Vinyl Siding A Historic House

Weather concerns versus historical expectations.

Vinyl siding a historic house. An uneducated and often heard argument claims that when need be vinyl siding can simply be removed if it is applied over top of the original wooden siding. Synthetic siding can cause irreversible damage to the building. Our house is the thomas welles house built in 1774 in wethersfield ct the oldest town in connecticut. The historical district in wethersfield is the largest in the state the challenge.

A 12 foot length of plastic siding can expand as. New vinyl siding styles and cement board siding styles don t accurately reflect the detail shadowing and other characteristics inherent in the original clapboard or shake siding and as a result they diminish the structure s historical significance. Inevitably the vinyl siding got some moisture behind it sometimes from rain seeping in and sometimes just from water vapor trying to escape the house. If there are 10 restored victorians on a street and one has vinyl siding the value of the one sided in vinyl will suffer he says.

If the wood siding on your home is starting to become beaten up and rotted or the upkeep is just becoming too much for you then consider all the advantages of their vinyl equivalents. Historical structures preservationists say should be repaired through. The reason for the loose nailing has to do with the vinyl s and polypropylene s need to expand or contract as the temperature changes. Vinyl siding is unique in that its color is baked in.

When they moved into the house seven years ago the home had wood siding painted a deep barn red. First vinyl siding doesn t allow the house to breathe. Most of the time when i remove vinyl siding from a historic house i find wet spongy and rotted wood siding. Synthetic siding can result in permanent damage to the character defining features of a historical building.

While most homes built in the late 1800s and early 1900s used wood siding this particular exterior cladding requires regular upkeep and a new paint job every few years as a result maintaining the original beauty is a stringent process. Restoring historic homes requires strong attention to detail to maintain the elegance of the original structure. Vinyl siding s color is 100 percent homogeneous. While wood siding is fastened tightly to the house vinyl siding literally hangs from nails driven through horizontal slots at the top of a panel s nailing hem.

But john leeke a home restoration consultant in portland maine warns against installing vinyl on homes in historic neighborhoods. If you abhor the idea of exterior house painting this is vinyl siding s strongest point. In cases where a non historic artificial siding has been applied to a building the removal of such a siding and the application of aluminum or vinyl siding would in most cases be an acceptable alternative as long as the abovementioned first two conditions are met. First seen on mass produced homes of the 80s and 90s vinyl siding has become a common choice for most historical home renovations.