the Victorian era. They put some light yellow vinyl or some vinyl-type siding on it that really didn't look fake unless you got up close. Looked great.
Painting old wood houses is a pain in the rear. And cedar fades and turns ugly really quickly in it's natural state, in my opinion.
You might just want to look into which colors don't fade as badly. My in-laws' house still looked great many years later in the light yellow. And this was in the mountains of WA where they got hot summers and really cold, snowy winters, so it saw lots of weather.
My daughter bought a little 1920's bungalow in Salinas, CA (just inland from Monterey, CA) and it also had a light yellow vinyl siding put onto it before she bought it. It looked great and didn't deter from the fact that it was a 1920's bungalow. And was super low-maintenance.
So, my vote is to go for it. Just check into colors that won't fade, I guess, and get something decent.
Oh, and I thought I'd add - I bought an old house built around 1906 on the Canadian border in WA. Had it professionally painted after I bought it. Went back to see it many years later on a trip to Canada, and it looked horrible, like it hadn't been painted in years. Maintaining wood that's in weather is a pain, and when you look at how much it would cost to maintain it and paint it over so many years, I think vinyl siding ends up looking like a good deal over the long term. So, really unless your house is on the historic register, and you have to go with all original materials, I'd go with vinyl.
There's also fiber cement siding. Not inexpensive to purchase or install, but long lasting and low maintenance if you're planning on living in the house a long time. It's also fire resistant, which was a big plus when our townhouse association decided to replace our 30 year old wood shingle siding.
OK, when you said you lived in a 1942 Cape I imagined you lived in a 1942 Cape (one and a half stories, about 800 sq. ft. per story).
Yes, I live in a 1942 Cape with a full basement, dormers, shed dormers...the whole 9 yards. It's less than 800 sq ft per story. Then there's crazy pitched roof....be good for sledding in the winter!
There's also fiber cement siding. Not inexpensive to purchase or install, but long lasting and low maintenance if you're planning on living in the house a long time. It's also fire resistant, which was a big plus when our townhouse association decided to replace our 30 year old wood shingle siding.
Doesn't the cement board siding need to be painted? When we looked into it several years ago, you still needed to paint it regularly.....too much maintenance for our tastes.
The more I research this, the deeper I find that this debate goes. The debate between wood siding and vinyl siding, what magnifies this pickle I find myself in is that I have an old house, and some excerpts I have come across suggest that vinyl siding on an old house is not as effective and does not look as natural as the original wood siding.
Anyhow, let me start off by saying I have a 1,440 square foot house built in 1923 in Mishawaka Indiana, right next to South Bend Indiana (home of Notre Dame). My neighborhood is not a designated historic district, however many of the homes are very well up kept and some retain their original or as close to original architecture and siding as possible. I would wager that 50% or more of the houses in my neighborhood have added vinyl siding to their house, and in almost every case to my eye, it looks good.
My house, as far as I know, has the original wood siding. The paint on the southern side of the house is beginning to crack and peel in spots. Impossible to notice from a distance, but becoming very evident upon close introspection. I want to continue to maintain and improve upon the house, eventually replacing all of the original windows in the porch.
However, right now the siding is my chief concern. Being an older house I know that insulation in the 20's is not the same as it is today, and I am unaware of what if any insulation is underneath the original wood siding. If there are any insulation gains to be had by adding new siding I would like to have those, as the house can have rooms of varying temperatures in the winter time.
My main question is, do I go with wood siding? Likely cedar, as that seems to be the choice wooden siding, or do I go with a high quality vinyl siding?
Are there drawbacks to either? Are there benefits to either?
Sounds like a beautiful house in a lovely, historic, neighborhood. We have a 1926 craftsman style home with the original wooden siding. Thin slat siding, on the bottom, and shake on top, typical of the 1920s.
We live in OH and every few years, we need to touch up. Especially after the winters.
You know the drill.
Yes, it's a little high maintenance, but I would never, ever consider vinyl siding. There are a few Historically designated homes in my neighborhood (mine is not one) - and they all have their original siding.
As a historic homeowner (ours is 116 years old) I would NEVER put vinyl siding on my house. If the original wood isn't in decent condition, fiber cement siding. Every time.
"Fiber cement siding is made up of a composite of various materials including glass, cement, sand, and cellulose fiber. This mixture renders the siding insect and flame resistant, as well as moisture and UV resistant as well. The siding doesn’t fade, peel, swell, warp, or rot and is easily cleaned with a hose or pressure washer if pollution or dirt builds up over time. For this reason, most manufacturers of fiber cement siding feel pretty confident in offering warranties of 30 years or more on the structure of the boards. That means that the boards themselves are guaranteed to last for at least 30 years when installed and maintained properly."
As a historic homeowner (ours is 116 years old) I would NEVER put vinyl siding on my house. If the original wood isn't in decent condition, fiber cement siding. Every time.
"Fiber cement siding is made up of a composite of various materials including glass, cement, sand, and cellulose fiber. This mixture renders the siding insect and flame resistant, as well as moisture and UV resistant as well. The siding doesn’t fade, peel, swell, warp, or rot and is easily cleaned with a hose or pressure washer if pollution or dirt builds up over time. For this reason, most manufacturers of fiber cement siding feel pretty confident in offering warranties of 30 years or more on the structure of the boards. That means that the boards themselves are guaranteed to last for at least 30 years when installed and maintained properly."
Hmmm...
My old house is stone veneer and the gables were covered up with vinyl siding years ago (not my doing). But the garage was built in 1939 and 95+% of its siding is still in good condition, thus 89 years. Only some of the boards right next to the ground have rotted and been replaced.
I can understand not wanting to scrape and paint all the time. But honestly, if you keep wood siding painted and the drainage around it is OK, it seems to last almost indefinitely. The only things that last longer for a decorative facing are stone and brick (and some of the recent brick is pretty dubious, unlike that dark red hard fired stuff they used to use). Don't know about stucco.
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