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Old 08-30-2018, 04:14 PM
 
Location: just NE of Tulsa, OK
1,441 posts, read 1,115,629 times
Reputation: 2138

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Most of the single family homes I've identified as meeting my search criteria in the northern 'burbs of Indianapolis have a combination of brick/vinyl or brick/stone/fiber cement siding.

Every so often I read the phrase "vinyl village" as a disparaging remark from some posters on this forum. And the other day, I could swear someone also included fiber cement siding in that description.

Here in Southern California, most of our homes are mostly stucco and or stucco & stone/brick, with maybe a little wood siding here and there (but those are mostly homes built in the 1950's-70's). Vinyl siding is just not a thing here...just as stucco homes are not a thing in the Indy area (as far as I can tell, anyway).

So, for those of you...and you know who you are ...who have looked down your noses at the so-called vinyl villages, what would you prefer? What would be a better alternative (within reason)?

To me, the newer fiber cement looks nicer than vinyl, and it seems to be available in all kinds of styles and colors. Would it make sense to upgrade from vinyl to fiber cement, maybe?
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Old 08-30-2018, 04:16 PM
 
Location: Englewood, Near Eastside Indy
8,940 posts, read 17,162,269 times
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Just because I have enough self respect to not live in a vinyl village does not make me a nay-sayer. You do you boo boo.
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Old 08-30-2018, 06:21 PM
 
Location: Bloomington IN
8,590 posts, read 12,227,293 times
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Fiber cement is a definite upgrade from vinyl, BUT if your house is the only one in the neighborhood with fiber cement it may not be worth it. It's definitely creates a quieter house than vinyl. I prefer it over wood. Woodpeckers love wood siding. They drilled several holes in our last house.

BTW--fiber cement siding has been around for a long time (mid-1980's). It started to gain in popularity about 20 years ago. I have it on a couple of places on my house where brick wouldn't work without some major engineering input.

When people disparage vinyl villages they are typically disparaging the cheap cookie cutter look of subdivisions that use the cheapest of cheap vinyl siding in 3 or 4 shades of beige.
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Old 08-30-2018, 06:39 PM
 
Location: just NE of Tulsa, OK
1,441 posts, read 1,115,629 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rrah View Post
When people disparage vinyl villages they are typically disparaging the cheap cookie cutter look of subdivisions that use the cheapest of cheap vinyl siding in 3 or 4 shades of beige.
OK! That's the kind of useful feedback I'm looking for, so thanks! Yes, I agree, that the very cheapest vinyl siding, especially when it's the entire house and every house on the block -- particularly if people aren't maintaining their houses' exteriors -- looks bad.
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Old 08-30-2018, 07:54 PM
 
Location: Florida & Arizona
5,902 posts, read 7,229,612 times
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Also, vinyl can be damaged by weather and Mother Nature. Hail, for example, can damage vinyl siding. Long term sun exposure can cause it to age and discolor.

As one would expect, cement board is unfazed by such things.

RM
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Old 09-03-2018, 08:16 AM
 
Location: IL/IN/FL/CA/KY/FL/KY/WA
1,264 posts, read 1,410,684 times
Reputation: 1645
Quote:
Originally Posted by ImmerLernen View Post
Most of the single family homes I've identified as meeting my search criteria in the northern 'burbs of Indianapolis have a combination of brick/vinyl or brick/stone/fiber cement siding.

Every so often I read the phrase "vinyl village" as a disparaging remark from some posters on this forum. And the other day, I could swear someone also included fiber cement siding in that description.

Here in Southern California, most of our homes are mostly stucco and or stucco & stone/brick, with maybe a little wood siding here and there (but those are mostly homes built in the 1950's-70's). Vinyl siding is just not a thing here...just as stucco homes are not a thing in the Indy area (as far as I can tell, anyway).

So, for those of you...and you know who you are ...who have looked down your noses at the so-called vinyl villages, what would you prefer? What would be a better alternative (within reason)?

To me, the newer fiber cement looks nicer than vinyl, and it seems to be available in all kinds of styles and colors. Would it make sense to upgrade from vinyl to fiber cement, maybe?
As someone who lived in a vinyl village in Indy (built our home with brick front and vinyl everywhere else), I hated it. I am currently renting an all vinyl house in Kentucky and any time the wind picks up you hear the siding moving and flexing in the winter as it stiffens. I much prefer an all brick home.
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Old 09-03-2018, 10:38 AM
 
Location: just NE of Tulsa, OK
1,441 posts, read 1,115,629 times
Reputation: 2138
Quote:
Originally Posted by ServoMiff View Post
...all vinyl house in Kentucky and any time the wind picks up you hear the siding moving and flexing in the winter as it stiffens. I much prefer an all brick home.
Thank you ServoMiff! This is helpful info.

I rarely see "all brick" homes, though, at least in the areas/price range I'm searching. So, ideally, should I look more favorably on homes with as much brick (or as little vinyl) as possible?...and/or brick and fiber cement???

Speaking of all brick homes, I saw a listing I kinda liked that was truly *all* brick. It had no basement, however, so I didn't know if I should keep it on my list. I'm interested in having a basement in case of storms (tornadoes)...not to mention, homes with basements seem to command a higher price, and I've always got resale value in the back of my mind...but is all brick a reasonable alternative to having a basement? I'm thinking "3 Little Pigs" here!
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Old 09-03-2018, 12:21 PM
 
Location: Florida & Arizona
5,902 posts, read 7,229,612 times
Reputation: 7459
Quote:
Originally Posted by ImmerLernen View Post
Thank you ServoMiff! This is helpful info.

I rarely see "all brick" homes, though, at least in the areas/price range I'm searching. So, ideally, should I look more favorably on homes with as much brick (or as little vinyl) as possible?...and/or brick and fiber cement???

Speaking of all brick homes, I saw a listing I kinda liked that was truly *all* brick. It had no basement, however, so I didn't know if I should keep it on my list. I'm interested in having a basement in case of storms (tornadoes)...not to mention, homes with basements seem to command a higher price, and I've always got resale value in the back of my mind...but is all brick a reasonable alternative to having a basement? I'm thinking "3 Little Pigs" here!
If you've got a basement be sure to require a radon test as a part of the purchase requirements. Radon is quite common in Indiana's heavy clay soil, and remediation is typically a fairly simple thing to do on more modern homes that have a sump pump and perimeter drains. It's not cheap, but it's a one-time expense. Let the seller pay for it...

RM
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Old 09-04-2018, 07:31 AM
 
Location: Fishers, IN
4,965 posts, read 6,227,417 times
Reputation: 4930
Quote:
Originally Posted by ImmerLernen View Post
Thank you ServoMiff! This is helpful info.

I rarely see "all brick" homes, though, at least in the areas/price range I'm searching. So, ideally, should I look more favorably on homes with as much brick (or as little vinyl) as possible?...and/or brick and fiber cement???

Speaking of all brick homes, I saw a listing I kinda liked that was truly *all* brick. It had no basement, however, so I didn't know if I should keep it on my list. I'm interested in having a basement in case of storms (tornadoes)...not to mention, homes with basements seem to command a higher price, and I've always got resale value in the back of my mind...but is all brick a reasonable alternative to having a basement? I'm thinking "3 Little Pigs" here!
Honestly, brick or vinyl, doesn't really matter to a tornado. What typically causes the destruction is the roof tearing off. That allows wind inside the building that then blows out the walls. Very often roof damage is more common than anything else to a building during a tornado. It's why they used to say open east-facing windows. They used to think the change in pressure from tornadoes caused the house to explode. Come to find out, the roof rips off and wind gets in forcing the wall to collapse out making it look like the house exploded. It doesn't matter if the walls are still standing. If the roof rips off, you're going to suffer a lot of damage and opening the windows actually makes the situation inside the house worse during a tornado.



All that said, brick can stand up to more force as far as flying debris. Builder magazine studied different building methods on houses in La Plata, MO in the early 2000s after an (then) F4 tornado went through. They did find brick stood up better than vinyl. But one of the main things they found was homes weren't properly secured to the foundation, didn't matter if it was a basement or no basement. Both were about the same. But they did find 1-story homes fared much better against the wind with some 2/3s sustaining only minor damage compared to just over half of 2-story homes suffered significant damage.


Here's the article if you want to look it over.
https://www.builderonline.com/articl...construction_o
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Old 09-04-2018, 09:22 AM
 
Location: TN/NC
34,814 posts, read 30,867,528 times
Reputation: 47096
Fiber cement just looks more premium and stately. Vinyl has historically been cheap, associated with cheap, and definitely starts aging faster.
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