Seamless Siding


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Old 03-21-05, 06:43 PM
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Seamless Siding

What are the advantages and disadvantages of seamless alu siding? I'm considering residing my house with vinyl or alu but don't know which, and the salesman for each only badmouths the other guy.

The vinyl guy says if metal siding gets dented I'm SOL, but I wonder what's going to dent the siding if it is only on the 2nd story where nobody can reach. I s'pose a duck can fly in to it, but...

And the alu guy says that over time (5-10 years) vinyl siding will warp.

And this guy says that, and that guy says this...

And furthermore, the vinyl guy says his siding comes with sticky tape and that's what bonds it to the original siding. Sounds like BS to me. I thought all siding was nailed through horizontal slots so it could "float" when it expands and contracts.

The siding will go over cardboard siding that is about 23 years old.
 
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Old 03-21-05, 07:36 PM
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Seamless aluminum siding looks better than vinyl and will look better longer than vinyl. Yes it might dent, but if it's due to a hallacious hailstorm, that just means your insurance company will be paying for new siding someday. If it's your son or grandson who hit a line drive into the side of your house, then yes... you're SOL. Aluminum siding must generally be taken off if you need to repair or replace just one piece. But that's the only argument the vinyl guys have on the seamless guys. They also might scare you into thinking the paint could come off.

Vinyl is cheap. It can also break if hailstones hit it. Fortunately, it's easy to replace a broken piece (provided the installers leave you a few, otherwise good luck trying to find the color and brand used 5-10 years down the road) It can get wavy if it's not installed properly... and even if it is, it can telegraph irregularities in your walls through to the surface. Aluminum will stay a lot straighter. Most vinyl colors will also fade slightly in time. Sticky tape??? never heard of it.

If money was no object, I think everyone in the world would buy seamless aluminum siding. But that's the only real knock against it. Price.

If I might also add my personal opinion... the seamless installers that I have personally seen do real quality work. I am always impressed with how their jobs turn out, when compared with other crews that install vinyl siding. Perhaps that's because for every 1 crew doing seamless, there are 100 doing vinyl. I'd refer to seamless installers as "specialists". You can certainly find crews who do a good job installing vinyl siding, but many of them also have bad reputations.
 
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Old 03-22-05, 05:31 PM
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I appreciate your comments and opinion. Thanks!
 
 

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