Vinyl and board-and-batten siding in Horsham

How to tell your siding is failing

Walk around the house on a sunny afternoon and look along each wall at a low angle. Most problems show up from the ground.

• Warped, buckled or wavy panels. Usually vinyl that was nailed too tight, or heat from a grill or a reflective window next door.
• Cracked or broken pieces. Common low on the wall from mowers and string trimmers, and anywhere hail hit.
• Loose or missing pieces after wind. Vinyl that was not locked in properly unzips in a storm.
• Soft spots when you press on wood siding or trim. That is rot, and it rarely stops at the surface.
• Peeling paint inside, or stains under windows. Water may be getting behind the siding around the window.
• Streaks below a roof-to-wall joint. Where a lower roof meets a wall, water can run behind the siding if the flashing is wrong.
• Heavy fading on one side only. Cosmetic, not a leak. Not a reason on its own to replace.

Repair or replace?: A few cracked or blown-off panels are a repair, often a few hundred dollars, as long as matching pieces can be found. Replacement makes sense when damage is on several walls, the wall underneath is wet, or the old siding cannot be matched and the patch would look wrong.

Vinyl lap siding or board-and-batten?

Vinyl lap siding

The horizontal siding on most houses around here. It does not need painting, it handles our freeze-thaw winters well when it is installed loose enough to move, and it is the most affordable way to re-side a whole house. Thicker panels and good trim make a real difference in how flat and solid it looks.

Board-and-batten

Tall vertical panels with narrow strips over the seams, the farmhouse look. A lot of homeowners use it on gables, dormers, an addition or the front of the house, with lap siding on the rest. It costs more per wall than plain lap siding because there is more trim and more cutting, but used as an accent it changes how a house looks from the street without re-siding everything.

We will bring samples to the estimate visit so you can see colors against your roof and brick in daylight. If you are also thinking about a new roof, pick the siding and roof shingles together. It is a lot easier to get colors that work as a pair.

What a good siding job includes

Siding is the visible part. What keeps the walls dry is what goes on underneath and around the openings. Here is how we do it:

1. Old siding comes off. Going over old siding hides rot and makes the trim around windows look recessed. We strip it so we can see the wall.
2. We check and repair the sheathing. Soft or rotted wood gets replaced. If we find water damage, we show you photos and price the repair before we go further.
3. House wrap goes on. A weather barrier under the siding, lapped so water that gets behind the siding runs down and out.
4. Windows, doors and roof joints get flashed. Including kick-out flashing where a lower roof meets a wall, the small piece that turns water into the gutter instead of behind the siding. As roofers, this is the detail we see missed most.
5. Siding goes up and moves freely. Vinyl expands and contracts with temperature. Nailed too tight, it buckles in summer. We hang it so it can move.
6. We clean up. Old siding hauled away, and a magnet sweep of the yard and driveway for nails.

Why a roofer for siding?

Many siding leaks are really roof-edge leaks: missing kick-out flashing, step flashing buried behind the siding, or gutters overflowing onto the wall. Because we work on both, we can fix the flashing and the siding in one visit instead of two trades pointing at each other. If your gutters are overflowing onto the wall, see gutter repair too.

Not ready to pay for a whole house at once? Financing is available through Hearth, our financing partner. Hearth handles the applications.

What it usually costs

The size and height of the house, how much trim and how many windows there are, board-and-batten accents, and any rotted sheathing found under the old siding set the price.

• Siding Installation: $7,500 – $25,000
• Vinyl Siding Installation: $7,500 – $25,000
• Siding Repair: $350 – $3,000

Questions we get asked

How much does new siding cost in Horsham?

A full vinyl siding job typically runs $7,500 to $25,000. A small one-story house sits at the low end; a large two-story house with lots of windows, trim and board-and-batten accents sits higher. Rotted sheathing found under the old siding is extra, and you get a free written estimate first.

What siding do you install?

We install vinyl siding, both standard horizontal lap siding and vertical board-and-batten. Many homeowners use board-and-batten as an accent on gables or the front of the house with lap siding elsewhere. We also repair existing siding.

Can you put new siding over my old siding?

We recommend taking the old siding off. Going over it hides rot and water damage, and it makes window and door trim look sunk in. Stripping it lets us check and repair the wall before the new siding goes on.

Can you repair a few damaged siding panels?

Yes, if matching pieces can be found. Storm damage and a few cracked panels are often a repair in the $350 to $3,000 range. If your siding is old or faded and a new piece would stand out on the front of the house, we will tell you before we start.

How do I know if water is getting behind my siding?

Look for peeling paint or stains on inside walls under windows, soft trim, and streaks on the siding below where a roof meets a wall. Those usually point to flashing problems around windows or at roof-to-wall joints. We check those spots on every siding estimate.

Is financing available for siding?

Yes. Financing is available through Hearth, our financing partner. Hearth handles the application and terms.

Related pages

• Gutter Installation: Seamless gutters and downspouts sized to move water away from your foundation.
• Gutter Repair: Sagging, leaking or overflowing gutters fixed before they rot your fascia.
• Shingle Roofing: Architectural asphalt shingle repair and installation, the roof on most homes around here.
• Roof Replacement: Full tear-off and new roof when repairs stop making sense. Written, line-item estimate before anything starts.
• Storm Damage Repair: Wind, hail and fallen limbs. We document the damage with photos and work with your insurance adjuster.
• Horsham: Home base. Our shop is here.
• Willow Grove: Post-war Capes, ranchers and splits on their second or third roof.
• Hatboro: Borough homes and older twins right next door to Horsham.
• Warminster: Our neighbor to the north; lots of 1950s-70s ranchers and splits.
• Dresher: Colonials and split-levels across Upper Dublin.
• Montgomery County: Where we do most of our work, from Horsham out across the county.
• Bucks County: Warminster, Doylestown, Newtown, Yardley, Chalfont and everywhere in between.