Is vinyl siding a DIY job? (New shop)

[Brian Elfert]

I am building a new house as soon as I find a lot. I will also be building a 50x40 building for a garage/shop.

Is the vinyl siding on the shop something I could do myself to save the labor costs? I will probably hire out the siding on the house as there is a lot more stuff to go around.

Brian Elfert

[David Epperson]

Yep. A bit time consuming, but not difficult. The devil is in the details, get enough of the right trim pieces. DAMHIK.:D

[Bob Rufener]

I have never put up vinyl siding myself but I know others who have. An important part of the job is to provide enough gap between pieces to allow for expansion and contraction. I've seen jobs done where they didn't allow for this and wound up with very wavy walls.

[Von Bickley]

If the house and the shop are going to be built at the same time, the vinyl contractor might give you a better price if he can do both jobs.

Just something to think about.... :) :) :)

[Brian Elfert]

If the house and the shop are going to be built at the same time, the vinyl contractor might give you a better price if he can do both jobs.


Yes, both house and garage are going up at the same time.

I need to find ways to trim about $10,000 from the total project cost to pay for the geothermal heat I really, really want. By doing the roof and siding on the garage I figure on saving $4,000 to $5,000 in labor. It will be a number of long boring weekend days, but my job is salaried so I don't any better way to make money to pay for the $10,000.

The geothermal heating/cooling will save me at least $100 a month on utility bills so it will pay off eventually.

Brian Elfert

[Jim DeLaney]

Yep. A bit time consuming, but not difficult. The devil is in the details, get enough of the right trim pieces. DAMHIK.:D

Yeah, and try to make sure you get it all in one order. Different lots do vary slightly in color. Although, after a year in the weather it'll all blend in quite well.

The main 'trick' is to make sure you get the starter strip aligned exactly level and even completely around the building. If the starter strip is off, the whole job will look lop-sided.

[Joe Pelonio]

Having watched a contractor do the neighbor's house years ago, and an episode of "This Old House" where they used it, it seems like a good DIY guy could handle it.

[Jerry Clark]

One important point to remember-- DO NOT DRIVE THE NAILS IN TIGHT!:rolleyes: The siding moves a lot with heat and cold. This is a good project for a DIY. Maybe you can get friends and family to help, and make it a "Barn Raising Party"!:D

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hi Brian, DIY is definately in order for something as simple as vinyl siding. I had my 2 story 24' x26' gambrel garage barn quoted by a siding guy about 6 years ago at $3900. I priced all the materials including the Typar out at about $925 and chose to do the job myself. I took 3 vacation days and a weekend and was done. The worst part was the up and down the ladder many, many, many times on the front and rear peaks. Doing it alone left me very sore for a few days but I put up with it to save that kind of money.

[Dan Mages]

I did put up a little vinyl siding while volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. Quite easy to put up. Make sure you drive the nails in the center of the slot and leave the head 1/8 of an inch from the vinyl. This will eliminate the possibility of warpage.

Have you looked at concrete fiber board? The stuff is reasonably priced, paints easily and will last for a very, very long time. The only downside is that it is quite a pain to cut and nail.


Good luck.

[Brian Elfert]

No doubt that cement board looks nice, but I'm guessing it costs more than vinyl, plus there is the issue of having to paint. I'm trying to stay away from paint, especially after having painted my parent's house several times.

I'll check into the price just to see what it might cost since it does look better than vinyl. I'll have to factor tool rental into the price since it requires a special saw.

Brian Elfert

[David G Baker]

Brian,
Spend some time on the Internet researching how to do siding. There are a few very informative sites that go into great detail on the subject. There are some tricks that are pointed out on some of the sites that will help you do things like trim around windows and doors.
I would not try to do my own house but I would do my pole barn if it needed it. Just four sides and no fancy angles. There have been some very good tips already posted.
David B

[Ben Grunow]

I did a house or 2 and I second the suggestion to do some research and get some tools for the job.

You should make a sliding jig for cutting long angles with the CS. Use plywood blade backwards. This seems like a waste but it saves TONs of time and saves your hands from cutting all those angles with snips.

Go to your vinyl supplier and ask for a catalog of vinyl (I must be spelling vinyl wrong... it looks funny) products. I would also spend some money on wide casings for windows/doors.

Ben

[Matt Meiser]

I resided the non-brick portion of my parents house in college (almost 15 years ago :eek: ) and the garage at my previous house. Both turned out great and weren't difficult, but it is hard work because you are up and down so much. Having a helper who can do the cuts for you saves a lot of time and ladder trips.

There are two special tools, a punch that cuts tabs for the top course of siding and an unzipping two that are important to have. The unzipping tool comes in handy later for repairs, such as when you leave the grill to close to the house. Tin snips cut siding great but the saw trick sounds like it would be great.

[Brian Elfert]

I am starting to lean towards the fiber cement siding a poster recommended since it doesn't cost much more than vinyl and looks better. It does require paint, but probably not as often as wood.

The big deal with fiber cement siding would be the specialized tools required. I would need them far longer than renting would make sense for I would expect.

Also, fiber cement cannot be blind nailed into OSB if I am reading the instructions right. I am using SIPS to build the house and shop/garage so the walls will all be OSB on the outside.

My ideal siding would be seamless steel, but $385 a square or $13,000 is certainly not in my budget. I have seamless steel on the current house, but my wallet was pretty flush back then.

Brian Elfert

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Absolutely. All forms of siding are DIY.