Aluminum siding questions

[Zachary Hoyt]

I am new to the marvelous world of aluminum siding. The house I bought last year has it, and as I work on the house I have more and more questions about it. I took off a section about 12 feet wide and 17 or 18 feet tall to add a room to the side of the house. I've got enough siding to redo the new shorter wall and I think also the end wall that lines up with the original end of the house. I'm thinking about doing the other end wall (the wall with the big window frame in this picture) with SmartSide or T1-11 or something, but I don't know if that can be made to interact happily with the aluminum on either side. The whole house already looks funny, so I'm not worried about that, and I figured having an accent wall of vertical siding would go with the vertical siding in the gable ends. The other idea I've had is to get more aluminum siding from somewhere, but it is hard to find used or new around here. The existing siding dates to about 1970 but is still in fine shape overall.

The other thing I've been wondering about is a longer term question. I'd like to paint the whole house next summer, and I have read various conflicting things about how feasible it is for an amateur to paint aluminum siding successfully. If anyone here has experience with that I'd be grateful to hear about it. The picture is a few weeks out of date, and the addition is all closed in now. I would go and take another picture but it's raining and the wind is gusting to 45 today, so it's better to stay in.





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[Maurice Mcmurry]

Aluminum siding is easy to paint and holds paint well. It needs to be washed with TSP right before painting with acrylic or latex paint. I was told not use phosphate free TSP substitute and to make the TSP solution slightly stronger than the instructions call for and rinse well.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Thank you, that's very good to know. On previously painted aluminum would you do primer and then paint, or just paint? Thank you very much.

[Lee Schierer]

As Maurice says, painting aluminum siding is pretty easy. The prep work is important.I painted our house years ago shorthly after we bought it because the paint was nearly gone. That paint job lasted over 20 years. The only mistake I made was to not tint the primer coat. I used a Wagner hand help power painter. My neighbor repainted his aluminum siding and it is still looking good. He used a power painter with a long hose.

I have used T1-11 for panels in a garage door. The siding was painted and it lasted about 15 years. You will need a J channel to terminate the aluminum siding against the T1-11 and should probably caulk the joint between the J channel and the siding panel.

[Zachary Hoyt]

Thank you, that's very helpful. I'm not sure about the J channel, as I have not been able to find anywhere to buy it. I'll need some to go around the windows too, so I'll keep looking. I also don't know if I can get the J channel behind the aluminum without taking the aluminum down, but if I have to do that I will. Thank you very much.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

A siding guy with a trim brake can make aluminum J. You also might be able to use steel J intended for metal buildings. Your project is looking good!

[Zachary Hoyt]

I just found a place not too far away that has 12' pieces of aluminum J channel, and they're only about $10, so that will be perfect. I can remove the siding all down the side of the window and slide the J channel down in 6 foot lengths. I think it should be fine as long as I slide the upper piece inside the lower one, if I understand the theory correctly. Thank you both very much for the help.

[Jim Becker]

You may be able to "visually match" the aluminum siding with one of the LP Smartside lap siding products and end up with a relatively unified look. It's about spacing, etc. There are some kewel tools that help with that.

[Mel Fulks]

I suggest the hilarious film “Tin Men” with Richard Dreyfus. Sadly , todays TM are a smaller band. And just can’t come up to the work of
the REAL Quick and Glib TM reasons why it would look great over the hand-made ,so yesterday, hand -made bricks of your old house.

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[Maurice Mcmurry]

LP Smart Side continues to get bad press and have a disappointing life span.

[Brian Elfert]

LP Smart Side continues to get bad press and have a disappointing life span.

Where are you seeing that? I've only heard of a few failures related to improper caulking. A local lumberyard has a piece of Smartside that has been in water for years without swelling.

I have had Smartside on my house for eight years now and I am not aware of any issues other than the trim on one corner is coming apart and needs a fresh bead of caulk. I am planning to put Smartside on my new garage when it gets built.

[Mel Fulks]

I’ve only used it once. Some years back before we moved, but it held up just fine. Sometimes squirrels will chew up a corner , but if you
put some BITREX IN the paint there will be no problem .

[Jim Becker]

The only reason I can think of that would materially affect LP SmartSide products is by not installing them to specification which requires specific gapping of joints and caulking to account for seasonal expansion contraction. It cannot just be slapped up which I have no doubt some less than attentive contractors have done out there.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I have several clients involved the class action law suits involving LP smart side. LP claims to have fixed it. In our area the housing industry is moving away from wood products for exterior applications.

I just finished a big repair on 9 year old Smart Side. Lots to read on the web about it. As I stated, they claim to have fixed it. The problems are ongoing. It is proprietary OSB with a proprietary coating and a 20 year warrantee. It might last 20 years in Arizona. Lots and lots of 10 year old Smart Side goes to our landfill every day. I still do siding, I only use James Hardie products.
looking for the latest about the recall and class action...

Not finding much current talk on the web. Our lumber yard stopped carrying it some time ago. A spokesperson for LP has said this,

sales of LP's SmartSide fiber-based siding, produced at the Roaring River plant, have continued to decline and the company decided to discontinue production of fiber-based siding in the U.S. by the end of 2020.

[Mel Fulks]

Well, people send their children to school with baloney sandwiches rapped in extremely thin plastic wrap. But it works ! Some companies
stop makin’ good stuff because they have lousy sales guys. Smart-side is lots of layers with a coating that is tough and thick. The problem with
Smart- side was not the product. And , of course I have to add …again , that for many years woods were used out-side for porch floors
that would never have held up without the painted canvas covering. Thank goodness …and poor-ness ! That they saw no need to use up all the
wonderful mahogany to do “a good job”.