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In my search for THE home for me and my fiancee, I've stumbled across a few nice houses. However, a couple of those houses have masonite wood siding. My question is, how much of an upkeep is it to keep this type of siding looking nice? Is it an expensive upkeep, or is it just simply having to repaint every few years? I'd prefer vinyl siding first, but I'd be willing to go with a house that has the wood siding as long as the upkeep wasn't difficult and/or expensive. Thanks in advance!
When we were looking for our house, our realtor told us to avoid masonite as it was not much better than cardboard.
I did a bit of research and came to the conclusion that any cost savings you might see in a lower purchase price would probably be off-set by the maintenance costs of having a cardboard house. My research told me you will need to paint every two years - to keep your home looking good. Also noted there would likely be annual board replacement/repairs.
We just decided we wouldn't buy a home that was masonite and we did see a couple we liked. Looked into the cost of replacing the masonite with vinyl siding but in the end bought a different home.
A bit of research online will probably steer you away from this type of home, if you can avoid it.
We have a home with masonite and yes, it is like cardboard if water gets behind it. Our deck wasn't properly flashed, and when I replaced it last year, I had to replace about 3 rows of siding as well, and it basically crumbled off. The rest of the house is in good shape and I would say about every 5-7 yrs a paint job with good paint should work. But I would recommend vinyl, set it and forget it...
That said, also keep an eye out for Poly-B plumbing (if there are unfinished basements, look for grey pipe). Sounds like some of the houses you're looking for are in the 20-25 year old range and that's another class-action "whoops" the stick builders used around then. Our entire neighborhood was outfitted with both masonite and poly-b and about half have changed over to vinyl siding, but almost all have had to switch out plumbing. I replumbed mine about 6 months ago due to a ruptured line in the master bath, onto the lr ceiling. Thankfully was home when I noticed the drip from the fire alarm, but still a pain.
Look for homes with Hardie plank siding ,I am surprized how nice it is and has not faded or waved like vinyl can do. It is paintable but if the builder put pre colored on you may never need to paint.
Look for homes with Hardie plank siding ,I am surprized how nice it is and has not faded or waved like vinyl can do. It is paintable but if the builder put pre colored on you may never need to paint.
It's funny, I almost mentioned this. I still think this stuff is the same as masonite, still sawdust held together with something, this just happens to be a concrete/plaster base. The three rows of masonite I replaced, I had to use hardiplank and left some of the scraps out one day when it was raining. They were face down, with the back exposed and the stuff was very soggy, almost as bad as the masonite. If I hadn't already installed the stuff on my house, I would have looked for an alternative. At the prices I saw, I'm not sure the costs are that much cheaper than vinyl or even wood. I still think back to the house I grew up in, 150 year old wood sided house with zero issues with rot or soft spots.
This is definitely making me want to stay away from houses with Masonite siding on it then. My Realtor said he wouldn't suggest a house with it, but I was assuming it was mostly because of having to repaint it every so often, but I didn't realize it was THAT destructible. IF I DID buy a house with it, I'd almost immediately would want to switch it out for vinyl or something more durable. But, that's an upfront cost I'd hope to avoid from the start. Me, I grew up on a brick home, so the only outside work that ever needed to be done to the house was repainting shutters and replacing shingles on the roof (which I think was done maybe twice in my lifetime and I'm 37.)
Yes, I'm with you on the subject. When we looked into the cost of replacing masonite with vinyl, it was not a small price and the two homes we liked that were masonite were already over priced for the market. We ended up buying a brick home.
Yes, I'm with you on the subject. When we looked into the cost of replacing masonite with vinyl, it was not a small price and the two homes we liked that were masonite were already over priced for the market. We ended up buying a brick home.
I think you made a very wise decision on the brick home. Even vinyl siding eventually cracks and would have to be replaced at some point, and of course the need to keep vinyl clean and looking nice. We [finacee and I] looked at a house in Summerfield that we both fell madly in love with. It was probably the third home we had looked at. Perfect location, neighborhood, everything about this house we liked. The kitchen was BADLY outdated and we'd probably have to put new shingles on the roof, but the rest of the house was pretty much move in ready. It was brick (built back in the '70s) finished basement, etc... we just felt it was too early in our house search and a bit out of our price range. It went off the market as quickly as it went on the market! Of course, now, the house would have been in our price range, but you live and learn. We go by faith..if it's meant to be it happens, if not, we will find the perfect home for us.
There are SO many homes on the market now. I'm sure you will find another one that ticks all the boxes. We were honestly spoiled for choice. I guess that is kind of sad, but it worked well for us.
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