Blog Archives

Vinyl Siding Maintenance

5/31/2016

Once the new vinyl siding is installed the house looks always fresh and rejuvenated. Vinyl siding is a virtually maintenance free cladding, but after seven or ten years has passed you may want to show some love to the siding of your house. Sometimes it takes more years for the siding to get dirty, but it all depends on the environment that you have around your house. Many trees and bushes give the most troubles to the exterior walls of your house. After seven years or so you are going to see some moss, mildew or algae. When you live in the towns of West Windsor, Hamilton or Willingboro of the Garden State of New Jersey, then you may have a lot of trees that peacefully grow around your house. Trees are necessary part of the facade of the house, as long as they do not grow close to the walls of the house, you should not be worried about them.

So anyway lets see what is the best way to maintain the vinyl siding of the house.

The most innocent way to take care about your siding is to use soft brush and soap to gently wash the walls of the house. For better results start washing the siding from the bottom of the wall and work up, this way you can save time and put less efforts into doing the job. When you get to the top, start washing off all the soap with a water hose.
The other way to clean the siding from algae, mildew or moss is to use power washing. That's may seem the best way to do it, but it is not the most safe to use. You should check the siding manufacturer instructions, before using the power wash. Some siding manufacturers do not recommend using any type of power washing. When power washing the old siding, make sure that you lower the pressure of your power wash, otherwise you may damage the siding panels. It happened a few times in Hamilton and Trenton NJ, when our customers, that we installed siding about eight years ago, used very high power washer pressure and made some cracks in siding, so we had to stop by and fix it.
Do Not do power washing of vinyl siding in winter time. Last year we got a call from a homeowner in West Windsor NJ about some siding cracks, after he power washed it. We don't know why would he do it in winter time when temperatures are below freezing, but at this kind of weather vinyl siding becomes fragile and should not be disturbed under any circumstances. Do power washing in summer time when the temperature is right and you can enjoy it while doing it.
Good cleaning solutions for vinyl siding are Simple Green, Armor All cleaners. When you buy a cleaner detergent just make sure that it does not contain chlorine bleach. It is always better to test the siding cleaner on a small spot of the wall. If no siding discoloration happened, then you can use this cleaner on the whole house.

Maintaining your siding is easy and does not require big investment from you. It is possible to do it yourself or you can hire a power washing professional. For an average size of the house, the power washing price ranges between $100-$200. Once you made your initial investment into a new siding you should not put any big amounts of cash into your house, but enjoy the pleasant return on your investment.

1 Comment

The Replacement Window Quality

5/27/2016

0 Comments

The Replacement Window Quality is very important in choosing the right windows. There are many window manufacturers that offer different window styles and options. We like to use in our installations several brands: United Windows, AmCraft, Wincore, Simonton. We decided to use these brands, because they showed impressive results and longevity after installation.

When you decided to replace your existing wood or aluminum windows with new ones, you should pay attention to the quality. The question is how make sure that new replacement windows are gonna be of the finest quality? When the sales person stops by and shows you the window sample, that's the time to see and test how the window operates. Anyway all new replacement windows look fresh and shiny, so don't allow yourself to be blinded by freshness of the new window look, instead perform rigid testing of the window sample.

While testing the replacement window pay close attention to these features:

Move up and down both sashes of the window. Make sure that they slide without the extra effort. If they do in the beginning, it means you are gonna be able to open your windows for many years to come, without putting into it too much of an effort.
Put the window screen up and push it down just on one side of the window. Do this with your two fingers and see what happens. The window screen should move easily and should not get stuck by bending on one side. If it does, then the replacement window is of lower quality than average.
Close and open the locks of the window, these pretty important parts should be working impeccably well, without getting stuck.
Check the glass of the window. You should see clearly through the glass of the window and the frame of the window sash should be rocky solid. If the frame of the sash is shaky, it means, that after some time the moisture can get between the two glass panes and make condensation.
Ask about a warranty on windows. All our window manufacturers provide solid lifetime warranty on all hardware and glass replacements. If anything happens our customers are protected. So you should ask about a website link to the windows, where you can read yourself all the warranty information and general info about the replacement window.

We believe that window replacement should not be taken lightly, because that an important part of energy efficiency and well being of the house. When you are offered extremely low window price you should understand that what you pay, that what you get, but now you can at least put your future window to a rigorous testing and make an educated purchase.

0 Comments

When to Remove Asbestos Siding and When Leave It On

5/25/2016

23 Comments

Many houses in Hamilton NJ and West Windsor NJ still have asbestos siding on their walls. Asbestos was very popular product back in the fifties and sixties, then in the eighties we found out that asbestos can be harmful to our health. So now many people ask a question what to do about that asbestos siding on their house. Let's see when to remove it or leave it on.

When you own a house or just bought one with asbestos siding on it, don't be upset about that too much. Asbestos siding in most cases is a "non-friable" material, it means that siding is not easily releases it's fibers into the air, as long as it is not disturbed by cutting it with a saw. When you don't cut it or break it into small pieces, asbestos siding is not going to pose any threat to your health. The new vinyl siding can be easily installed over top of the asbestos siding. But before the new vinyl siding installation check with your township and see if it is allowed to leave asbestos siding on. In the State of New Jersey in Hamilton, Princeton and West Windsor Townships it is allowed to install new vinyl siding on top of the existing asbestos siding.

Anyway, why to Remove Asbestos Siding from the walls of your house:

When the asbestos siding is removed, you can check the soundness of the walls. Sometimes asbestos siding is a cause of water leaks. You should inspect areas around the windows of your house, that's the most probable places for water leaks. The other way to see if something bad going on under the asbestos siding is by looking at the walls, when you can see some bowed places on your walls, then it means that the water got trapped behind the siding and damaged the plywood, so to be safe, it is better to remove asbestos siding.
Remove asbestos siding when you think and strongly believe, that it is harmful in any form or state, no matter what. When even the small thought about that staff wakes you up at night, then just like in overall life, whenever you feel uneasy about something and you want to make peace with yourself it is much better to get rid of that something that keeps you awake at night.
Remove asbestos siding, when you are tired of painting and maintaining it. This type of siding has to be painted every five to seven years, it is not maintenance free product like vinyl siding. Asbestos siding is fragile by it's nature, if the tree branch falls or a baseball occasionally hits the wall, you may have a cracked asbestos siding panel and it is going to be hard to find new siding piece to replace it.

Let's see when to Leave Asbestos Siding On:

When asbestos siding is in good shape and you don't mind maintaining it. As long as this material is not disturbed, it can stay on the walls of your house for a long period of time. Asbestos siding does not rut, burn or contracts.
When there is desire to remove it but there is no money to do it. Asbestos siding removal is an expensive endeavor. In the State of New Jersey, it is allowed to perform removal of asbestos siding by a homeowner or subcontractor, the asbestos removal license is not required. In Hamilton, NJ and West Windsor NJ Townships, there are are strict rules for the asbestos disposal. When our company does the asbestos removal, before the vinyl siding installation, we order special dumpster for asbestos. The labour for removal and dumpster can add about $2100-$2900 to the total price of the siding project, the extra expense depends on the size of the house.
Asbestos siding provides better insulation for the walls. When you want to better insulate your house and save some money, you may decide to install vinyl siding on top of the existing asbestos siding. In that case you add some extra insulation on to the walls of your house. As a rule, when new vinyl siding is installed on top of the asbestos, the three eight insulation underlayment has to be installed behind it, so it adds even more to the energy efficiency of your house.

All in all, it is for you to decide what to do. We provided some clues about asbestos siding removal, but as always we keep the door open for you, so you can make your own decision, which reflects your goals and desires.

23 Comments

Pricing of Vinyl Replacement Windows

5/20/2016

0 Comments

When you got to the point when your old wood or aluminum windows has to be replaced, you should prepare yourself for a Vinyl Replacement Window shopping.

How is the Replacement Window is Priced? Well the average replacement window price in New Jersey is around $400-$600 per unit for labour and material.

Several factors influence the window price:

The size of the replacement window. When the window is too small or too big, the price goes up by $50-$150, so we could definitely say, that size matters.
The color of the window. The regular color of the window is white, if you want some other color, it is possible to make it happen. Just take into account that most of the light colors like almond, classic cream are gonna add about $50 to the price of the window, while if you would like to have brown color, then the price is gonna go up by $150-$200 per window.
The Grids between the window glass. That kind of add on pushes the price by about $25-$75 per window, depending on the overall window size.
The exterior cladding. When on the outside of the house you have aluminum siding, fiber cement siding or stucco, then it takes more time to replace the window and that adds about $100-$200 to the overall price of the window.

We hope that now you can understand better the Pricing of Vinyl Replacement Windows and you can make a better choice when shopping for the new replacement windows.

0 Comments

Charter Oak Vinyl Siding

5/19/2016

0 Comments

Charter Oak Vinyl Siding is manufactured by Alside Corporation. This siding is a premium product, but comes at a lower price than Crane Board or Certainteed Insulated vinyl siding.

Charter Oak Vinyl Siding is not ashamed before the competitors and it boasts unsurpassed energy efficiency and rich look. When you install this product on your house, you are gonna be able to see the difference with other houses in your neighborhood.

The thickness of the siding panel is 0.046. It means straighter walls and punch resistance. If the tree branch falls or any other accident happens, there is a smaller chance of piercing the siding, because of it's thickness.
Five times the impact resistance to traditional vinyl siding. The insulation backing that come with this siding, makes the siding panel rigid and it looks like part of the wall.
Siding will not absorb moisture. The foam backing is much more breathable than other types of siding underlayment. Behind the siding panel no moisture is going to be accumulated. The walls of your house will be dry and moisture free.
Solid lifetime transferable warranty. Once the charter oak siding installed on your house, you can transfer your warranty to the next owner. If you want to prepare your house for sale, transferable warranty might be a good selling point.
The siding panel comes in 16 ft length. It means less seams on the wall of the house, which gives better natural wood look to the exterior of your house, with almost seamless siding rows.

When you want to make your house more energy efficient and noise free, at the same time spending responsibly, by not sacrificing a lot of financial resources, you should consider Charter Oak Vinyl Siding. This product is going to enhance the look of your house and improve energy efficiency, so after some time it is going to pay for itself.

0 Comments

Aluminum Siding Good or Bad for Your House?

5/18/2016

2 Comments

When you have aluminum siding on your house how good or how bad that is. Like always there are pros and cons to have that siding on the walls. In West Windsor and Plainsboro NJ, many houses still do have aluminum siding. That product was the siding of choice back in the seventies.

So what to do about it, when you have it? Well that's a tough question to answer, lets have a look about advantages and disadvantages of the aluminum siding.

Aluminum Siding is good for your house:

The siding does not rust. You don't have to worry about annoying rusted holes in the siding.
It is fire resistant. When you get a bit heavy on a Friday night and place your grill too close to the wall of the house, nothing bad is gonna happen, the aluminum siding is gonna stay unscathed.
Aluminum Siding is recyclable. That's like having dollar bills nailed to the walls of your house. When you decide to install vinyl siding, you can scrap the aluminum siding and get some extra cash in to your pocket.

Aluminum siding is bad for your house:

Easily gets dented. When kids are playing, they can toss something into the wall of the house and dent the siding. Strong hailstorm can leave a lot of scars on your aluminum siding as well.
The siding has to be repainted every five to ten years. Many people are annoyed to keep that paint brush ready or pay someone to do it.
The sound of strong wind or rain can be very loud. We have very unpredictable weather these days in New Jersey, so any time at night you can be disturbed by that unpleasant noise.
This siding gone out of style. Many people do not want to have this siding on the walls of their newly purchased house. So if you are considering selling the house it might be a good idea to install vinyl siding.

In the end it is for you to decide what to do about your aluminum siding. If it is still in good shape and there are no visible dents, you can leave it on, but if you want to make your house more appealing and energy efficient you should go vinyl or fiber cement siding.

2 Comments

How the Vinyl Siding is priced

5/16/2016

1 Comment

Vinyl siding is the most popular product in remodeling industry, many people would like to know how is vinyl siding priced.
Vinyl Siding panels come in different profiles and textures, most people prefer to have dutch lap profile or traditional clapboard siding. These styles are sold at the same price. So let's see when the price is different.

The Vinyl Siding price depends on:

The color of the siding panel. Most of the time light colors are sold at the lower price, while the darker colors are sold at a higher price. The three layer colors are extremely expensive as well. The price difference because of the color fluctuates about $15-$70 per square
The thickness of siding panel. The thicker the siding, the higher the price. Thickness of siding panel starts with economy grade siding at 0.038, then builder grade siding 0.040-0.046 and premium grade vinyl siding with thickness of the panel at 0.048-0.055. The price difference can fluctuate $10-$200 per square of siding material.
The Insulation glued to the back of vinyl siding panel. That kind of siding is a premium product and increases the energy efficiency of the house, the price fluctuates about $100-$250 per square.

When you decide to remodel your house, you should know your budget and choose the right siding material, which answers to your needs and goals.

1 Comment

Remove Existing Wood Siding or Leave it On?

5/11/2016

24 Comments

When you have wood siding on your house and you decided to install vinyl siding, you can bump in to the question about the removing the Existing Wood Siding or Leave it on. So let’s see how to deal with that.

When the wood siding should be removed:

you have a visible moisture problem on wood siding around the windows or on some parts of the walls you can clearly see water damage. It means the plywood behind the wood siding might be damaged by water and should be replaced
your house is more than 50 years old. In this case better to remove the wood siding before vinyl siding installation just to be able to check out the condition of the wall behind
you are extremely concerned to covering up the problem with just putting up the vinyl siding over the existing wood siding. When the wood siding is removed and there are no problems with the walls of the house, in this case at least you know for certain that there are no problems and can sleep well at night
you checked your wood siding and found some insects and bugs living under the wood siding. If you have some kind of wood eaters in your wood siding, then covering it up with vinyl siding is not gonna solve the problem
you want flatter walls for easier vinyl siding installation and straighter look of the walls

When Wood Siding Can Be Left On

your existing wood siding is in good condition and you don’t see any reason for removal
you want better insulation. Installing vinyl siding on top of the existing wood siding adds to R-Value of the house.
You want to do it cheaper. When your budget is tight and you want to save as much money as possible, you can decide to install vinyl siding over the wood siding with possible savings of $500-$1200, depends on the size of the house.

In the end it is really a personal choice to remove existing wood siding or leave it on. You should decide yourself if you want to do it or not.

24 Comments

How To Choose The Right Siding Company

5/10/2016

33 Comments

You have decided to install vinyl siding, so now you need To Choose The Right Siding Company, that is going to take care about your precious investment.

Choosing a siding company is much more than just comparing the prices, that's why we recommend to evaluate each company as carefully as possible.

So we have a quick check list for you to use:

The vinyl siding company has the proof of Liability and Workman Compensation Insurances
Has the proof of State Home Improvement License, which is necessary to obtain a vinyl siding permit from township
Has the Vinyl Siding Institute Installer License, which is necessary for manufacturer warranty
The Estimate or Proposal is written in understandable and easy to read format
When you call or email to the siding company with any questions, you get the answers in a timely manner
Has the References from the previous siding jobs

We hope this short manual, so to say, is going to help you to identify and Choose The Right Siding Company, that is going to fulfill all your dreams and desires about remodeling your house.

33 Comments

Vinyl Siding Estimate Basics

5/9/2016

0 Comments

When you receive Vinyl Siding Estimate,You should look how well the estimate was prepared:

-- Check the numbers. All the numbers should be spelled out correctly: how many linear feet of soffit, fascia, gutters to be installed. Because if it is said there that 20 ft of soffit is gonna be installed and you actually have 200 ft, then you should ask a question why is that?
See what kind of vinyl siding is going to be used on your project. Is it D4, D4.5 or D5
Check out how many wood frames of the windows are gonna be capped with aluminum, make sure that all of the windows are gonna be taken care of.
make sure that the wood frame of the garage door is gonna be capped with aluminum as well.

At the end make sure that you understand all the numbers and products to be installed on your house.

0 Comments

<<Previous

Categories

Archives