On Sun, 4 Apr 2010 21:43:42 -0400, "benick" wrote:

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.. .
On Sun, 4 Apr 2010 19:11:49 -0400, "benick" wrote:

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...
On Sun, 4 Apr 2010 01:17:41 -0400, "benick"
wrote:

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om...
On Sat, 03 Apr 2010 16:57:05 -0400, aemeijers
wrote:

Okay, for the second year in a row, I went to the half-ass little home
show here, and asked vendors for free estimates on various things. My
faux-T1-11 7/16 OSB siding has seen better days, so I again requested
an
estimate from a company that specializes in siding. 1400 sq foot
single
story, 3 gable L-shape, maybe 30 panels or so of material, utterly
vanilla. Last year I got an estimate for Hardi-Plank T1-11 (to deter
the
woodpeckers), and it came in at 16k, which is a non-starter on a house
worth 120k if I am lucky. So this year I asked a different guy for
real
5/8 plywood T1-11, same stuff I saw go up by the acre back in the day.
The estimate came back at 22k. Is there some plausible reason for such
a
sky-high quote? And this wasn't even for a remove and replace, just a
side-over. Not even a line on the bid for prime and paint, just naked
wood. Does the guy just not want the job? They should be hungry- I
think
there were maybe a dozen new houses started in all of last year, in
the
metro area.

Obviously Hardi-Plank is a better deal. ;-) My guess is that he
doesn't
want
the job. I'd tackle a job that size (no second floor) myself. I'm
getting a
little old and creaky but $22K!

Seems like around here, just like everybody only wants to sell vinyl
windows instead of real ones, they only want to sell vinyl siding
(which
I hate the look of).

You're not alone. I redid my last house in cedar, even knowing that
I'd
have
to stain it every few years. I did one side a year and it wasn't too
bad.

I grew up in the business, and I have the skills to do the work. What
I
don't have is the time, unless I take a week or two off from my day
job.

Yep, BTDT. I had a lot of vacation, though. Since I retired, I
don't.
;-)

I also don't have anyone available to help hoist panels into position
until they can get pinned in place. (4x8 or 4x9 5/8 is not a safe
one-man lift for that.) So unless I say the hell with it and leave it
for the next owner to deal with, I pretty much have to hire it out. Am
I
just dreaming that I can get what USED to be the cheap alternative, at
a
decent price? Or am I doomed to hold my nose and have the place
skinned
in the same plastic as almost all the other houses in the
neighborhood?
Constructive suggestions welcomed.

Maybe a tool to lift the panels. HF sells a panel lift, intended for
sheetrock. At a couple of hundred bux it would be worth it even if
you
had to
throw it in a landfill afterwards. I'm thinking about buying one to
do
the
sheetrock in my (u)FROG.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=99645

...or you could hire a laborer, as someone up there suggested. Around
here
painters can be had for $12/hr, now. It takes a lot of hours to come
close to
$22K.




I agree the price quote is high..But what did you except JUST talking to
those with the big Yellow Page ads and those at Home Shows...Do a little
more work finding a small contractor...Usually by asking your neighbors
or
at the lumber yard..Word of mouth is how they get work...

Word of mouth is certainly the best way. Happy customers are very good
advertisement. I'm not so sure a lumber yard (what are those?) would be
the
best source of information, though.

As a side note
T-111 looks worse than vinyl , IMHO..If I were to spend that kinda money
on
siding I would use Cedar Shingles , Cedar Claps or even Hardi Claps and
do
it myself...You could lift those and do it when you had the time and
still
come out ahead money wise and have a MUCH better end
product...FWIW..HTH..

To each... I'm not all that thrilled with T-111, but some like it. I
don't
like the look of shingles. The siding is certainly dependant on the
house
style. As I said above, my previous house (a cape) pretty much had to
have
clapboard siding (I did cedar, rough side out for the looks). OTOH,
clapboards certainly wouldn't go with my current house, more of a
Mediteranian
style.


There is always Board and Baton(sp)...Use un-planed stock...Pine or Cedar
Boards are easy to lift for a DIYer

Yes, my house is B&B, sorta (B&B with a post and beam look). The B&B
material
is Hardi, though. I think it'll work out well here in the South.

Nice...I like Post and Beam...You see it alot here as well...

It's not P&B construction though. It's standard 2-by frame construction.